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Chevrolet C8 Corvette launch delayed – update

The strike at Bowling Green has left GM with no C8 Corvettes to spare, production delayed until February 2020.


GM has confirmed what we’d already been expecting: the 40-day United Auto Workers strike has indeed delayed the start of production for the new Chevrolet C8 Corvette.

Motor Authority reports production will start in February 2020 at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly instead of this December. According to the Chevrolet website, the first deliveries to customers will take place in “early 2020”.

The factory is still filling orders for the outgoing C7 Corvette and will then need to be re-tooled for the new car, a process which may take a few weeks.

There’s been no official change to the C8 Corvette’s local launch timings, however Holden never locked in a particular date – when the C8 was officially revealed, we reported the mid-engine supercar would arrive here in right-hand drive form in late 2020 or early 2021.

We also haven't received official word on how much the Corvette will cost here, though we also reported Holden dealers had been briefed on a price somewhere in the range of $100-150,000.

The C8 differs from the Chevrolet Camaro currently sold at HSV dealerships in that it'll be built in right-hand drive at the factory, a first for the venerable Corvette nameplate.

The current C7 Corvette has a base price in the US market of $55,900 (A$81,038). In comparison, the cheapest Porsche 911 there, the Carrera, costs $91,100 (A$132,067).

The C8 Corvette uses a 6.2-litre V8 with 370kW and 637Nm, mated exclusively to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. This is a Corvette we're talking about here, though, so expect the engine range to expand quite quickly.

The current C7 series, for example, is available in Z06 trim, using the LT4 supercharged 6.2-litre V8 also available in the Camaro ZL1, producing 485kW and 881Nm. There's also the even wilder ZR1, its LT5 supercharged 6.2-litre V8 producing 563kW and 969Nm.

The new C8 Corvette – the first mid-engine Corvette generation – is rumoured to eventually offer a twin-turbo, double overhead cam V8 and potentially even an electrified variant. It's not as though the base Corvette is wanting for power, though – GM has confirmed a 0-60mph (0-97km/h) time of just 3 seconds.

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