Despite incredible performance models like the Z06 and newly introduced ZR1, the 2019 C7 Corvette isn’t selling well. In fact, the sports car is on track to post its fourth year of declining sales.
But, a future car might be the problem, that being the all-but-confirmed mid-engine C8 Corvette. Automotive News reported Monday that eager fans might be waiting to put a mid-engine Corvette in their driveway, rather than purchase a C7 Corvette now. Rumors of the next-generation Corvette moving to a mid-engine layout have persisted for the last few years.
Although General Motors has not confirmed a mid-engine Corvette is coming, the car has quickly become the industry’s worst-kept secret. Prototype mules continue to test in the open with heavy camouflage and numerous leaks have given us a closer look at what to expect from the brand’s banner sports car.
To bolster the argument that the sales slippage can be partially blamed on the future car, Kelly Ryan, president of the Corvette Club of America, said, “club members are “looking forward to the whole new engineering, approach and concept that the mid-engine Corvette is offering.”
But, the Corvette still faces one major problem: a graying audience. 60 percent of C7 Corvette buyers in the last five years were aged 55 and older. This year, 30 percent of buyers were 65 or older, up from 28 percent in 2013. A mid-engine car might bring a younger crowd into the mix, even if it alienates the car’s core audience.
Comments
The Vette never really had any major competition until recently with Tesla and the Hellcat…While they’re two different segments of cars, the Tesla/Hellcat do offer more space/practicality…
Heck, I believe most on here would rather have a ZL1 over a base Vette…
“The Vette never really had any major competition until recently with Tesla and the Hellcat”
Mercedes SL
Porsche 911
Acura NSX
Audi R8
Ford GT
Any 8 cylinder Ferrari
Any 8 cylinder AM Vantage
What the hell are you smoking to think the Corvette has habitually lived in a vacuum for the last 65 years?
Tesla? hahahahaahahahahaha The same car that is built in a tent with hammers and people?
Hellcat
Nice try sneaking in the Tesla fanboy propaganda via the Hellcat name, but we are not fooled by you. Looks like Tesla fanboys are getting desperate.
Well who figured this one out?
Every new Vette leads to a major decline in sales of the present model. In this case it is the biggest change in the Cars entire history.
Most will wait for the new car price and options. Most will wait to have the first and latest.
GM tries to hide new Vette info as much as possible not to hurt sales of the present car but in this case the change is impossible to hide to most of average intelligence.
The first thing will be the media frenzie on the new car. Next the I have got to pay three times too much to have the first one buyers and then it will go from there.
At first half will liv3 it half will hate and in 6 months 90% will be fine with it.
We see this every time.
The Demon, Hellcat and Tesla have nothing to do with this.
The one real factor will be what will the non traditional Vette fans think and will they buy not just here but globally.
Guess it would be too much to ask to keep a C7 style front engine along with the C8 and offer both cars? See which will be more popular. Just a thought.
I expect a targa to first appear and later a convertible. In saying this the C7 roadster will live till the C8 is ready.
Slow sales could even slow speed up the ne roadster.
Got to fix the Corvette demographics and make it appealing to the 911/R8 crowd. No more successful pumbers.
2nd string fry cook at Wendy’s^
Don’t be so defensive. The Corvette needs broader appeal and simply does not get consideration from a big group of very profitable people. Cadillac faces the same problem.
The problem is the core group is getting older and Chevy/Tadge is looking to tap into the younger segment that has made their money.
They are buying Audi and low end Mclarens now.
Might also be that GM is not filling dealers lots with inventory. Very short 2018 model year and 2019s slow to deliver, color changes as late as October. Dealers can’t sell from an empty basket.
There are Vette dealers out there with tons of abetted. They sell them and others can dealer trade for them.
If you really want one you can get one in any color.
cars in the USA sold only directly from the dealers premises?
And not by ordering bespoke mixes of features, with potentially months of time to wait for the actual delivery?
You really are a mentally disturbed Canadian with a huge American inferiority complex. Obsessed with America this and America that…So sad. What a waste of life.
If Corvette is going to now have two models, the C7 and the C8 mid engine, the sooner GM confirms that, the better. If the C8 is going to be priced significantly higher, then those Corvette buyers who are in the $60,000 to $80,000 range would potentially buy now and not wait around for a C8 they don’t want to afford.
I think Corvette should have the C7 and the C8. Like Porsche has the Boxster and the 911.
The demographics of older buyers of the vette are older because of price and being able to afford such things in an inflated market. You constantly hear about wanting a high powered rear drive monster but when you deliver it…. “It needs to be mid engine.” Really? I hope they do not go mid engine. The only people saying this is the same people who defend “its more balanced” and are usually euro blind fools who spend 4 and 5 times what they should for a proper sports car. Dollar to a doughnut says those are the same folks that will say “It’s a competent sports car with a cheap feeling interior.” Sound familiar? I say keep the vette true to its American heritage and let those mid engine trailer queens enjoy life behind glass.
I think you will find the base C8 in the $70k to 80k range when it arrives. Just moving the engine is not we’re the cost is.
High price mid engine are high priced due to things like carbon tuns and low volumes. Or like Ferrari just because they can get the price.
“The demographics of older buyers of the vette are older because of price and being able to afford such things in an inflated market.”
Wrong. It’s a fallacy to think that older age means greater disposable income. There are many, many people much younger than you and I with the means to buy expensive sports cars.
Besides, a higher price means a better cachet for the Corvette. If you’re worried about price when shopping for a Corvette, you shouldn’t be looking at Corvettes in the first place.
i thought value was always one of the corvette’s selling points.
Value is relative.
For what you get and what it will do it is only 1/3 the price.
Today nothing is cheap anymore. Even a Miata is not cheap.
Not long ago having a conversation with my 39 year old son, we were (maybe it was me) talking about the Corvette and how the current models are priced out of the market for the younger buyers. He stated, “That is why you get a Camaro, the poor mans Corvette”. He hit the nail on the head.
I’m in the graying segment that is mentioned above. Perhaps Harley Davidson and the heads of Corvette should be talking to one another to how to deal with the baby boomer market that will eventually go away, whether we omit to it or not.
In the1960’s Corvettes really got the eye on the new generation of buyers and in my eye the 1964 Stingray Convertible was jaw dropping. Nothing like it before. Though they were priced higher than most cars, they were still in within reach. A lot of guys back from Vietnam and some before they were shipped off to SE Asia, bought a Corvette. Nowadays, no doubt the Camaro is priced all over the segment and many can afford one. The future Corvettes has to influence the new generation will want one, but no at the expense of remortgaging the house, especially when student loans need to be paid off. Not sure if a lease payment can be had either.
In this day of $35k Malibu 4 cylinders you are not going to see a Vette below $50k. If you did would you really want it?
There is a large amount of disposable income with 30 to 50 year olds but there is much more competition for it. The trick is to get them interested over the product of the other brand.
To this generation that grew up with Lambo hot wheels they are looking for more than the same old Corvette. They need something new and exciting to attract their dollar.
The C7 is the retirement car for dad to them.
It would be different if Chevrolet announced that the C8 Corvette was actually a new model and that they would continue building and developing the current front engine rear-drive car; but since Chevrolet hasn’t made such an announcement, everyone who had been thinking of getting a Corvette will wait until the all-new mid-engine car (although one has to think the C7 Corvette ZR1 will become an instant collector’s item once the C8 is introduced).
The big problem with the C7 is that there are a ton of people who had little problem fitting into a C5 or C6 who can’t fit into a C7. They have alienated a decent percentage of bigger / taller would be owners in order to fit more Europeans who 1, dont give a crap about the Corvette and 2, would never consider buying one anyway.
“They have alienated a decent percentage of bigger / taller would be owners in order to fit more Europeans”
Because there are no bigger / taller Europeans, right? None of them are taller than 1.80M or 115KG.
Moron.
Moron or not, the average American is bigger than the average European.
The average Canadian is larger than an American now. Especially when you factor in the higher African American and Hispanic (Mexicans are the fattest people on Earth now) population in the U.S. that skews the weight average.
Sales are bound to decline, the market is totally saturated with C7’s. From MY2014 thru MY2018 more than 150,000 C7’s have been produced. Many “Corvette Guys” are on their 2nd or 3rd C7 already, no need for another one.
Another segment that performance enthusiasts are spending their $$$$, performance SUV’s. Mercedes, BMW and Porsche dominate the business.
From a design standpoint, I don’t completely like the C7; it feels like it is really close to being a great looking car but is let down by a few details. I’d love to see Simcoe tweak and clean-up the Wellburn design that is a bit overwrought for my tastes.
Having said that, I expect, and hope, to see the C7 continue in production along with the C8 as a companion model. Comparable to Porsche or Ferrari that offer several different takes on ultimate performance, I’d like to see the classic front-engine RWD, V8 design continue as the Corvette Stingray alongside the mid-ship configured Corvette Zora.
I’d also like to see a third Corvette variant that is smaller and more akin to a Nissan Z-car and powered by a front-engined V-6 (no not the corporate 3.6!) to introduce a new generation of buyers to the brand. This third model would serve as a gateway into the Corvette club and be priced under $40,000. It is pivotal to the long-term future of the Corvette and will need a fresh design that is every bit as head-turning as the 1963 and 1968 models were in their day.
As I see it, Bill Mitchell created an instant classic with the 1963 design and then went in a totally different direction for 1968 with another stunning design. After he retired, Corvette design has merely evolved from his 1968 formula with successive designs not being the home-runs that the two Mitchell-era cars were. I think a new smaller Corvette is needed with the kind of innovative design that hasn’t been seen in 50 years. The design of the smaller car could then help to lead the Stingray and Zora in a more modern design direction.
If you want to do a smaller roadster send it to Cadillac.
Take an Alpha put a two seat roadster body just a bit larger than the Z4. Make a nice trunk. Give it good back roads GT touring suspension.
Sell it for $50k to $60k to get people willing to give it a chance and not lose another $50k like they did on the XLRv.
Give the Miata people something to move up to. Make it fun to drive but not worry about 11 second 1/4 mile times or 1.17 g on the skid pad.
2018 may be different, but 32,782 were sold in 2017..thats nothing to sneeze at.
Observe7, who told you that you cannot order a car and that you have to take one from the dealer lot? That is incorrect; you can order a ‘vette and get it in within 4 – 6 weeks as of today.