Production of the 2021 Corvette has been pushed back to Monday, November 2nd, several months later than the original start date in September, essentially giving the current 2020 model year an extra two months of production.
The news comes courtesy of Corvette Forum poster “Corvette Ed,” an employee at Fairway Motors in Hazleton, PA, as reported in a recent post from Corvette Blogger. The publication has spoken to the user on Corvette-related matters in the past, and has found his information to be credible.
The 2021 Corvette is the second model year of the eighth-generation vehicle, and will offer a few small changes and updates, including new color options, stripe options, and the addition of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
General Motors has been grappling with backorders of new 2020 Corvettes for months now, with delays first incurred by the UAW workers strike in 2019, and more recently, production suspension in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GM’s Bowling Green Assembly facility in Kentucky, which is the only facility in the world to produce the new mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette, is scheduled to resume production on Tuesday, May 26th. Production of the 2020 Corvette Coupe will continue through the remainder of May, the entirety of June, and the first week of July, while production of the 2020 Corvette Convertible will begin July 13th, as we covered previously. Production of the 2021 Corvette will then begin in November.
So far, only about 2,700 examples of the new C8 have been produced thus far, all of which are Coupe models.
In response to production delays resulting from the UAW strike and COVID-19 pandemic, GM closed order books for the 2020 Corvette on March 18th, and will open order books for the 2021 Corvette today. Per an official message sent to dealers in March, the purpose of advancing 2021 Corvette ordering is to enable the creation of a replacement 2021 model-year order for those customers whose vehicles have been pushed back as a result of the delays.
As we covered earlier this month, GM’s production facility in Bedford, Indiana, which is responsible for producing the 2020 Corvette chassis and suspension components, never fully shut down during the recent North American production idling.
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Comments
The C8 saga continues. From this article it appears the ability to change your non-3000 level 2020 Corvette order to a 2021 order today may no longer be correct. Moving back 2021 ordering to sometime in November means Chevrolet plans on building a lot more 2020 models. So the question is should I tell my dealer to convert my 2020 order to a 2021 or will I now be getting a 2020 as originally ordered? What a dilemma.
The answer to your question is…..YES! Call your dealer immediately and tell him to switch your order to a 2021 C8…..Here’s why…
Who the hell wants a new C8 for only two or three months only to have it become “last years model” ?
You will be one of the 1st to receive your 2021 C8
You may be interested in one or more of the 2021 changes…..
Depreciation……There’s always depreciation no matter what others tell you……Hell, even a RR depreciates………..
Do you remember what they say about cars that sit on an assembly line half built on a Friday, and come back to on a Monday….how about a month or two later………….and
wouldn’t you really rather have a 2021, after all, you’ve waited this long…..
and, the unthinkable, production starts up and someone tests positive on the line, then production shuts down again, this has already happened at Ford. Every time someone tests positive, production will shut down so they can investigate. By November, things should hopefully be better……
Key word is “Hopefully”…
I don’t think they’re getting two extra months of production. They are getting two months of production that they never had. Yesterday’s Corvette Blogger states that convertible production will begin on July 20, not July 13. I’ll prob get my black vert sometime in September. Still hoping.
Cheers!
How boring, a Black one. Now, A Rapid Blue. or Accelerate Yellow….that’s a WOW! factor . Those colors pop! You must be an old fart!
Black is a difficult color to maintain, but, if frequently washed and polished properly, it can look badass!
Saw a black one out in the wild on the highway in NH the other day. Thing was definitely a head turner.
Just messing with ya Karlos….I’m an old fart myself at 75. I currently have two Corvettes …….a Black 2011 ZR1, and a Velocity Yellow 2016 ZO6. Ordered a C8 in Accelerate Yellow with the 3LT Blue and Black interior, Yellow seat belts but I cancelled the order when the plant shut down for COVID19.
I told my dealer to put me on the list for a 2021-2022 C8 ZO6. I want that flat plane crank.
Black is a beautiful color for a Corvette. The best ones are probably Black, White, Accelerate Yellow, and Rapid Blue. You can do some awesome graphics with these colors…..
I also have a 2018 and 2020 CT6 Cadillac Platinum, both in Black Metallic ….best Cadillacs ever, along with the CTS V………………….
The real production issue is the SECOND SHIFT…don’t believe it ever started producing C8s and whether it will start sometime in the near future. GM had more orders than they could produce and the second shift production was their only way to accommodate the volume of orders
My main interest is the RIGHT HAND DRIVE models. Does anybody know if any 2020 FHD Corvettes will be built? Or, will we have to wait for the 2021 model? Aussiejohn
Have you ever just thought about driving on the right side of the road instead? 😉
Tempting, but I want to keep my licence.
Also, isn’t this more of a Holden issue than a Chevy issue? Would the Corvette technically be a Holden and not a Chevy, still GM but different.
h4cksaw, Shouldn’t be a Holden issue. As you should know, Holden stopped making Commodores in its Adelaide plant two years ago and the plant shut its doors, permanently. However, Holden Special Vehicles in Clayton Victoria, is importing Camaros and Silverados and converting them to RHD. The most recent news is that the import of Camaros has stopped, as the cost of the RHD conversion makes them too expensive to compete with the Ford USA built RHD Mustangs, but the trucks are still coming in. The HSV plant has a parallel production line converting the Dodge Rams to RHD, so good is the workmanship at HSV. These Chevrolet trucks are being sold at some of the Holden dealerships, but as a Chevrolet Silverado, NOT a Holden Silverado, so I guess that if GM sends factory built RHD Corvettes to Australia, they would be sold as Chevrolet Corvettes. I would not like to see the Holden name put onto such a classic sports car. I drive a Holden Cruze, same as a Chevrolet Cruze, but RHD. I don;t have a problem with that. Cheers. Aussiejohn
I believe I read a month or two, ago, that the RHD models weren’t likely to begin production until the ’23 models, GM has a lot riding on the new C8, and wants to make sure they get everything right on current production before they introduce RHD cars into the mix, as likely those versions will eventually end up only about 10% of the production run, if that.
Since day one, nothing but disappointing news on C8 production…
Just pray if you own one nothing breaks/goes bad, what replacement parts ? If any…
Yes, there’s always “hopefully”….I just hope this doesn’t become the new “Normal”……….
I agree John…
2020 C8 was extended because they have the parts on hand. If there are some small design changes and colors, they would then have too much stock that could not be used on the 2021. That could even mean the 500 page Owner’s Manual and documentation. Another factor is the price. It will go up as the next year model always does weather needed to or not. If the 2020 production could not meet the demand, the 2020 buyers would get a 2021 model at the 2020 price point if the model change over occured as usual. Past GM exec’s would be turning over in their graves if that ever happened.
Any excess parts for the ’20 models that wouldn’t be used on the ’21 models will likely be packaged up and distributed to the various GM parts depots around the country to be sent to GM dealers parts departments, for vehicle repairs. There’s no reason to scrap perfectly good parts, unless the particular part was grossly overproduced (say, 5 times the rate of the production of the particular car) and it becomes a major storage issue. Ig GM figures it can make a buck off of something, it will!
I thought they made 2700 in the 1 week that production started.
I wish GM would just go ahead and make the planned changes for 2021, let the people who ordered a 2020 get in line first and get a car built in late summer or early fall ….ASAP . The 2020 is already a disaster re timing so why not just move on instead of messing up the timing on the 2021. Oh yes, PLEASE allow the people who put a deposit down in 2020 to get that pricing because those are the biggest corvette fans.
Oh no slap the people who put deposits down on an unproven car , “HOPEFULLY ” have there deposit at some dealership, think they have something coming…
Lol
Order a car that’s not in production is well
a, dumbass…
Thought Corvette people much smarter ?
Just ask one…
GOLD CHAINS & LEATHER GLOVES….
you sound like a loser
not a loser, just work for gm many years…
just might know something you don’t…
For all those who placed an order a year ago, in 2019, and have now cancelled (due to the instant $20,000 or more drop in value due to receiving the 2020 car AT THE END OF THE YEAR 2020) — here are the facts on the ground:
1) if you ask the dealer where you placed your order last year (in 2019) what that status of your car is, “we don’t know, Chevy won’t tell us anything” is what you’ll hear
2) if you then ESCALATE the issue and call Chevy directly (as I did), they might ask you for your order number then tell you what they told me, “your order has been accepted for production” Okay, when will it be produced? and the answer was “I don’t have that information” Okay, I’ve heard that some 2019 orders for the 2020 model will be built as the 2021 car, is my order one of them? only to hear “I’m sorry, I’ve given you all the information I can give you”
3) you can then do what I did, and many others have done, and visit the dealer, cancel the order and get your deposit back.
4) they will be dumping one-model-year-old cars on suckers through the end of this year, 2020
5) if you place an order for a 2021 model, you will not see your car for ONE YEAR to ONE AND ONE-HALF YEARS FROM NOW (contact a couple dealers and verify that if you want)
6) because of the above, there will be NO MODELS IN DEALER INVENTORY available for sale as they must finish all the ordered vehicles first. Probably NO DEALER INVENTORY FOR SALE for 1 1/2 years or more.
The motoring press should CALL Chevy on this issue. Instead, people are being misled into potentially ordering a vehicle without knowing that Chevy won’t be delivering until the end of the calendar year in 2021.
I can’t help but point out, at a time when car manufacturers are hurting IMMENSELY due to no sales, Chevy is waking up every day, reloading, and shooting itself in the foot – its reputation.
The way out is:
1) first, communicate with every single person who made an order and placed their deposit a year ago, in 2019, and tell them the TRUTH about when their car will arrive, and what model year it will be. Otherwise, more cancellations are sure to continue, because of the instant $20,000 or more loss stemming from getting a 2020 car at the end of the 2020 calendar year (we’re almost there, it’s nearly mid-August)
2) stop all ordering for the car until all buyers know the delay time – 1 year to 1 1/2 years before they’d see their 2021 car
3) prioritize getting your Dealers some dealer inventory they can sell
4) re-open ordering AFTER full production shifts, perhaps 3 shifts, are operating to meet demand
Right now, Chevy, you are manufacturing anger, disappointment and “never again” in your customer base. While it might feel good to have a product in high demand, alienating that customer base will END enthusiasm for that product. This is true in any business. A presumptuous, arrogant business will not have customers for very long.
I know I’m not the only buyer who ordered last year (2019) and cancelled and got my money back. No way will we agree to accept a one-model-year-old ‘new’ car and suffer the massive decline in value when 2021 rolls around a few weeks after we take delivery!
Greg,
You are a caution. You want me to cancel my order that Chevrolet says they will build for me this year because you claim that I’m going to lose $20.000 in value next year? Sorry, I don’t agree with your valuation or plan to get three shifts. I can wait. I’m not angry, disappointed or a “never again” customer. You got your money back, and got out of line, good for you.
throw your money away…
lol like a C8 fan…
Well, at my age (early 60s), having ordered vehicles from U.S. manufacturers before, I know for a fact there are better ways to meet demand.
There have been a lot of cancellations. I live in a metro area of over 2,500,000 people. I’m on the road for about 1 hour and 20 minutes every day. I have not seen a single 2020 vehicle. That means there have been a lot of cancelled orders. It also means there are a lot of ‘hangers on’ who have been waiting since 2019 and have not received their cars.
The dealers here (Orlando, FL area) are getting zero help from Chevrolet. They tell their customers “Chevy is not giving us any information as to when the orders will arrive, whether they will be bumped to a 2021 model, or anything.”
That’s just pathetic. Excuses are for *chumps* not long-established businesses, especially those that have been bailed out by we the taxpayers like GM has.
I feel very sorry for the dealers. They’ve been kept in the dark for so long, and on top of that, will have no dealer inventory to sell. The executives making the decisions need to either rethink their current actions or BE REPLACED. The dealers are being told – what – to accept orders for vehicles they know will not be produced for a year? TALK TO YOUR DEALERS, CHEVY. THEY’RE NOT SELLING ANYTHING. GET THEM SOME CARS. For godsakes.
Chevrolet acts like they don’t know how to run their own business. There are talented executives at that company *right now* that recognize how to re-connect with the huge, and hugely disappointed, customer base. Those folks need to be given a leadership opportunity right now. After, what, a massive 4 or 5 year all-new development effort, a big tease, then some hapless schmoe at Chevrolet is being allowed to kill interest? It’s senseless.
If nothing else, despite the scattershot, indecisive behavior exhibited by Chevrolet, at least some of them recognize the 3LT pricepoint is in the ballpark with several other manufacturers’ high end cars (Lotus Evora GT, Porsche, etc.) and that a lot of disgusted almost-owners who waited a year after ordering in 2019 have ready alternatives. Lost sales at a time when Chevy needs sales desperately.
The most poignant thing for GM and Chevy leadership is – their fleet sales and regular sales are IN THE TANK and there’s no reason to blow this so badly when they need the sales.
I did see one C8 last week in Avalon Park, (Orlando, FL). Well anyway, maybe it’s time to stop dating vehicles by year but do it by manufacturing date. Really, what would be different between a 2020 and 2021? The Tesla’s barely change anything for years except maybe software so where is the vehicle year impact other than appraised value. A vehicle manufactured in Sept, 2020 is a 2020, the exact vehicle manufactured in Oct 2020 is a 2021 and may be priced higher. Other than the owner’s manual with the model year printed on it, what is really the difference, maybe a color? An option list? For a mid cycle refresh, call it a C8.1 or C8.5.
Greg, the more cancelations, the closer my C8 gets to me. Thank you for canceling your order.
It’s worth keeping in mind, though, that there *are* better ways to take delivery than to wait on everyone who has lost interest, and that was my point. Most good businesses UNDERpromise and OVERdeliver because customers are pleasantly surprised. Not these clowns – just the opposite.
The other issue that’s been raised is, “maybe Chevrolet is using this as a tactic to drive demand – underproduce the number of units that are sought.”
It’s a legitimate tactic – for Ferrari and other small companies. But for this vehicle, the mass-production numbers are in the tens of thousands of units, so the idea that Chevrolet is purposely trying to stimulate demand by under-producing doesn’t make sense.
In 5 years – if GM is still around – there will be so many on the road, any ‘exclusivity’ will be non-existent.
The idea has always been to mass-produce Corvettes every year and that hasn’t changed with this model. This is why it’s pretty clear that they’re not executing the business.
You keep your *competitors* in the dark. NOT your dealers. NOT your own customers. There is an idiot or two making very poor decisions right now somewhere high up in their executive ranks, and they need to replace them with someone who will execute the original business plan – mass production.
I can’t get over how poorly they treat their own dealers. Right now they could throw them a lifeline by having enough production to put some vehicles in Dealer inventory, and help these folks out, because they are struggling mightily with horribly low sales numbers. It’s not just the people who ordered a year ago, in 2019, who are disappointed – the general public won’t see dealer inventory until 2022. Local dealers here have confirmed that an order placed today for a 2021 car will not see delivery before end-of-summer in 2021. And despite the claim in the automotive press that “you can order a 2021 now” – go to the Chevy web site. It’s unchanged – the configurator is for the 2020 model, which you can’t even order. It’s like they don’t give a flaming F about any part of their business.
Consider their need to recoup the massive investment over the past 4, 5 years to bring the car to market – you just get the feeling there is a drunkard somewhere high up in the food chain, squandering any interest. There’s no demand out there to have to wait 1 year, 1 1/2 years for a new vehicle. Too much in our lives change in that much time.
Greg,
I believe that GM is doing the very best that they can to manage the production of the C8. The strike and COVID shutdown took four months of production off the line. Counting December through July the plant has been producing C8’s for four months out of a possible eight months.
We don’t know the reason for their inability to field a second shift, although it really doesn’t matter whether we know it or not. The reality is that without a second shift there is no way that Bowling Green can build the 20,000 Event Code 3000 cars they said they would build before the 2021 change-over. As of Friday, August 7th they are up around vin 7200. They cannot build 13,000 cars in the remaining 11 weeks before November without a second shift (and maybe they can’t any more even with a second shift).
I believe you short changed yourself by cancelling your order before it had any chance of being built, as you had no idea when your car would be produced. You wanted a sure thing when everything was in flux. If you re-order today you are probably looking at the same predicament you were concerned about. You get a 2021 right when the 2022s are coming out.
Such a worn out subject…
If you order something not in production, that’s called
Back Ordered…
You get it only when you get it…
That’s part of that great GM feeling…
Another faded memory…
I disagree. The GM web site invites you to build your own 2020. Hilariously stupid!
My dealer changed my order to a 2021. The price is all most the same, I think it was $230 more. Anyway, hopefully it will be here for spring. The dealer thinks in early winter but they haven’t been right, yet.
To Gary, That is the phone call we are all dreading! Do you know what your order status was? I put down my deposit on 7/20/2018 about 36 hours after it debuted . My order status is 3000 at last check so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. As of 3 weeks ago still no promises.
Signed; Feel your pain
What is the total projected production rate for the 2021 – Stingray?
he said he reordered…
I am great full to report that I have achieved status level 4000 which means that my baby was born this week and is in quality control inspection as of Friday. I don’t know how long that takes but late or not I am great full to get her! unbelievable feeling and to think I never really cared for post C3s.
Rob good for you. I’ll patiently wait for mine and be as excited as you when I get the news that it’s ready.
The real head-scratcher is how all these 2020 C8s can be listed for sale north of $110k — all trim models. In a few weeks the production line will be kicking out substantial inventory, and in a few months 2021s will hit the market. If I were holding a 2020 and trying to sell, I would do it quickly!
The issue is supply and demand. Everyone and his brother wants a new 2020 C8, but, relatively speaking, few have been produced. The 2020 model year production will likely be the smallest since the C1, from 1953 to 195. And the first year of production of many classic cars is often the most desirable. Just look at the prices for the 1965 Mustang. Yeah, sure, the 2021 model is virtually the same as the 2020, but it’s still one year newer that the introductory version, and won’t be as desirable for many folks, who will always want the original version.
You only live once and I plan on enjoying the heck out of mine. I’m not going to tuck it away for someone else to enjoy or use as an investment. I hope that I have the first C8 to reach 100,000 miles. I hope I see the E-Ray with all wheel drive come to pass and I get a chance to drive one. If you don’t change you fall behind.
you sure have alot to hope for…