The 2018 model year of Corvette has just begun, but customers and dealerships looking to place an order will be met with silence.
Cars Direct reports all 2018 C7 Corvette orders are on hold as the Bowling Green, Kentucky assembly plant shuts down for three months beginning in August. The plant will go idle while work is completed on the Corvette plant’s new paint shop. While the paint shop is the official reasoning, many rumors say the plant is also retooling the facility for mid-engine Corvette production.
Dealerships will be able to once again place orders for 2018 Corvettes beginning in September, but the cars won’t arrive until the end of this year, possibly in late November at the earliest.
The Bowling Green plant also suspended plant tours for 18 months on June 16 of this year while a new tour route is created to coincide with the plant’s paint shop.
The cutoff date to place an order for a 2018 Corvette was June 12, but for those who missed it, some patience will be needed.
Moving opposite to market trends.
With four model years recommended for purchase.
This example is a former NCRS award winner.
Many automakers oppose right-to-repair laws citing cybersecurity concerns.
Breaking out the spec sheets for a comparison.
View Comments
Plant tours suspended for 18 months. Got to be something much more than just a new paint shop.
Great to see that GM has the capital to do big things.
C8 is coming
Seems they realized the C-7 was a less than iconic representative of the brand!!!!!!! Time to re-tool, re-brand and move to the C-8 which will shine for at least the next decade.....................The Camaro.........ooops C-7 will fall like a rock in the market $$$$$$$
I own a C6 Grand Sport but I will be the first to admit that the C7 is a stunning car and the best Corvette ever built to-date. I certainly don't see any reason that the C7 won't hold its value as well as previous models have.
Did you read the article? Did you understand it?
This is not saying anything about the C7, and it's especially not saying anything about it being more or less iconic, representative, or whatever.
The C7 is not being discontinued but it is no longer being produced on the old line. It will begin production at the same plant but on a new, and much-improved and modernized line after the re-tooling. That is what this is about.
"Seems they realized the C-7 was a less than iconic representative of the brand!"
How? It looks and performs just like a Corvette, and is even better than past Corvettes.
Yes, the C7 is a better Corvette than even the ones you hold dear inside your little pointy head.
The plant is removing the old Corvette assembly line during the 13 week shut down and installing an entirely new assembly line. This shut down is not simply to complete work on the new paint shop, but is an entire renovation of the assembly process. C7 production to this point has been at 17.3 cars per hour. That will drop to 12 cars per hour on the new assembly line with a focus on a higher quality build.
Cool, I was a real owner, stranger things have happened
Well this can mean several things.
One the line is changing to change to the C8 but the may be doing the plan to offer the Zc7 and C8 at the same time and phase the C7 out over time. The new line may support both models.
Or they may just be getting the line ready for the change when the 19 arrives.
Either way it will be interesting to watch what happens.