Chevrolet dealers will begin taking orders for the 2021 Corvette as of today, according to a message that General Motors sent to dealers in March.
That message indicated that 2021 Corvette ordering capability will be deployed 30 days ahead of schedule on Thursday, May 21st, 2020. The GM note said the “purpose in advancing the 2021 Model Year ordering is to enable you and your existing customer to create a replacement 2021 Model Year order,” as some customers may not receive their 2020 model year car due to production delays, or may decide to not take delivery of it if the wait is too long.
The same memo also indicated that “further information will be forthcoming from Chevrolet regarding the handling of sold (SRE) 2020 Model Year that we will be unable to accept, and the creation of a replacement 2021 Model year sold order.”
Additionally, GM was forced to close down the 2020 Corvette order books early due to the demand for the new mid-engine sports car and the various setbacks it has experienced in ramping up production of the car.
“Due to an overwhelming response to the all-new 2020 Corvette and to avoid false customer expectations, it will be necessary to suspend the ability to create a sold order (SRE) beginning March 18, 2020,” the GM note also said.
A few changes have already been announced for the 2021 Corvette, including the addition of a Stingray R graphics package, new interior colors, new paint color and stripe options as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. Last year, rumors surfaced that GM was going to raise the base price of the 2021 Corvette from the $59,995 price tag of the 2020 model-year car. It’s not clear if the price will actually go up, or by how much if it does, and GM has not commented on the rumors at this point.
The Bowling Green Assembly plant in Kentucky will restart production of the 2020 Corvette next week after a two-month shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. GM has not made any 2020 Corvette Convertible customer cars to date, but it plans to begin building the drop-top cars starting July 13th.
UPDATE: following the publication of this article, we have received messages from several Chevrolet dealerships confirming that they are unable to officially order the 2021 Corvette at this time, despite the originally planned on-sale date of May 21st. In addition, we have reached out to General Motors for clarification on the matter, but have yet to receive a reply. We’ll update the article as soon as we obtain more information.
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Comments
Hopefully they prioritize paint colors that won’t make the jump.
I avoided in part because my Sky is still running great (but showing its age), and in part because of things like dashgate. (Plus I’m still half hoping Super Cruise starts to surface).
But I’d be enraged if my order was in danger of getting cancelled, and the color being replaced with a different one. On a car that can easily graze the six figures.
From what I’ve read previously, only the dark red and the silver colors from the 2020 palette are going to be changed to slightly different shades , but, all the other 2020 colors are supposed to stay the same
I ordered 7/23 and had a build date 3/23 which obviously didn’t happen. I am hoping I am set for a build in the 1st week of 5/26…however GM
Is unable to give me a revised date..
Received a e-mail to check back in mid June??
Now looking at July delivery pushing 1 yr…
Update please, Gene F. – You should have heard about your car by now. 7/12/2020.
I’m not the go-to expert but review the go-to exoerts constantly. If you have a pre-order with a deposit that is a 2020, according to a Corvette Concierge I spoke with personally, your car will be a 2020 and it will be in the color you asked for. Nothing will be changed unless you ordered ground effects. AF
Fake news! The 2021 orders didn’t start up. Dealer inventory managers have NO clue when 2021 C8 orders will be taken….
Beg to differ. There have been solid announcement that 2021 orders have a definite start date. The date is out there but I’m not going to do your homework for you on this one. But don’t spread mis-information because it drives Conti crazy!
You wouldn’t know how to do my homework for me. The GM “workbench” isn’t and won’t be accepting MY21 C8 orders for at least several weeks.
Today; haha
A Ford, Fred is rite!!!
But since you know it …??!! go ahead & do “his homework”!!!
As of 2day, 7/25/2020 GM is still NOT TAKING ORDERS 4 the 2021/22 or 3 Corvette. llf
You make a great point. I mean, this is not McLaren we are talking about. This is the Chevrolet Corvette. I don’t know this to be true at all. But if I accept all of the people’s opinions who write in to GM authority as factual, never has a car that has now produced over 4,000 vehicles been so difficult to get. Ion Frank is doing his homework and paying attention! AF
I got my order form today for the 2021 …
A person I talked with yesterday and who’s planning to buy one told me today was the first day he could order one, and he was planning to.
Haha. My cousins uncles sister heard of a guy, or was it gal? who actually ordered one. Hasn’t got it but he says his dads dad told him he may get in the future. If he goes exactly 88mph, he may, according to my aunt, get it. Color, options, mileage may vary. I can hardly wait!!
Fake news! The 2021 orders didn’t start up. Dealer inventory managers have NO clue when 2021 C8 orders will be taken….
Lots of folks have already paid once and got their money back and like those of us who restrained from handing over money for nothing we are becoming a group of Corvette people who are learning how to hate Chevrolet. Like the Toyota billboard says why wait for a non existent c8 buy your supra today we have them in stock. there I did it. I’m sorry my brothers and sisters but enough is enough. Release the c8 2021!!!!!!!!!!!!
wikkid, just in time for WINTER!
HTC originally scheduled for 4/7, now hopefully will receive just a few weeks prior to winterizing. Everyone is in the same boat. This isn’t a GM problem, but a world problem.
Come on with the Convertibles already! We’re going to miss the whole summer.
Convertibles to be built in July, according to GM. I suspect a convertible or two will be built before that, but have no evidence to support that idea.
If you go to the right person, you can order a 2021 with the new color. But that is not a GM decision or opportunity.
I deserve the thumbs down for a lack of clarity. A couple of big Corvette sellers stated that they’d take orders for a 2021, but this is or was apparently ahead of the official date as authorized by GM. Also the C8’s have as of the last few days been seen on carriers moving out to provide promised Stingrays to customers who’ve waited a long time. Whether it was fair or not, when someone decided that they did not want to go through with their purchase of the C8, it made it possible for me to get that one. So I didn’t get to option the car myself, but I can tolerate the options that person ordered for himself. Then I was starving for a C8 enough to pay whatever the bump the dealer wanted over list. Despite having done this, I’m not sorry. Yet, I have some growing pains with the car and may still not be out of the woods because of a possible drain on the electrical system, “…somewhere.” AF
Is BG currently (June 3rd) producing 2020 C8s , the article states they will begin production in the next few weeks. What happened to the May 26th restart. If they are already taking orders for the 2021 looks as if it would be a better idea to concentrate on building the 2020 C8s that we have already ordered and are anxiously waiting for delivery. June 1st I also chatted with the Corvette Concierge and received the same noncommittal story I was during my early May chat. I wish we could get a straight answer aside from all the rumors floating around.
GM has announced that, due to the various production stoppages during the past 12 months, once C8 production resumes, it will continue through November, 2020, for the 2020 model year. There will also C8 convertibles assembled during that time. Come November, 2020, the BG plant will likely close down for a few days only, in order to retool for the 2021 model year production, which means the 2021 models will likely be arriving at Chevrolet dealers in mid-to-late December or early January, 2021.
I would like to order the 2021 corvette stingray
I’m sure your local Chevrolet dealer is willing to take your deposit money for a 2021 Corvette right now.
James. Contact Mike Furman; he’ll give you a good deal.
My car was built 6/25/20,left the plant 7/10 enroute to Kansas City ramp…
ETA Mira Loma rail 7/15/20… From Their it shall be transported to Longbeach ca within a few days.
Gene F. — This is absolutely awesome! Very cool that you are tracing each stop. Once it gets to Mira Loma, It should be there within 2 days, I’m guessing. I don’t see why you shouldn’t get notice of its arrival, no later than July 20. Just some adrenaline rushing that another So Cal C8 Stingray owner is about to take delivery. Please have the battery properly and completely charged. On the dash, my batter show on the left side Drivers Information Center about 12.5 or 12.6 volts and after taking it out and getting it home, even after the car’s alternator is charging the battery, it seems to require the actual corvette battery maintainer to keep the thing charged up. Best wishes and enjoy it. What was that color again? AF
ALEX, buy a FORD!
I have a Ford. It is a 2001 Mustang Bullitt, Black with 97 thousand miles on it. Only came in a 5-Speed. Came with a great radio. I rebuilt the engine with all forged pieces. I stayed with the stock 4.6 liter engine. Put in a very nice shifter. This was my first sporty car. Then I purchased a Porsche, 11 years later, a 991/911 Carrera with Sport Chrono, lots of leather and a PDK. Factory horse power is 350. Top Speed: 178 miles per hour. About 4.3 sec in the Zero to 60 category. Finally the C8 which I took home April 14. I kept the two earlier cars. All of that out of the way, Chevy is currently working its butt off to attempt to locate the problem in the infotainment center. Don’t know if it is the radio module or another component of the electrics. No when it comes to the actual driving, I’m actually an average driver and no better. So by the time I’m flooring the car (in Mexico) and have reached 70 miles per hour and then keep it floored, the car scoots towards 100 so fast with me pinned to the seat, that it scares the living daylights out of me. a couple of seconds later, I’m off the gas and bringing the Stingray down to human speeds. My Porsche observe 125 in its history of my driving it. The Bullitt: 140 miles per hour; The Corvette found a way to 115. The C8 corners the best (sorry, my 911); it accelerates the best, has the best top speed; best stereo system; Porsche has the best leather; Ford was the best value at 29,000.00 although that was in 2001 dollars; Corvette cost the most because I paid a premium; and the Porsche was, new, 118,000. I’ve never regretted buying either of these three cars; that’s why I still have them. Still, to be a 25 years old classic, the Bullitt still has six years to go. Thus far, I can compared the Corvette Stingray with other cars: they all fall miserably short of the Corvette in everything, except the interior, where the Corvette finishes a very small amount behind the 911. Thus I have a very pleasant problem: which car do I drive and how often? AF
I placed an order for a 2020 C8 in August of 2019 and have not heard a thing about it. Nothing. I have called GM and they had my order number and I was recently informed the car will not be built. I am just going to get my deposit from the dealership and get a Porsche. I’m tired of the run around, no information and lack of service from GM and I am a lifelong GM customer and son of a 37 year GM employee. They have lost me.
I got my deposit back from the dealer a few weeks ago. After holding a few thou$and from me for 10 months, the dealer had no idea when my car would be built. So I contacted Chevy directly. The rep confirmed “your order has been accepted for production” so I asked “okay, when will it be built?” – the Chevy rep said “I don’t know.”
I told her “I’ve been reading that some 2020 orders will be built as 2021 models – is that true?, and if so, is my order one of those?”
The Chevy rep said “I can’t give you any more information.”
Keep in mind, THIS IS THE *MANUFACTURER* of the product. If they don’t know, WHO DOES?
After that phone call I contacted the dealer and cancelled the order and got my deposit back. NOT WORTH THE GRIEF. If they were trying to purposely sabotage their brand’s reputation, they could not do a better job. I say this as a 60+ year-old guy who has ordered several new vehicles from different brands over the years.
The most recent gaffe from these clowns is “we’re accepting 2021 orders!” Go ahead and call a few dealers and ask “when will the 2021 model production start – when will the 2021 models hit the road?” NEXT FREAKING SUMMER! ONE YEAR FROM NOW.
Good gawd. They cannot execute their own business. No one wants to order a car that will arrive at the end of the model year. And no one wants to order a car, wait 10 months and have the dealer and the manufacturer HAVE NO IDEA when a delivery might happen.
Very disorganized and poorly-run business. Options? Lotus Evora GT. Porsche 911. Others.
This is one time, Tom, where there would be no point of attempting to talk you out of what you are doing. To be treated the way you have been treated is unacceptable, especially considering your long time support of GM. Until I kept looking for ways to get an order through and delivered, I had no idea of all the intricacies which potential customers don’t know about which impacts receiving a C8. Explained by Mike Davenport, best, and perhaps Rick Corvette Conti a little bit, I now realize that ordering from a top three Corvette seller is the first and most obvious thing that should have been done. Secondly, optioning the car with items that would not take it out of the line and would put it at 3000 status sooner, rather than later are all things we know now but didn’t know then. Hope you get a GTS or something like that. The standard Carrera will not keep up with the Corvette, nor will the GT4 Caymen. But the Porsche is still a great car, no matter what anyone says. I still own a standard 2012 Carrera 991. Best wishes with whatever you decide to do.
told everyone ages ago. ordering a C8 IS BS!!!!!BUY A PORSCHE!!!!
If they are going to start the 2021 production run in November of this year for the base C8 that is good news. Has anyone heard anything about if/when a Z06 model might be in the offing?
I saw the price increases that were leaked. Extra 1000 for the z51 and 500 more for the lift. the configurator and visualizer still hasn’t been updated to 2021. the red mist tint is 995.
As further follow up
My car ended up being built 6/25….I picked it up from the dealer 7/20.
Deposit to delivery was 359 days…Just passed the 500 mile break in…being 8th Vette owned
This is one impressive beast…For those of you who missed the cut on yr 2020, as impatient
and pissed over the delays as I was ,YES it was
Well worth the wait….Hang in their guys!
This is Alex Ford, Greg. I’ve learned a whole lot about the C8 business in the last several months. It would take a couple of books to put it all down in writing. You did what you did based on the information that you had at the time and that is not a bad thing. Between GM Authority and the Corvette Conti vlog and a few others, here is what I learned as it relates to the situation that you were in prior to getting your deposit back. First, there was a statement that your car was being built. In your presentation above you didn’t mention a couple of things or I somehow missed them. Firstly with that statement I’d want a little more information. The Corvette Concierge has both the time and the access to give you more information. I utilized the Corvette Concierge, several times. Things that I received from the Corvette Concierge (CC) included the code number of my 2020 C88 build. Each time I asked my salesman for anything, he either didn’t know or would ask someone and get back to me. Those were his promises. Sometimes and I mean not frequently, he kept his promises. I got the phone number (not hard to get) and called and explained the problems I was having with the dealer. Once I had the car’s code, the Concierge was able to provide for me the date that the computerized option/price list was reviewed by GM and then coded for acceptance as a proper build. Later (three weeks or so) I called again. Although asking for things like the allocation and the build week they wouldn’t give me, They did finally provide me with the date that the car was coded 3000. If I recall, and someone tells you that your car will be built, if you call the CC, she will tell you the date that the 3000 code was assigned to your car. Again, Corvette Conti on YouTube supplied every code, even the obscure ones and also what those codes mean. 3000 status is described by most as, “…just one of the codes.” Corvette Conti described it as the most important code in the entire process. It means that Chevrolet has committed to build your car as configured and priced. It does not assign a date. There are codes for that, but they come later. That 3000 code means that unless the line is shut down again, for an emergency impacting the entire production and the whole nation, your car will be built. That means, instead of have done only what you did as stated in you comment, you would have or could have benefited from contacting the CC. From there, all you had to do was deduce that the car would be built between that moment that you knew that the car was coded 3000 and November 4, the date of the end of the production run for the much anticipated and sought after Corvette 2020 C8 Stingray. After that is was simply a matter of patience and waiting. Now after the fact isn’t much help t o you I know. But prior to giving up, please, in the future, obtain more information. And although, “…The Book,” or the manuals say one thing, there is often another thing out there. Given the double stop in production, and in spite of what many believe to be true, I believe Chevrolet did what it could to attempt to get these cars out. AF
Alex Ford… Too many apologist around. I suspect most of the apologist have a vested interest in their defense of the indefensible. Production planning isn’t that difficult to do for a company as large as GM, especially considering they have been doing the car production thing for a few years now. (This includes the OLD GM that went bankrupt in 2010)
According to published data GM supports a payroll of 160,000 people. Yet GM can’t even find a couple of those employees and/or contractors that understand how to update their build page from 2020 to 2021 even though they are in theory accepting 2021 orders. This to me is inexplicable given that I’m certain I could make the minor changes involved in less than a day. This is insane. There’s also no excuse to treat customers like they were mushrooms.
Now let’s talk about the GM culture that has been, that is and that will be. The “flying frunk” lid is a serious issue with the potential to kill people. Some owners of the 2020 C8s are literally scared to drive their new C8’s because they don’t want to die! As of a week ago there are 7 NHSTA “flying frunk” incident reports where 7 different have filed a complaint because their front trunk lid flew open while driving. GM’s response to this is: “It was the drivers fault”. I’m an engineer and I have seen the design of the front lid latches and have seen videos where it is undeniably NOT the drivers fault. So the New GM is basically the same OLD GM! Nothing gets fixed regardless how serious or deadly the problem is until GM is either forced to fix it by the NHSTA or the problem becomes more expensive than the fix. I believe that people are going to have to die before this “Flying Frunk” lid problem will be taken seriously by GM.
Dealerships: GM uses the same tired independently owned franchise model it’s been using for decades. It allows its franchisees to run rampant and employ all sorts of underhanded, if not illegal sales tactics when preying upon GM customers and in doing so they continue to destroy the GM brand. What is GM doing about this? NOTHING!
The NEW GM stock performance has never sustained a price above it’s original IPO in 2010 after it was bailed out despite the fact that all the major stock indices have soared since 2010. This is very telling and tells me that GM is surviving and not thriving which is being kind and generous to GM. Sorry to say, but GM is simply a One Pony Show incapable of real change.
Hi Fred – I read what you wrote and I have no historical information or authority to dispute what you say. Me? I’ve never been interested in a GM product. What I bought was an American car. This car was American know how. What had been a halo car for GM became a super car and car of the year for 2020. Along the way, GM did better than it has ever done, at least since some of the incredible cars of the mid to late 50’s and the early to middle sixties, when they cranked out fresh car designs. I never was into truck and have never liked SUV’s. I always believed that all the reasons for most people buying those were just excuses and kind of just wasted the resources on out planet. Like Jay Leno, I believe it is time for Corvette to become a motor company on its own, a spin-off of GM and sell its own stock and cares. GM is realizing that there’s no profit in pushing out new product in the gasoline market. It’s clearly pushing to electric vehicles. What all that means, I leave to the other commenters who check out multiple blogs and vlogs for their opinions and predictions and their both making and reporting of the news. AF
I ordered a 2021 convertible yesterday. I am in no hurry and plan on March/April. Is that realistic? Based on what I have read they are producing 90-115 cars per day and have also just started a second shift. Is there any orders for 2020 that only took 4-5 months once ordered? Prior to covid. Any other info would be greatly appreciated.
Sounds about right. I did the numbers and am expecting mine Feb at the earliest.
NOTE: All the flippers and “premium” + MSRP are going to hop on this reply and tell me I’m crazy. i.e. ALL SOLD OUT TILL CHRISTMAS 2025, etc…. Just a bunch of marketing hype when they do. The numbers also told me that you might see some 2020’s sitting on dealer lots at the end of this year at MSRP. Some have said that the 2020 1LT is already available at MSRP. But who wants a 1LT? LOL
If you haven’t received your 2020 Corvette you ordered ,then you will get a 2021 unless you decline ..There are two new colors replacing 2020 models . You might not receive if ordered a High rear wing because they are back ordered .. Also the 2021 you can not get the ground effects package .Base prices remain the same ,some Access packages will be higher ..
I paid my deposit to get on the list in September but can’t get any real info from the dealer. is there any chance that I will get a 2021?
RK
Robert L. Knifght – It all depends upon with whom you placed your deposit. Over the months, the certainty of receipt of the C8, often (and unfairly) depends upon with whom you placed your order. A top 5 dealer is a must, for insureance. AF