Have no fear, the GM Bowling Green plant will be working long and hard to ensure supply of the 2017 C7 Corvette and its variants does not fall short ahead of a scheduled plant shutdown.
Corvette Blogger reports the Corvette assembly plant will shut down for “several months” later this year in order to complete essential assembly line upgrades. The shutdown is expected to occur at the end of the 2017 model year, which would have the lines go idle in June. The plant will be shut down for around three months.
It’s likely that this shutdown will implement the $290 million investment GM earmarked for the plant last summer, in which the automaker stated it would “upgrade and modify the plant’s vehicle assembly operations with new technologies and processes.”
The plant will likely go online just in time for the 2018 model year of Corvette, which is expected to bring an all-new, 2018 C7 Corvette ZR1 with it. A 6.2-liter DOHC LT5 V8 engine is expected to be under the hood of this new Corvette, too.
The plant’s assembly line has remained mostly unchanged since the start of C5 Corvette production in 1997, likely meaning that these upgrades have been a long time coming.
Comments
Cash customer. SHARPEN your pencil
All customers, better step up now and order if you want to be able to specify your equipment and color.
If the zr1 is a 2018 model vehicle. When will it be unveiled? Chicago? New York?
Word has been Road America.
Any RHD models? RHD Mustangs are making a killing in Australia… 🙁
Just got back from the Factory, I built my LT4 engine with Regular Production Option PBC and the spent 3 days following my Z06 through assembly finishing up Friday 4/28 by selecting option PD5. They have already boarded line 3 in the Performance Build Center engine assembly area and I saw some assembly support equipment removed for relocation or demolition. I’m most likely in the last group of customers scheduled to be in the factory building engines and taking part in the buyers tour. A co-worker called Tuesday May 2 inquiring about coming up for engine build ASAP and they told him no, it’s not avaiable for 18 months at best. I loved the experience and would highly recommend it.
http://s2.photobucket.com/user/mjdart/slideshow/2017%20Corvette%20Z06%20LT4%20Engine%20Build%20Experience
Engine Build Experince Photo Bucket Slide Show