Ordering a Corvette - Allocations and Constraints Explained
On the other hand, some dealers will not enter an order into the GM system until they actually have an allocation to which they can assign your order. Chevrolet may do a "sold order sweep" and send all sold orders to 2000 regardless of a dealers allocation. In this circumstance, if your order is not in, you could potentially lose out.
Generally, it makes no difference which method your dealer uses, as nothing will happen to your order until that all important allocation is matched to your order (this matching is done by the dealer). It can make a difference during times when production exceeds orders
Allocations are normally communicated to dealers on Thursday along with the nationwide constraints. The dealers allocations will specify exactly how many of what, with which constraints, they have available to them. Dealers have until Saturday to assign their orders to their allocations. This process is known as the "Dealer Order Submission Process" (DOSP). There is also a separate twice monthly "consensus cycle" when dealers agree to accept the allocations offered by Chevrolet.
Once your order is assigned to an allocation, your order will progress to 2000 by the following Tuesday. Once you are at 2000, you have made it past the whole allocation/constraint hurdle and you are on your way to having your car built.
Allocations have a TPW (Targeted Production Week) associated with them (the constraint reports show this TPW), but this is just an early estimate of the TPW. Your TPW will become more firm as you progress to somewhere in the 3000 range (again, I'm not sure the precise status that the TPW becomes fairly stable). TPW's are always on Monday's and it represents the best estimate as to which week your car will be built (sometime during the week that starts that Monday). Actual build dates can differ from the TPW. During start-up, it is likely that the TPWs will slip somewhat. When things are humming along, the actual build date can occur the week prior to the TPW.
Constraints can definitely impact the order process. First of all, you need to understand that constraints are given as the % of the particular vehicles nationwide will be allowed to have that particular option during that consensus cycle. For the sake of an example, let's pretend that Torch Red Stingrays are constrained at 10%. Nationwide, only 10% of all Stingray models will be allowed to be ordered with Torch Red. The percentage at any given dealer can vary from that nationwide average. A low volume dealer that only gets 3 or 4 allocations in a consensus cycle can't get .3 or .4 Stingrays that allow Torch Red, so they probably get zero. A large volume dealer that has 50 allocations can get 5 Torch Red, maybe more. Definitely an advantage for the larger volume Corvette dealers.
Given the combination of allocations (how many of what each dealer gets per cycle) and constraints (what has limited availability) change weekly (sometimes less frequently, but let's just stick with weekly), a dealer really doesn't know what they are going to have next week. So, they really can't tell you how long it might take to get your specific car assigned to an allocation. In addition, dealers might have a waiting list of customers and your order within that list will also impact the process.
Hopefully, from this description you can see that:
There are definite advantages to working with the large dealers because they will have larger numbers of allocations and will likely be less impacted by constraints.
The process is fairly complicated and I have actually simplified it somewhat, and nobody has a crystal ball to know what the next week will bring.
Many dealers (excluding our forum dealers) will not openly discuss allocations and constraints because if they do you are likely to take your business elsewhere.
Related thread:
C8 Constraint Reports
Event Status Code
1000 Order On Hold at Dealership
1100 Order Placed at Dealership
1101 Order Entered into System
1102 Order Entered via Web
2000 Order Accepted By GM
2001 Order Generated to Dealer
2005 Order Replaced with Prospec Order
2030 Order Edited (If Necessary)
2050 Order Changed
2500 Order Preferenced (or "Picked Up" or "Imaged")
3000 Order Accepted by Production Control
3100 Order Available to be Sequenced
3300 Order Scheduled for Production
3400 Order Broadcast (Internal Plant Order Produced)
3800 Vehicle Produced
4000 Vehicle Available to Ship
4104 Bailment Invoice Created
4B00 Bayed
4D00 On Hold At Plant
4P00 Hand Off To Carrier
4106 Bailment Released
4150 Vehicle Invoiced
4200 Vehicle Shipped
4300 Intermediate Delivery
4V03 Estimated Delivery Date
4800 Rail Ramp Unload
5000 Vehicle at Dealer
6000 Vehicle Delivered to Customer
9000 Order Cancelled
Last edited by Zymurgy; Sep 12, 2019 at 09:15 AM.
Popular Reply
Is there a similar one that defines/describes the "allocation" process and logic? Seems like the small town dealers basically just get the shaft this way. For example, the closest Chevy dealer to me is in a town of under 40k. I think there are two Chevy dealers in it, neither a top Corvette dealer in terms of nationwide sales. But, the closest that is in the top 10 is an hour an a half away. If I want a Corvette, why should I have to make that drive (or order online)? It seems to me, if a dealer can sell a car, Chevy should want to build it for the dealer and the customer. First in, first out seems fairest and most logical, but that isn't apparently what Chevy does, which seems odd to me. It protects the big dealers in the big cities.
Note: I'm not bashing or hating on the big cities or the big dealers. Just seems kinda Un-American for the American Sports Car to be doled out this way... its kinda socialist... LOL
Allocation is based on previous Vette sales. If a dealer sells more Vettes, they earn more Vettes. If they sell very little or no Vettes at all, didn't invest in the tools and technician training that is required, they earn little or no C8's.
The larger dealers became larger because they invested in inventory, training and marketing when the demand for vettes was much smaller. They took the risk and now reap the reward.
If it was easy, every Chevrolet dealer would stock 300 Vettes on their lot, but it's not easy and requires a huge amount of capital and is extremely risky to stock a relatively low volume car with buyers that are as extremely picky with OCD as Corvette buyers are.
It took many years to earn and build each dealer's allocation. This didn't happen overnight. The Kerbecks and the MacMulkins and the other top dealers of the world risked millions of their own money to build up their reputation and allocation by selling Vettes one at a time.
It wouldn't be fair for the smaller dealers that sell 10 Vettes a year to be able to order whatever the amount of C8's they wanted and only take advantage of the market when it was hot when the larger dealers were totally vested during the lean times.
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Dave
Dave Salvatore
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Ciocca Corvette - Atlantic City, NJ
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email - dsalvatore@cioccadealerships.com
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Last edited by Dave@Ciocca; Aug 2, 2019 at 08:24 AM.
Is there a similar one that defines/describes the "allocation" process and logic? Seems like the small town dealers basically just get the shaft this way. For example, the closest Chevy dealer to me is in a town of under 40k. I think there are two Chevy dealers in it, neither a top Corvette dealer in terms of nationwide sales. But, the closest that is in the top 10 is an hour an a half away. If I want a Corvette, why should I have to make that drive (or order online)? It seems to me, if a dealer can sell a car, Chevy should want to build it for the dealer and the customer. First in, first out seems fairest and most logical, but that isn't apparently what Chevy does, which seems odd to me. It protects the big dealers in the big cities.
Note: I'm not bashing or hating on the big cities or the big dealers. Just seems kinda Un-American for the American Sports Car to be doled out this way... its kinda socialist... LOL
Last edited by vndkshn; Aug 2, 2019 at 03:19 PM.
https://www.corvetteblogger.com/2019...-need-to-know/
Dave
Is there a similar one that defines/describes the "allocation" process and logic? Seems like the small town dealers basically just get the shaft this way. For example, the closest Chevy dealer to me is in a town of under 40k. I think there are two Chevy dealers in it, neither a top Corvette dealer in terms of nationwide sales. But, the closest that is in the top 10 is an hour an a half away. If I want a Corvette, why should I have to make that drive (or order online)? It seems to me, if a dealer can sell a car, Chevy should want to build it for the dealer and the customer. First in, first out seems fairest and most logical, but that isn't apparently what Chevy does, which seems odd to me. It protects the big dealers in the big cities.
Note: I'm not bashing or hating on the big cities or the big dealers. Just seems kinda Un-American for the American Sports Car to be doled out this way... its kinda socialist... LOL
Allocation is based on previous Vette sales. If a dealer sells more Vettes, they earn more Vettes. If they sell very little or no Vettes at all, didn't invest in the tools and technician training that is required, they earn little or no C8's.
The larger dealers became larger because they invested in inventory, training and marketing when the demand for vettes was much smaller. They took the risk and now reap the reward.
If it was easy, every Chevrolet dealer would stock 300 Vettes on their lot, but it's not easy and requires a huge amount of capital and is extremely risky to stock a relatively low volume car with buyers that are as extremely picky with OCD as Corvette buyers are.
It took many years to earn and build each dealer's allocation. This didn't happen overnight. The Kerbecks and the MacMulkins and the other top dealers of the world risked millions of their own money to build up their reputation and allocation by selling Vettes one at a time.
It wouldn't be fair for the smaller dealers that sell 10 Vettes a year to be able to order whatever the amount of C8's they wanted and only take advantage of the market when it was hot when the larger dealers were totally vested during the lean times.
Last edited by direct007; Aug 3, 2019 at 12:20 PM.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Kerbeck being in Jersey, MacMulkin in NH.... densely populated areas. I can understand giving them priority over another Chevy dealer in the same area who didn't make the investment. Is it a risk for them to carry a large inventory or Corvettes? Sure, and power to them for doing it.
But, compare that to Classic Chevrolet in Denison, TX. Or Sherman Chevrolet just a few miles down the road. Two towns with a combined population far less than Atlantic City or the outskirts of Boston.
Apples and oranges.
Year 2 went to “turn and earn”, the more product you sold the more you received. Submitted sold orders didn’t have any weight. Dealer had to wait for an allocation to get an order picked up by GM for production.
Years 3 and 4 went to Average Daily Supply (ADS), a formula GM uses to determine when a dealer has earned allocations. How many Corvettes a dealer has in stock, how many Corvettes the dealer sold in prior months and age of inventory are part of the equation.
Year 5+ basically still ADS but customer sold orders are getting automatically picked up at times even without allocation. Dealers can request Corvettes and are having good luck getting orders filled without allocation. What happens is, when demand is low, dealers pass up their allocation, Chevy uses those passed up allocations by picking up sold orders and giving the allocations to those who request it.
I expect C8 allocations to go through the same progression, but the timelines may differ.
Kerbeck being in Jersey, MacMulkin in NH.... densely populated areas. I can understand giving them priority over another Chevy dealer in the same area who didn't make the investment. Is it a risk for them to carry a large inventory or Corvettes? Sure, and power to them for doing it.
But, compare that to Classic Chevrolet in Denison, TX. Or Sherman Chevrolet just a few miles down the road. Two towns with a combined population far less than Atlantic City or the outskirts of Boston.
Apples and oranges.
It’s the dealer’s decision to go big and take the risk and specialize in vettes or not. I don’t blame Chevy for a system that caters to the dealers that took the risk and specialized in Vette sales. There are heavily populated areas all over the USA. Les Stanford is one of the largest Vette dealers and located in a cold climate state.
It’s a calculated risk that most dealers rather not take. Malibu’s and trucks are a safe bet, Corvettes are a risky proposition. Atlantic City has a population of under 40,000. It is not unusual for people to drive over 1.5 hours to Kerbeck. Customers outside of Philadelphia, Northern NJ and New York make the trip as well and I have been in the showroom when people have flown to Philly International from Florida and a Kerbeck driver picked them up so they could drive back home.
Would it be nice to have every Chevy dealer stocking Vettes in volume and be able to order what they need whenever they need them as well as get them all in a timely fashion? In a perfect scenario...YES, but due to the limited sales volume of the car, it's not realistic.
Last edited by direct007; Aug 12, 2019 at 03:32 PM.
If a dealer did not oversell their allocation (i.e. they had 150 allocations and took 150 deposits) is there any risk in ordering a late availability configuration (Rapid Blue) and not getting a MY2020 car?
Is there a schedule to determine the dates of the allocation periods? We know what to expect in the first quarter but I don’t know what that means time-wise.
Also, when will production end? I had anticipated the first year would include much overtime. Will GM still try to meet the original planned total and what is that total?
Final DOSP May for Aug TPP
1st '21 DOSP Jun for Sept TPP
Last edited by C8Jake; Dec 31, 2019 at 02:44 PM.




















