Back in January, there were reports that a small portion of Chevrolet dealerships would earn the right to sell the all-new 2014 Corvette Stingray. Now, a report coming in from Automotive News claims that just 900 of the 3,000-plus Chevrolet dealerships in America will see the C7 Corvette in its showroom.
These 900 dealership eared their allocation rights by meeting GM’s criteria of selling four Corvette models in 2012, along with ponying up $2,000 to train a staff member to become a “Corvette Stingray specialist.” Though after the initial six to nine months of the new Corvette being on the market, allocation could open up to more dealers, but there’s no telling for sure.
Comments
Now this is a good move. I’ve noticed that the Chevy dealerships that sell a lot of Vettes also tend to be the ones that have constantly renovated or new showroom buildings. They also tend to have more of a “premium” atmosphere as well. I also noticed that the Dealerships that push the Vette hard and have a decent inventory of them on the lot, and also have a good selection of Hi-Po and Specialty Chevy models of all types. Like the Zl1 for instance.
There’s a Dealership in Union city Georgia that I always visit when i’m in town and they had FOUR ZL1s! Two convertibles and two coupes. As well as TWO ZR1s and a few Z06s and 3-4 GS’s. They had a 50/50 split of SS Camaros to the V6 models, with many of them having dealer installed stripe, and appearance packages.
When I talk to the salesmen, they are very enthusiastic about the cars and seem as willing to talk cars as sell you one. That’s an uncommon attitude to experience for a gear-head on a new car lot. So much so that I would go out of the way to purchase from that dealer.
I drove 900 miles to buy a 2011 Zo6, Carbon Limited edition from this same dealer. Great deal and a good value trade-in on my 2009, Z06.
Glad my local dealer is #1 corvette dealer in New England and one of the top dealers in the country. They have dozens of corvettes in the showroom
Well I do understand where Chev. is coming from.For you folks in the larger areas great.However I live in a area where I would have to drive 2-3 hrs for a dealer.I have seen Chev.say this before and then back off.
Yes the nicer big vette dealers should get theirs first but I have owned 13 new vettes as well as over 100 new Gen.cars and trucks I want to and will only buy from my local dealer who is a great dealership.
I don,t want the first but 4-5 months after intro I wll have one.Cheers
This has been true about Vettes for a long time, if you live in Frosbite Falls Idaho, or East Jesus Texas your dealer won’t be getting one. You’ll have to go to a major metro market, as always.
My local dealer has already had to tell 2 people that he can’t sell them a vette. This is good news for large dealers. If my small town dealer had sold 1 more he wouldn’t had to tell 2 people to drive 1 1/2 hours to a bigger dealer who sold 1 more vette. Makes no sense, If someone has check book ion hand any dealer should be able to place an order. I’m not talking about one to set in the window, these would go straight onto the road
Serra in Grand Blanc, MI will be selling VIN number 002
We have a Dealer that carries over 50 Vettes 4 or more are always Zr1’s and thet some times have 7 or 8 Zo6 models and lots of GrandSports. That is where I will be droppen my $$$!
How is this going to work in Canada ! I suspect somehow GM Canada will find some way to use this to justify a further price increase for Corvette, which are already 30 – 40 % higher than in the USA !
And also strangely, maybe the Camaro production being moved to the USA (despite cheaper production costs in Canada) might make them cheaper here. Presently they are like, $10K cheaper in…say…Texas than they are @ the dealer here next to the plant !
Whatever happened to free trade ? Seems to work going across the border into the States but not back our way ! What gives Alex ? Our politicos are silent on this and GM claims it’s because of economies of scale…but if that’s the case them why are a lot of GM parts cheaper here ? Is the fix in or what ? When our dollar was 60 % of yours the prices were as high as they are now and we were promised lower prices when the dollars were closer, now they are and prices are not only not lower but are climbing…
“How is this going to work in Canada !”
Probably the same way as it’s going to be implemented down in the ‘States, with adjustments for our smaller Corvette demand. Perhaps 2 – 3 lucky dealers per province, the Atlantics get 3 to fight over, and the Territories get nothing.
“These 900 dealership eared their allocation rights by meeting GM’s criteria of selling four Corvette models in 2012, along with ponying up $2,000 to train a staff member to become a “Corvette Stingray specialist.” ”
It’s not exactly mind blowing.
Good thing they don’t sell the display model from the NY show- they’re probably still trying to get my drool off of the hood! Great car, looks SO much better than any photos can convey.
Stingray Chevrolet in Plant City was allocated nearly 100 for the 1st model year. We were the #2 Corvette dealer in the US in 2011 and #7 in 2012. We generally carry an inventory of 80+ Vettes. We will be selling the new Vette with $0 markup above MSRP. If you want 1 but don’t want to pay over sticker, you know where to go.
Usually I think limiting a product to select dealers only is a terrible job by the Mfg.? In this case I agree with it. Why? This new Corvette needs to sell right now. Allowing several thousand of them to sit around as “showroom candy” at small and even medium sized dealers does not accomplish that. I also have read that dealers were told of the sales requirements a year ago, so no real surprise, if you did’nt move some 2013’s, then you get no allocation.
We’re not talking about floor candy. We’re talking about dealers with customer with a check book in hand having to say “NO”. This is Chevy punishing the dealers they wanted to close a few years ago…
Bad idea. Why should I not be able to buy from the dealer in my town where I buy my company trucks and family cars, and who supports the local Lions club, schools, little league, etc?? GM blew this one for sure. Do they really want me to drive to the big, high pressure dealer in the city where, from my past experience, I will be treated like a number and not be happy? And the dealer in my town outsells the city guy in trucks by a lot, so does that mean he will get the new 2014 Silverados while the city dealer doesn’t? After all whats fair one way should be fair the other.
Anyhow GM, keep doing this type of thing and you might just lose me altogether. Ford and Dodge do build trucks you know.
Well you could buy from a dealer that is getting them, have it shipped to your local dealer whom you like, and allow him to display it for a few days. It might be their only chance to show a new 2014 Stingray sooner. Granted when it comes in, their time with it might be brief after you see it. Since they will be a scarce commodity at first, GM has the right to allocate the C7s to where there have been the most sales or are willing to put forth the effort to maintain high standards.
Question: How would the potential depositors truly know if their dealer has received their letter of allocation as one of the chosen dealerships for the first run? A dealer could simply say they are and are really not. Let say this fraudulent dealer collects 100 deposits at $1,000 each, thats $100,000. GM should post the names of the dealership that received the letter to help prevent fradulent activity by dealerships. Could you image how angry somone would be to find out 9-10 months later that the dealer they gave their deposit to weren’t one of the selected ones? In addition, these dealership that are the chosen ones show give the customer their position number in the line of orders.
Any dealer that did that would probably be hit with so much bad publicity that up front they would not want to expose themselves to the liability it would bring.
From my understanding the same thing happened when the new Camaro was introduced. We shall hope the dealership will be very honest in dealing with the Stingray. But again, all this can be avoided if Chevy would list the names of the dealership that will be receiving first shipments. What’s the big secret?
Another question – will GM build C7s by deposit date or spread them initially around to all of those 900 dealers? No doubt some of the biggest have a lot of names, but the smaller ones just a few. If you’re 20 names back at the larger dealer, is it worse then being first at a smaller one that applied for them later?