2020 Corvette Production Extended through December

Corvette production for 2020 has been slowed by a labor dispute and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has had a rough start to life. A labor dispute at the beginning of C8 production followed by the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the company way behind schedule. Many people thought that the combination of those two factors would lead to extremely low 2020 Stingray production numbers, but General Motors has done a great job of getting as many cars built as they can.

Some good news for everyone who ordered a 2020 Corvette comes from the folks at Motor Authority. A memo was sent to Chevrolet dealerships earlier this week, announcing that C8 production would be extended through the end of December.  Motor Authority was able to officially confirm that information with Chevrolet spokesperson Kevin Kelly.

“While the 2020 model year is an unusual one due to the labor stoppage and COVID, Corvette has deviated from traditional model year launch timing in the past,” Kelly told MA. “This year we’re extending the model year run to assure we can build as many 2020s as possible to meet customer demand.”

This means if you ordered a 2020 Corvette, the chances are slowly improving that you will receive one, rather than waiting for a 2021 model car.

2020 Corvette Woes

This has been a rough year for most businesses around the world, but 2020 has been especially hard on the arrival of the C8 Chevrolet Corvette. The long-awaited mid-engine sports car got off to a great start, with endless anticipation and glowing media reviews. Hopeful owners practically lined up to place an order. Many of them paid thousands over the MSRP for the right to own one of the first C8 Corvettes.

Everything has gone right on the consumer side of the C8 Corvette launch. The production side has not been so lucky. First there was a labor dispute last October. That interfered with the early stages of C8 production at the Bowling Green Assembly facility. Once workers got back to building cars, things picked up a bit, only to hit the wall that is the Covid-19 pandemic. That led to roughly two months of unplanned downtime, once again interrupting the flow of new Corvettes to dealerships.

At one point, it looked like the 2020 Corvette Stingray would be an instant collectable, with less than 3,000 units produced through May. Fortunately, the company was able to push forward. 12,634 C8s were delivered through the first three quarters. More importantly, the company plans to build them for three more months.

Extended Production

According to the Motor Authority report, the original plan was for 2020 Corvette production to end in early November. However, Kelly pointed out that Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter announced at the Corvette Bash in May that production would be extended through the end of 2020. There was no official announcement back then, the notice sent to dealerships around the country confirmed that.

According to the folks at the Corvette Action Center, Bowling Green builds around 800 units per week. Not counting the current week, there are 12 weeks left between now and the end of 2020. That means that the company could produce another 9,600 C8s. When combined with the 12,634 delivered, we are looking at roughly 22,234 C8 Stingrays produced for 2020. That figure doesn’t include any unsold inventory currently on dealer lots, so it might be a little higher than that.

Chevrolet delivered 18,791 Corvettes in 2018 and 17,988 in 2019. 2020 production is all-but-guaranteed to be higher than the past two years. Mind you, this is after many people believed that 2020 C8 production would be incredibly low.

This is bad for those who bought a C8 with the hopes that it would be a low volume car. That would have lead to high collectible values in the near future. This is great news for those 2020 Corvette owners who want to drive their new Chevy sports car. They are likely to take delivery much sooner than expected.

Photos: General Motors

.