Corvette Sales Stay Hot While Sports Car Market Declines

With numerous models facing discontinuation or sharply declining demand, Corvette sales continue to grow in the U.S.

Though it got off to a bit of a rough start after launching just before, well, a global pandemic, the C8 Corvette continues to enjoy tremendous success in terms of sales, regardless. In fact, the mid-engine machine has consistently ranked among the top-selling sports cars in the U.S. in spite of production constraints that have thankfully gone away by now, for the most part. Now, with production ramping up, Corvette sales continue to follow suit, and that was once again the case in Q1 of 2024.

In the first quarter of the year, GM sold 8,576 Corvettes, which is 8.5 percent more than the 7,904 Corvette sales it logged in the first quarter of 2023. That figure was also good enough to rank fourth in the sports car segment, behind the Ford Mustang (13,707 units sold versus 14,711, a 6.8 percent decrease), the now-discontinued Dodge Challenger (9,737 vs 11,371 or 14 percent lower), and the BMW 4-Series (8,847 units sold versus 11,997, a drop of 26.3 percent).

As for the overall sports car segment in the U.S., sales continued to contract – a trend that has perpetuated for some time now. In Q1, shoppers scooped up 56,448 new sports cars compared to 65,676 last year – a double-digit drop of 14 percent. Much of this can be attributed not only to changing consumer preference, but also, selection – after all, several of the models on this list have been discontinued recently, which is narrowing the proverbial playing field.

Aside from the Dodge Challenger, that list includes the Audi TT (31 units sold in Q1 2024), Audi R8 (181 units sold), the Infiniti Q60 (37 sales), and Chevy Camaro (3,574 units sold). Additionally, there are quite a few others on this list that could join them in the near future, including the Nissan GT-R, most notably. Otherwise, there aren’t a ton of all-new or recently-redesigned models here either, save for the Mustang and Nissan Z.

We say all of this to make one big point – the fact that Corvette sales remain strong and continue to grow, even though the C8 has been around for a few years now – is great news for GM, and proof that the Corvette holds a special place in American’s hearts, decades after its release. Even in a declining segment that’s seeing much of its competition fall by the wayside, Americans still love the Corvette, and more importantly, they continue to buy it in large quantities.

Photos: Chevrolet

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