Should Corvette Become its Own Brand?

[GreyGhost]

Corvette already stands by itself

When I was a kid the name Corvette was always a special car. The fact that it was part of the General Motors stable neither added to or detracted from that fact. When I was in high school there was a dealer in town that specialized in Corvette sales the dealer's name was Kevah Konnor, they had quite a reputation as "the Corvette store." I think that any dealer that builds a rep like they did would be the way to go. I don't think the fact that they are now building another brand along side of the corvette in Bowling Green will help the Corvette's reputation. That remains to be seen.

 

[vmrod]

I had looked at the Mazda RX-7's several years ago. (the last years they made them) There were only 2 models to choose from. Sport or touring. Sport had a better suspension. Touring had leather, CD, and factory alarm.

If Corvette did this and branched out on their own, that would be cool. However, I feel that if several models are offered, it would cheapen the image of the vehicle.

I am also strongly against a 'Corvette' SUV. Corvette is all about a sports car. If you want some off-road vehicle to drive to work or ferry the kids around, then go buy a jeep, explorer, or some other gigantic titan, and leave the 'corvette' name for the sportscar. What's next? A sportscar named 'Hummer"?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It would be nice, but again, the Corvette name would be cheapened.

-Vic

 

[Gorgon]

Corvette is the markee (sp.) of the chevy brand. It loses money, but it is what very many people strive for.

Mike

I was not aware that the Corvette project looses money. When the C5 was being developed I thought it was the only program MAKING money.

As to the question, keep Corvette under the Chevy name. I don't believe that separating it and then developing more products lines are the way to go. Spend the money to make Corvette as good as it can be instead of developing an SUV and other vehicles.

Leon

 

[Rob]

In regards to various Corvette models cheapening the image, I'm not sure I totally agree. Porsche has the $45,000 Boxster which I don't think has done anything to cheapen their top of the line $100,000 Turbo model one bit. The overall image of Porsche continues to be that of a high performance automotive manufacturer that builds quality and high performance.

I do agree that building a Corvette SUV would not only be a disgrace, but a complete sin to the marque. Whether the Porsche Cayenne is a success or failure remains to be seen. I've seen a couple on the road and personally, I'm not impressed. There is already an overabundance of SUVS on the roads today and I don't care how powerful you make the engine or how sporty you make it look, a SUV is a SUV no matter what you do to it. In my humble opinion, the Corvette line should be kept pure with high performance sports cars (2-door only) built to meet the high performance needs and wallets of a wider range of consumers.

The problem that I keep seeing here is that a lot of us are saying "Make the Corvette the very best it can possibly be." But on the other hand, I see people groaning at the fact that the C6 might reach $60K MSRP. Well, that old saying - "you get what you pay for" falls into play here.

You cannot expect GM or any other automotive manufacturer to give you, the consumer, something for nothing. Yes, the Corvette has always been about giving the consumer bang for the buck, but when your competition is continually raising quality and performance along with the sticker price that is aggressively priced to meet its competition, you can't expect Chevrolet to sit back and continue raising their quality and performance without raising their sticker price as well.

Bottom line: if you want quality, you're going to pay for it, and just as if you were to walk into an aftermarket tuner shop like Lingenfelter ask yourself the age old question:

You: "How much will this cost me?"
Tuner: "Well, how fast do you want to go?"

If you want quality, you're going to pay for it. If you want high performance, you're going to pay for it.

 

[SurfnSun]

Corvette is a car....not a brand or definitely an SUV. If they want to offer 9 different motor options like the 67, Im all for it. (won't happen though). I think if you try to break Corvette into tiers or SUVs youre making the car something it isn't.

 

[Vettelt193]

By the way, we don't know if Porsche's Ceyene is a boom or bust yet. Do we?

From what I understand, the Ceyene's are sold out for 2 years. That sounds pretty good to me! (Assuming the info I have is correct, it was on hotrod TV or some other show on Speed Channel)

I see people's point that Corvette should not be an SUV, or on its own. I know it will never be on its own anyway, but it would be nice though to have a 'Corvette Edition Tahoe' or something similar. It would be nice for Chevy to trick out a Tahoe with an LS1/6, with better suspension etc.

It would also be nice if they made a low-end corvette. The car doesn't have to be lower powered, the LS1 is fine, and was cheap enough to put in F-body cars. But, the car could have less features... manual A/C, cheaper sound system, less bells and whistles, cloth seats, etc. a bunch of these things combined would lead to a cheaper corvette that the average american could afford. I don't think this would cheapen the Corvette name, because in reality a car without all the gadgets would be lighter, so more nimble and quicker

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

Excellent, excellent Vettelt193!

They have the Ford Harley truck, the Chevy SS truck, It would be something to see a Corvette Chev truck. I wouldn't mind driving that around and feel a little of the Corvette in me.

As far as a low end Corvette, wasn't that suppose to be the fixed roof C5? What ever happend to that idea.

They could have kept the fixed roof along with the Z06. ust like you said. cloth seats, manual AC, no power windows, locks, etc.

Chuck

 

[Vettelt193]

They decided that they didn't need the FRC to be cheap, because they couldn't make enough of the higher priced corvettes to meet demand anyway... that is when they turned it into the 'high performance' corvette

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

I can see their point. A less expensive, low optioned Corvette may never happen.

Chuck

 

[LongTimer]

The problem that I keep seeing here is that a lot of us are saying "Make the Corvette the very best it can possibly be." But on the other hand, I see people groaning at the fact that the C6 might reach $60K MSRP. Well, that old saying - "you get what you pay for" falls into play here.

If you want quality, you're going to pay for it. If you want high performance, you're going to pay for it.

I totally agree (Rob, you need to add a sign that says this rather than the "stupid" sign). You get what you pay for and the more you pay, the more you expect. We don't need another XLR.

I do not want to see the vette turned into a trailer queen Luxo like an XK8. For example, IMO there was nothing wrong with the C5 interior that some color on the dash and console and $3 worth of brushed alluminum arround the guages couldn't cure. I like the 50th An. interior just fine. The "...world class interior..." GM comments and the implied associated costs scare the cr*p out of me. If I want fancy interior, I'll buy a Cad or an Audi. IMO it's OK to save costs / price there.

I don't need runflats either. They're heavy, expensive to replace, and I belong to the Auto club. How many flats have you actually had in your life? The cost & all-the-time-weight make the insurance to expensive for me. IMO it's OK to save cost / price here too. Make 'em an option.

I'm sure many disagree, so we all must wait to see what the General has decided we must deal with.

 

[Eric]

I own four CHEVYS and up until a few weeks ago one of those was a Corvette. I was a Corvette fan first but quickly became a Chevy fan and I would not want to see the two go their separate ways. Unlock the option sheet so people can build what they want, screw having different models or levels. It's a damn shame if someone wants a Z06 vert they have to ship it off to Carravagio to get it run through a food processor.

The first Corvette I owned was a Chevrolet and the next one will also be a Chevrolet - period. If GM ever did this, I guess the rest of us poor slobs driving "Chevrolet Corvettes" would have to form our own club.

 

[Gorgon]

The problem that I keep seeing here is that a lot of us are saying "Make the Corvette the very best it can possibly be." But on the other hand, I see people groaning at the fact that the C6 might reach $60K MSRP. Well, that old saying - "you get what you pay for" falls into play here.

I totally agree and have seen this in the C6 section for a while. The train of thought here appears to be that since the car is priced around $55k nicely optioned that I should have the best of everything right now. World class performance and world class interior.

In this case Corvette is as good as it can be with the interior it has. When the C5 first came out I think everyone would agree that the C5 interior was much better than the C4. C5 was a totally new car. The MSRP did not increase any more than it did from the 95 MY to the 96 MY. Since C6 appears to be "evolution" versus "revolution" I do expect the MSRP base increase to be about $1000 as it has been in the past between gens and between MYs of the same gen.

I will tell you this, after spending some time in my FRC interior, it is more plasticy than I expected. Sometimes I feel my F150 has a better quality interior than either of my vettes. There are some areas of the C5 that have a plastic squeak to it that I didn't expect.

Sorry to have gotten off topic. But if it means an increase in price to get a true world class interior, I'm all for it.

 

[Vettelt193]

I totally agree and have seen this in the C6 section for a while. The train of thought here appears to be that since the car is priced around $55k nicely optioned that I should have the best of everything right now. World class performance and world class interior.

In this case Corvette is as good as it can be with the interior it has. When the C5 first came out I think everyone would agree that the C5 interior was much better than the C4. C5 was a totally new car. The MSRP did not increase any more than it did from the 95 MY to the 96 MY. Since C6 appears to be "evolution" versus "revolution" I do expect the MSRP base increase to be about $1000 as it has been in the past between gens and between MYs of the same gen.

I will tell you this, after spending some time in my FRC interior, it is more plasticy than I expected. Sometimes I feel my F150 has a better quality interior than either of my vettes. There are some areas of the C5 that have a plastic squeak to it that I didn't expect.

Sorry to have gotten off topic. But if it means an increase in price to get a true world class interior, I'm all for it.

I am the opposite here.... I think the C5 interior stinks, even compared to the C4 interior. My C4 actually seems to have more features than the C5's do... things like a change holder and lighted center console.

I also don't mind the plastic if it means I get a better deal on the car.

But the C5 interior is mis-matched.... period. There are full function leather seats, auto A/C, etc.... all stuck in a plasticy interior that looks like it could have come out of a geo metro. This is why I would like to see a stripped down corvette with the plasticy interior, with a luxury interior upgrade that upgrades everything -- not just the seats and some components -- for those who want to pay for it.

I personally don't care if i have a super nice interior or not... i have a corvette because it is fun to drive. A cheaper interior won't make it any less fun for me. Others want the nice interior, so give them an option to pay for it, and give me the option to not spend the extra money on the stuff i don't need.

So... this ties right back in to the original post. I do want a full line of corvettes, or at least a better option list on a single car, so every buyer can get what they want

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

Vettelt193,

With that thought and with the interior that's in the C5 now, the price would have no where to go but up.

So saving money would only mean less of an increase.

I've always liked the interior in my C5's. We all have the option of adding the carbon fiber and colored trim pieces. That's probably all GM would do anyway.

Chuck

 

[Gorgon]

I don't think the interior debate is about functionality, but about the quality of the materials used to create the interior. Broken pieces of the interior detract from the overall look of the car because they used a cheap, brittle plastic.

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

But I really haven't seen any interior pieces cracking or peeling like the earlier models.

The only thing I really have a beef about is the seat covers at the driver's bolster area.

Chuck

 

[Vettelt193]

Vettelt193,

With that thought and with the interior that's in the C5 now, the price would have no where to go but up.

So saving money would only mean less of an increase.

I've always liked the interior in my C5's. We all have the option of adding the carbon fiber and colored trim pieces. That's probably all GM would do anyway.

Chuck

The dash etc. is cheap, but leather, power everything, auto everything is not. give me cloth and manual parts, which will save weight, cut down on problems, and save money.

On the other side, if I want the luxury interior, give me an interior that is high quality, with all the leather, electronics, power, auto you can.... and make me pay for it.

This is one of the reasons why the Corvettes of yesterday captured the title of the everyman's sportscar. If you didn't want, or couldn't afford all the options, you just didn't get them.... but you still got your Corvette today, if you can't afford the pricey leather seats, you go home empty handed.

 

[HOTMOTORSPORTS]

You absolutely right. Sorry! I was going the wrong way with that.

I'll bet some people would go as far as ordering it in primer and color it themselves for custom or racing.

Chuck

 

[Gorgon]

I guess there is confusion about what a quality interior is. I'm not talking about a luxury interior with leather everywhere. I just talking about a functional interior made from quality materials that don't break and fall apart. Or squeak. Honda's base interior is an example. The interior of the Accord, S2000, even the Civic seem to be constructed of better materials than what is used in the Corvette. Hell, if Honda can put a well constructed interior into a Civic, I would expect GM to be able to put something better into the Corvette.

Leon

 

[Tony N]

Interiors are great. But there is something special about driving the finest car on the road. You don't sit in a Corvette. You wear it!!!