After a career spanning over 40 years, former Corvette Exterior Design Manager Kirk Bennion is no longer with GM. According to his LinkedIn profile, he’s a self-employed “Performance Car Enthusiast” as of February 2025.
Since he hasn’t made a public statement, it’s unclear whether Bennion voluntarily retired, was fired, or was forced into retirement. The timing is a bit suspect, considering former Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles being forced into retirement this week. In fact, Harlan specifically named Kirk Bennion in his LinkedIn post announcing his retirement. Harlan called Bennion one of the “Corvette legends” he had the pleasure of working with.
Kirk Bennion has been working on Corvette exteriors since the early C4 era in 1984. The C4 ushered in a new era for Corvette design, creating a new template for what a front-engined Vette would look like through the C7 generation. Bennion also played a key role in the Corvette’s design adapting to a mid-engine configuration with the C8.
In addition to the Vette, Bennion also oversaw exterior design for the sixth and final generation of the Chevy Camaro. He’s also worked on design for Chevy trucks, vans, and SUVs, including the S10, Tahoe, TrailBlazer, and Express. His proficiency in designing anything from pickup trucks to passenger vans to sports cars speaks to Bennion’s versatility as a designer.
In addition to Kirk Bennion and Harlan Charles departing the Corvette team, long-time Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter retired from GM last year. He left on a high note, departing shortly after the introduction of the C8 ZR1. Juechter was replaced by Tony Roma, the Executive Chief Engineer of GM’s newly formed Global Corvette and Performance Cars team. Roma’s previous experience includes the Cadillac V-Series and Cadillac Blackwing programs.
These three men departing GM within a year of each other marks a big change in the personnel working on the Corvette’s design, engineering, and marketing.
Comments
Sad, really sad, looks like the Corvette will start going down hill now, following the way of the Camaro, Malibu and the DODO bird.
It started going downhill in the early 80s, like the rest of GM.
Nate. uninformed comment. I hope that you were joking. Wow.
since 2000 GM design is downhill
Before anyone soaks their Depends.
Tony Roma is the new leader. He like Dave Hill came from Cadillac and chose his own team he wanted to develop the car. Dave not only made the Corvette legitimate globally he brought in people like Tadge.
GM in the past did not change up people enough and we had cars that never changed much and often declined in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Then the C4 had issues and GM went to kill the C5 till the new blood help save the day by building a true world class car.
Roma is smart and has produced some spectacular cars.
Also Tadge was not released. They would not put his face on the glass of every ZR1 if they were going to dump him.
We will see two Corvette programs. One will be ICE and one will be EV. Chevy is doing two lines of vehicles to maintain market share as CARB states will still force the EV problem.
Also we have elections every 4 years. GM has to be ready to deal with who ever gets elected as they will force the resend the laws at each election. Auto development is 8-10 years not every 4 years.
The Corvette will be ICE as long as they can keep it that way legally.
I think a new styling team may be a good idea to change things up a bit. The Stealth fighter look has had its run so now lets see what they can do.
We will be fine as sales are strong and will remain so. I also expect they will keep the Stingray in the affordable range or at least compared to the market as nothing is cheap anymore. The average price of a new car is $50K and the Corvette still is $60K. Not bad for a car like this. Not ever one needs or should have a ZR1.
uuhh,,,average price of a new car is $50k? Corvette is $60k?? maybe if you combine all the prices since the automobile was first built back in Henry Fords days. Corvette is waaay above $60k “Average”–and so are regular cars.
Per GM web site 1LT Coupe. Starting at $68,300
Also factor in that the dealers are no longer getting over MSRP on Stingrays unless you are poor at buying cars.
In January 2025, the average price of a new car in the United States was $49,740, which is close to the record high set in 2022, notes CarEdge. The average price of a used car in 2025 was $25,721, which is down from the pandemic peak but still high by historical standards.
The Corvette base price in 1984 was $21,000.
When using the core inflation measurement, $21,000 in 1984 is equivalent in buying power to $64,073.49 in 2025
Corvettes are still the same value as they were 41 years ago. Yes they do offer more expensive models they never offered in the past.
Not making this up do the math.
Kirk was a pleasure to work with! Not a Stylist but a DESIGNER! He didn’t just sketch pretty image of vehicles he sketched winners and knew how to take them from images to real vehicles that could be manufactured. His talent should not be diminished.
Maybe this signals that Chevy performance is on the way out and with the Formula 1 Cadillac program and the NASCAR race car that isn’t a Camaro any more these are the first moves at changing the performance focus at GM. The Corvette will continue as the C8 for as long as they can sell it! No need for a redesign till they continue only with the EVETTE
January 22 2025 the C9 was announced to be coming in 2028 as a 2029. It will be internal combustion.
There is word of some EV variants Cult be a SUV, but they are on another platform and why I stated above GM is doing duel lines. They are not killing ICE till forced to. But they have to have EV ready if forced to kill ICE.
Due to the economy these time can flex but as of less than a month ago this was what was announced.
There is no plan for Cadillac to go outside IMSA. WEC or FI. Chevy will remain in NASCAR and all the MFGs there will need to make some decision with NASCAR as to where the series goes. Honda wants is but they are waiting for more talks.
No the Corvette is not going NASCAR either. The Camaro remains till NASCAR decides what is next. They have tested CUV models. a Trax could be the next car.
The Chevy Trax in NASCAR? Going up against the Ford Mustang Dark Horse? There is a need for the Chevy Camaro! Not sure where win on Sunday sell on Monday is going to work with the Trax. GM needs to look at what Ford is doing with the Mustang and how they are keeping it alive.
Slow down Vince. The tests for CUV models were by all MFG. they would switch to these together.
Might be the reason Ford stuck the Mustang in IMSA.
You can’t keep building 30k Camaros and make money. There is a problem. Camaros eIn on Sunday but don’t sell Monday through Saturday. If they were making money they would still be building them. The Mustang Sales are not where they should be. One has to wonder how long till they make a drastic decision.
As for GM doing what Ford is doing?
Ford stock closed at $9.26 today
GM stock closed at $47.93 Today.
Ford is in real trouble and racing is not going to save them. They eliminated 3k engineers and since then nothing but recalls. Sales are stagnate and profits on the trucks are down.
In a tough market GM is weathering the storm. Most others are not.
Toyota stock $18.69, Honda $28.31, Mazda $3.40, Nissan $5.39 VW $10.00
It’s bad out there and GM is doing better than most.
I’m glad GM is doing better than most. Also, thank you 2M6 for your feedback. Back to the Camaro, there are other reasons why they only sold 30k a year. Like marketing for one. Before the pandemic, sales of the Camaro were 50k-80k. As far as affordability, the vette is $68k. A V8 Camaro was $38k. So the Corvette is out of reach for alot of people. I hope GM is bringing the Camaro back.
yet no one forces “retirement” on Mary ???
One of the posts stated gm may doing “duel” lines. Sure looks likes they are attempting to shoot each other in some of their decisions on “car guys” recently. Doesn’t take as many people from the factory floor to the top to design and build these EV transportation “appliances”.
GM just gets smaller and smaller. China, Cruise, loss after loss.
Feminizing the Corvette .
I’m sure the snowflakes will love it. Will it be autonomous so little Dylan doesn’t have to turn the “complicated” steering mechanism ?
GM has done this type of thing before with the early buyouts. My Uncle was the body finishing expert for Fisher Body when they were around. He took the buyout and FB said oh crap. They hired him back as a contract employee for 3 times what he was making before for just 3 days a week. I got hired in as a contract employee in the 80’s after they had a big buyout. They had to hire a bunch of green college kids to fill positions. We were in final assembly and hardly anyone had even seen assembly automation before. I spent 14 months going to plants fixing issues because I had grown up in tool shops designing tools. Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t happen to the Corvette
Redesign the C8……..Somehow make the hood longer and the deck shorter…ala Ford GT…..Looks so much more aerodynamic!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Corvette is built for three markets. #1 is for the young wealthy white collar crowd. #2 is for the racing crowd and Rick Hendricks. #3, the E-Vette is for the woke environmentalists. There in lies the problem. It is no longer built for the guy fresh out of school who is willing to work long hours in construction or on an offshore drilling rig to make enough to buy his dream car, A Chevy Corvette….Say goodbye to your dreams young man, unless you plan to rob a bank.
Sorry but even in 1991 the Corvette started at $32,500, which is $75,000 today. The Corvette was never for the guy fresh out of school, lol wtf kind of thought is that? Old white dudes is what is synonymous with Corvette, guys at the end of their career. The C8 brought in a younger crowd, but it’s younger people with wealth.
The e-ray is also not for environmentalists, it’s very much performance enhancing not MPG chasing.
I don’t think you actually know what the identity and heritage of the Corvette is.
MikeRR…At my age I am the identity and the Heritage of Corvette. My brother bought a used 1991. He said on a good day it might be able to pull the hat off your head.
I had a great 91 when I was stationed in Germany and with some choice enhancements I used to regularly drive 150-160mph on the autobahn. Was a blast!
Hmm I’m not in any of these groups and own a Corvette.
I even own two 2 seat sports cars and fit none of that.
I bought my first at 23 years old and still have it.
The problem is not the price of the Corvette. It is just as expensive as it was. The problem is your pay has not kept up with prices.
The “dream” car a person working long hours in construction wants today is an upscale midsize or large pickup truck or SUV. Corvette’s are typically warmer weather “weekend” cars. With nice pickup trucks costing $50k++, buying a new Corvette as a second car is far beyond the budget of these potential buyers. That said, the C8 is a fantastic car.
Thanks 2M6 for the interesting information. I enjoyed reading your positive comments.
I have owned several Corvettes and plan on continuing to buy new ones in the future.
Thanks. Just trying to keep it real.
Corvette owner here and I have seen the history inside out.
The only real negative I have is the use of the Corvette name on anything but a 2 seat sports car. The name equity is worth more than that.
Olds died when they slapped Cutlass in three FWD cars. It was down after that.
Just last night I was reading Road & Track’s Guide To The New (1984) Corvette and now I come to this news of a designer involved in the new Corvette has left GM after a storied career. I think GM should do better through a public way, of sending off key people involved with such storied, ionic cars like the Corvette or Camaro. In that, Kirk Bennion deserved better.
Looking through that softcover magazine & reading Dave McLellan’s book, I come away even more impressed by what the engineers and designers did with a complete clean sheet design to carry on the Corvette name into the future. And more and more, I’m drawn to the C4 for it’s looks, engineering and design….something that truly can be attained by any Corvette fan, and a solid parts marketplace to keep it running for many years.
Best wishes to Kirk in his retirement!
You do realize if you take the price of the C4 and put it into today money it is like $68,000 the price of a Stingray? You also are getting 4 times the car for that price.
The C4 ended up a mess because Dave did not stand up to Lloyd Reuss. and stop him from changing it to a targa from a T top. It made the car a mess. You find them today sagging in the middle. There was a reason the bolted the top in and put an x brace on the convertible.
The truth is if you can’t afford a Corvette today odds are good you could not afford one then.
Take the price and do the math.
BRAINLESS BARRA AND HER MINION MARK REUESS ARE TRYING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO DESTROY CHEVROLET. JUST LIKE JIM FRANCE IN NASCAR. AND MIKE HELTON DOESN’T DO ANYTHING BUT CASH HIS CHECKS. SHAME ON ALL OF THESE PEOPLE NOT LISTENING TO THEIR CUSTOMERS
Mary should retire and do time in jail for insider trading. She’s one evil piece of work. Can someone from Ford take her place.
great… maybe so GM find someone who draws beauty
Very sad what is happening to General Motors right now with all the firings. The staff reductions appear to be happening in bits and pieces so the full magnitude isn’t apparent. The Triple Zero plan seems to have collapsed and be taking everyone down with it. The Board probably needs to intervene at this point.
I truly feel for all the employees, and I’ve read many comments from them elsewhere, who loved GM, their jobs, and cars.
if GMB had let me into Design as Designer, maybe would have done a career of 40 years as designer… well since 1995 or 1997 it would be today 30 years in automotive industry… unfortunate it not happed .. in 1997 asked my demission, in VWB for 1 year was not allowed as designer in BMW never, not even as employee… neither in 2007 at Audi… well since 2012 at couch and bed but seeings all day AI s automotive of FB guys think ok
Always said to see good people leave.
But, no one is irreplaceable.