From the Forum: What’s to Blame for Poor C7 Corvette Sales?

Is the coming C8 Corvette the only reason C7 sales are dipping? Or is there more to the story?

By all accounts, the C7 Corvette is an excellent car. But apparently, there’s just one tiny problem. Chevy isn’t selling them as expected, leading to a glutton of inventory on dealer lots. Most are quick to blame the not-so-secret existence of a radically different C8 Corvette, of course. But is that the only reason sales are waning? Or are there other, more concerning reasons behind this lull? Those questions are currently quite the hot topic in this Corvette Forum thread, as you might imagine.

Kevin A Jones thinks the problem is simple – perhaps GM needs to cut back on production just a tad?

“C7s aren’t selling? Another way of looking at it is that GM just makes to damn many.”

449er points to the past to explain what most everyone else is thinking.

“The downturn in sales happens with almost every generation of Corvette when they get 4-5 years into their respective body styles. Time for Chevrolet to drop the C7 and introduce the C8. Or do a freshening of the C7 while we wait for the C8.”

Mike Mercury, on the other hand, blames Mother Nature.

“It’s winter, and 2019 is the sixth year for the C7. So typical for the situation. Who came up with this breaking story, MSNBC? Are the Russians to blame?”

Or maybe we’re just looking at the numbers wrong, according to Foosh.

“I think it’s more accurate to say they are not selling in the same quantities they did during the first 3-4 years. Even now, they’re outselling any other sports car in the US by a wide margin, and the closest performance competition by a 2-to-1 margin. That still makes it a profitable proposition.”

Some, like roadbike56, blame the lack of changes over the C7’s production years.

“There is almost no difference between the 2014 C7 Corvette and the 2019 Stingray. Introduction of new models like the GS and Z06 is nice, but upgrading the base car is essential to keep new buyers buying new C7s instead of used ones. There haven’t been any major changes to push some buyers to trade their older C7 in for a new model and cause new buyers to pass on a used C7 and buy new.”

All of which are great points. And there are many more theories on the diminishing sales of the C7 Corvette in this thread. But we want to know – why do you think the C7 isn’t selling? Head over here, join the conversation, and let us know!