2020 C8 Corvettes Delivered in 2021: What Should Be Done?

CorvetteForum member proposes how GM should handle customers not getting their 2020 C8 until next year.

When the wraps came off the C8 Corvette last year, it was an end to decades of false starts, waiting, and rumors. Fortunately, General Motors delivered in a big way, and the excitement around the next generation of America’s Sports Car was like nothing we’d ever seen in the automotive world.

Unfortunately, the unprecedented global heath crisis posed by COVID-19 has meant early birds have had to wait extra long to take delivery, and it’s even seen popular options — like the carbon fiber body kit — removed from the menu. To put it mildly, this isn’t the roll out anyone was hoping for, and vehicle production faces huge challenges. That could lead to a situation where some 2020 buyers don’t get their new car until 2021, and members like Michael A think that needs to be addressed. Here’s his solution:

“What should be done, is all 2020 orders that can’t be built by September 1 be converted to 2021 orders with price protection. The base car price hasn’t changed, so it would be price protection just on options. They have implemented price protection for orders entered into the system in the past, so this is nothing new. They should open up the order system for converted 2021 orders, and allow people to adjust their options and colors. Again, it will have been a year and a half for those folks by the time they get their C8.”

Honestly, this isn’t a circumstance we’d even thought about until we saw the thread. It really made us wish we could see CorvetteForum posts from 1982 and ’83, when a whole different set of issues kept a fully redesigned, revolutionary Corvette model out of an eager public’s hands. As you can imagine, lot of members chimed in with opinions.

Surprisingly, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of sympathy for Michael A’s position. We liked Steven (Bell) Garrett’s suggestion to schedule a museum delivery, so he didn’t have to wait for the railways to deliver his car to the West Coast. But the responses below will give you a general idea of what the rest of the peanut gallery thinks.

From DSOMrulz’s perspective, everything is pretty cut and dry:

“No one is forcing you to buy a 2020. There are some buyers who want a first year C8 no matter when it comes. To each his own.”

For his part, tdrake2020 offered up an observation that’s as unfortunate as it is true:

“Life has never been fair and never will be…”

Some members, like papillion, took a look at the bigger picture:

“Folks haven’t you caught onto our unprecedented health care crisis? This isn’t about getting your car in 2020. It is about being alive to get it sometime. GM could not have foretold this. Developing a strategy on the fly is just the way it will be for this and a myriad of other things. Deal with it. And quit whining.”

To us, the most interesting response came from JerryU, who did some reading in to the regulations around vehicle identification numbers, and posted this bit of info:

“From what I found in the many thousand page VIN Law they can build 2020’s well into 2021 if they elect:
This is what the “VIN Law” says re Model Year designation:
“m) Model year means the year used to designate a discrete vehicle model, irrespective of the calendar year in which the vehicle was actually produced, provided that the production period does not exceed 24 months.”

As I read that, the current C8 can be designated a 2020 Model from the start date for 2 years!”

Now, we’re not lucky enough to have a C8 Corvette on order, but given that this delivery question was posed, we figured we’d offer our opinion. Simply put, we’re inclined to cut the General some slack here. While it would obviously be disappointing to miss the prime summer driving season, COVID-19 has been an absolute nightmare for auto manufacturers, and there’s only so much companies can do to fulfill orders. Plus, we’d rather have a 2020 than a 2021, no matter when it was delivered.

There’s also another factor we feel bears mention here, and that’s the Corvette team. While GM might be a giant corporate entity, it’s made up of people, and the folks in the Corvette division are among the most dedicated in the industry.

When we were in Southern California for the reveal last July, we talked to folks from every department of the C8 program, from engineering, to public relations, to manufacturing, to corporate. We discussed different elements of America’s Sports Car with each of them, but they were all thrilled to have played a part in making the mid-engine dream machine a reality.

So we know that while these delays aren’t their fault, we can assure you those talented folks are taking them personally. There’s so much passion there, it just can’t be helped. So what do you think? Head to the forums and let us know!

Chime in on the thread now!