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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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...