General Motors will put C8 Corvette and Corvette Convertible production on pause next week due to supplier constraints.
According to Corvette Blogger, the GM Bowling Green Assembly plant in Kentucky will be closed from Monday, October 12th through to Monday, October 19th due to a temporary parts supply issue. Sources familiar with the situation in Bowling Green told Corvette Blogger that GM could have avoided the temporary shut down by choosing to strip affected vehicles of the parts that it has a shortage of, suggesting the constraints are related to optional equipment. Chevrolet wasn’t willing to do this, however, so it will instead shut the plant down and give the supplier some time to catch up on the order backlog.
This won’t be the first time that GM has experienced a parts shortage for the 2020 model year Corvette. Earlier this year, the automaker was forced to pull both the optional 5VM carbon fiber aerodynamics kit and High Wing Spoiler from the vehicle’s list of available options due to supplier constraints. These parts have been added back to the C8 Corvette options list for the 2021 model year.
GM has faced a number of setbacks related to 2020 Corvette production. Production of the vehicle was originally slated to start in December 2019, but was pushed back to February 2020 due to the UAW strike. The COVID-19 pandemic then forced GM to shut the Bowling Green Assembly plant back down in March. Supplier constraints have caused further delays since production got back underway in May, with GM extending production of the 2020 Corvette into December so it can fulfill remaining orders. According to Corvette Blogger, GM had built 13,039 units of the 2020 Corvette as of October 7th, 2020.
Despite the automaker’s best efforts, not all customers who ordered a 2020 Corvette will receive their car. Some customers will be receiving 2021 model year vehicle instead of 2020 due to the various COVID-19 related setbacks GM has experienced this year. That said, any orders left remaining that have already been marked as being “Status 3000” will be built before the end of the year.
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Comments
Ordered mine August 29 2019, when I toke my 2016 in for service. Only bad thing was I sold them the 2016 then . Looks like I won’t be getting a 2020 after all. The dealer told me they put a 2021 order in for me also . As long as everyone is safe , no problem .
I ordered my 2020 Corvette on August 19, 2019. It never made it to 3000 status. Luckily I didn’t trade in my 2007 Corvette. Now the dealer tells me it has re ordered it and it will be a 2021 model. I’m skeptical now if I’ll even get the 2021 the way the Bowling Green plant is shutting down for one reason or another.