A series of staff reductions have been reported at the GM Bowling Green Assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the sole production facility for the C8 Corvette.
According to a recent report from Corvette Blogger, which cites a post to MidEngineCorvetteForum.com, a total of 31 Bowling Green employees were let go last Friday. Bowling Green has served as the exclusive producer of the Chevy Corvette since 1981, and currently produces the eighth-generation C8.
As covered previously, the Bowling Green plant was already idled for several weeks this year, with another week of downtime planned for May. Reports indicate that the plant shutdown is related to inventory control, as well as line upgrades to support production of the C8’s widebody exterior panels. Regardless, the plant idling and upgrades were expected to precede job cuts at the facility, and now, it looks like that’s exactly what just happened.
Per a notice sent to United Auto Worker (UAW) employees working at the Bowling Green facility, 31 Seniority Members were placed on Indefinite Layoff Status, effective April 28th, 2025, with the affected employees’ last day on Friday, April 25th, 2025. Affected employees were notified on Thursday, April 17th.
Reports also indicate that an additional 43 assembly line employees who self-selected for early retirement will will have their employment at the facility end on June 1st. These 43 employees will receive a $50,000 bonus as part of an early retirement buyout program.
Corvette Blogger reports that production of the mid-engine sports car has dropped off considerably, with production over the last three weeks ranging between 29 and 94 units per day, as compared to 140 to 180 units per day prior to the plant idling earlier this year.
Bowling Green Assembly
Several other key members of GM’s Corvette team have also seen a shakeup lately, with Corvette Product Marketing Manager Harlan Charles pushed into early retirement this past February, and Exterior Design manager Kirk Bennion leaving the company around the same time after four decades at GM.
Meanwhile, the upcoming 2026 Corvette is expected to introduce several important updates, including a new interior design and the debut of the new C8 Zora.
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AND YET ITS TAKEN 5 MONTHS TO GET MY “SOLD” ORDER SCHEDULED FOR PRODUCTION. Go figure.
2.15M is a lot to spend to get employees to quit. Wonder how many corvettes need to sell to pay for this buyout. One thing is for sure, you’re (employees) only a number to a large corporation.
What are piece of sh!t company. Treats it’s own long time workers like that. And yet incompetent Mary gets a 30 million dollar paycheck. I’m so done with GM when my Canyon is paid off.
No, she DID NOT get a $30 million paycheck. Her salary is $2.1 million. She received $19.5 in stock awards and $6.6 million in incentives. Her stock awards and incentives are based upon company performance which is standard for CEO’s the size of GM
The line workers received profit sharing checks of $12,750 in 2024 and are due to receive a check for $14,500 this year
Any way you slice it those future payouts are outsized and a nice golden parachute when she retires. She’s 63 and been at GM since early 80s. That’s at least 40 years. She has all the walk away money she can spend.
Imbecile
Mary needs to go before there in longer a GM company
Inventory control? The only reason you do that is to maintain the price. Apparently sales must be slowing, slowing production keeps unsold units from stacking up. Or GM is abandoning the Corvette’s claim to being a very affordable sports car and intends to drive up the price through exclusivity and very limited availability. We’ll see.
Another 50% tariff will make it easier to sell…. send in the clowns
Hey REAL..the only part of the C8 made out of the country is the Canadian Transmission. The increase in that is pennies — compared to what they rape us on — and you gladly promote for Canada. ya must be a true “left-turner”
Following the Presidents line, I guess you can count on him being correct, who would now more about rape.
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Slowing sales from getting long in the tooth on design? Despite the interior updates coming, it still looks the same as it has since 2020. New variants are just higher cost options. Nothing for the masses that just want a base C8.
And now that the initial excitement of a mid engine design may have worn off, there isn’t as much spectacle to owning one?
I don’t understand I ordered my corvette back in February and I was told yesterday that the car would be built the last week of July, when I ordered the car I was told I would have it 6 to 8 weeks.
You’re lucky. I ordered a 2021 Cadillac CT5 and never got it. My dealership then dropped their Cadillac franchise, because Mary and company ram rodded their electric vehicle mandate. I had to order up a 2022 Cadillac CT5 from another dealership. Which i ended up hating due to their incompetent staffing. All in all, it took me a year to get a car.
It’s as simple as “supply and demand”…if there is not the demand for basically is now a 6 year old design, then the supply system (r ead: the factory) will have to cut back building what I feel is a “market saturated vehicle” at this time. Here in Southern California, our Chevy dealers all have used C8’s on the dealers lots just waiting to be sold. But here is the rub…these used C8’s do vary in years, and options so there is a decent selection of used C8’s available, but the “asking prices” for these used C8’s can and do vary from “stupid to crazy” depending on mileage, and of course condition. Typical So.Cal. vehicles, they mostly have higher mileage due to these C8’s being bought and driven as a daily driver (base C8’s usually) or a lease with 12 thousand mile a year stats, which can be okay if the vehicle has been treated well and maintained properly. However, if you were to “shop around” you’ll find the later models (base C8’s) available in a better guise, that is LT2’s and LT3’s and with possibly the much wanted “Z51” option (and not race tracked of beat up) on some dealer lots.
So what’s my point? If Chevy is going to keep the C8 assembly lines moving, for god sakes stop building the base C8’s and lets go for the more desireable models that have been ordered by waiting customers (Z06’s and maybe even ERay’s) and get them out to folks who want them more than the base C8 at this time with too many already sitting on dealers lots.
Just my opinion, as along time Corvette owner this is what I have seen at least here in So.Cal.
The Ron Fellows driving school at Spring Mountain, Nevada sends its Corvettes to a southern California dealer once they get 10,000 miles on them. Their inventory is usually 250 Corvettes.
Tariffs are going to bring sales to a screeching halt. Tired of winning yet?
Lets get some facts here before the unwashed trolls.
Thank you Little Buzzard for being accurate.
The Corvette is nearing the end life as a C8. We have about 2-3 years before the C9 arrives.
Stingray sales have caught up but the Z06 and ZR1 both are doing well at lower volumes and higher prices. We also have a Zora model to come and may be a GS model.
The plant is getting work to update things to improve production and for future changes to the models.
This is the first breather they have had since 2019 and the record sales since then.
It is hard to cut staffs with Unions and the pay bonus to the guys retiring is the cheap way out with labor. The others will either comeback at some point or be offered work at other plants.
Often these guys are new workers that got bumped by senior employees. I have been there and done that and it sucks to get bumped.
The tariff thing is a nothing burger. It has led to many companies moving production and to other counties making better deals.
The stock market took a big drop but it also made a record gain the media failed to report.
This will all work out and we will be fine. GM is doing well compared to most others in a very difficult time and Mary has done much better than many of those in the last 50 years that ran GM into the gerund.
Trolls are always unwashed, lol.
I see 2021 Corvette C8s coupes –2LT with 20,000 miles going for $61,000 to $68,000 in the Pacific Northwest this week—-maybe they are trying to get back some of the mark-ups they paid when buying new—but they seem way overpriced especially with the $2,000 discounts on new 2025 C8s LT 1 and LT 2s I see online.
Will there even be a C-9? I’m thinking most diehard vette guys won’t buy a C-9 if it has anything remotely close to an EV or hybrid option. There’s just not much left to be gained performance wise for a corvette.
I’m sure the ridiculous UAW contract GM agreed to has nothing to do with layoffs …