New UK Spec C8 delivery times.

C4H

CCCUK Member
Order today and you may be end up getting a 2024 model - with a price to match.

Well, the recent publicity regarding the new UK/European edition of the C8 Corvette has certainly hit the spot based upon what Ian Allen has just told me. Demand has been so high, and GMs estimates are so low, that you stand a better chance of taking delivery of a new Morgan before you might get your hands on a new C8. (not that I would want one !!) Place your order today with a £2.5k deposit and you might end up with a 2024 model C8! Yes, that’s 2 year plus delivery time.

What’s more with such a long delivery schedule, the price you may end up paying will have no relationship to the £ UK Sterling price list currently published on the GM website. Speculation has been rife ever since that C8 was first announced that the bargain price would almost certainly creep up during the production life cycle. Add to that the £ Sterling vs $ US exchange rate variations and who know what the 2024 UK £ Sterling price list will look like. Unless the UK economy does something miraculous and the £ Sterling strengthens, chances are you will be in for a price rise when your C8 is finally delivered.

GM may wake up and rectify the situation with a much higher UK/European spec allocation, but I'm not holding my breath.
 

kentvette

CCCUK Member
.......GM may wake up and rectify the situation with a much higher UK/European spec allocation, but I'm not holding my breath.
In reality, we've been waiting for GM to wake up to the potential sales possibilities in Europe since the introduction of the C5, to no avail! Over here, where the LHD is not an issue, they could sell thousands, but have never really put any useful effort into selling Corvettes. Here in France, we now have one dealer - yet at the recent Corvette Club France weekend in the Alps the majority of the 33 cars on the trip were C7's, bought new here.

Bit while GM is still selling Corvettes like hot cakes in the US (it has outstripped sales of all other cars in the US for a few quarters now), they really don't need to bother too much - it just sounds good at home to say they are selling "worldwide"!
 

Chuffer

CCCUK regional rep
I happen to know that Octane Magazine were in Germany last week test driving a C8 on a mixture autobahn and twisty rods . Should make an interesting read when published but no good whetting the appetites of UK / European buyers if you can`t buy one ! How long before speculators who already have one will be selling them on a hugely inflated prices ? :unsure:
 

kentvette

CCCUK Member
Who has read this and your feelings of their statements as to the C8 ?

Flawed because it is American ?
Yes, I read it.

First off, it's GQ Magazine, so serious enthusiasts would probably not take it as "gospel". That said, they make a few valid points - if the Corvette team had been in the UK in the 70's they'd well know what we in the UK thought of the square wheel on the Austin Allegro! And yes, unless you're like me, and like the wheel adjusted to be "in my lap" and hold it at about 8 & 4 0-clock, then the wheel mounted controls may be a bit low set. I'd have to remind myself about the indicator stalks though.....

I found the control button "labels" to be too small to read in anything but very bright light without my reading glasses, and when there are so many of them, that could be an issue!

I was surprised by how huge the C8 is - something that would particularly evident in the UK. Our recent Corvette Club France trip to the Alps highlighted that, when the owner of the C8 on the weekend found he was unable to get out of the car that he had parked between two others in a "normal Corvette sized space" as the doors were just too thick to open enough to allow him out! Everything is bigger in the US, even the parking spaces.

And yes, the styling certainly "stands out"! I've already heard a few people suggesting that it will date very quickly.

Chevy got fairly close to a "European" style with the C6, the C7 began to wander into more angular, larger territory and the C8 is firmly in the Lamborghini style. So it may well be a step too far for prospective European buyers who would go for something a little less radical? The C8 has moved out of the "every day driver" category, which the C6 was certainly in, and that may change the target audience. But I still think GM could sell more if they bothered!
 

C4H

CCCUK Member
The following demonstrates just how successful GM Chevrolet have been with the C8.
The DVLA lists 1900 Corvettes of all years, types, variations etc., as currently being registered in the UK (2021 Q2 statistics taken from the DVLA website).
That represents a steady climb from a "relative" low point in 2014 Q4 of just 1140 cars being registered.
UK sales of the new C8 are in excess of 300, so the DVLA figures are in for a significant increase over the coming months (years).
When you consider that 1900 figure, as I said above, includes all Corvettes from 1953 to the present day, 300 additional C8s must make this the most popular Corvette of all time.
And still GM Chevrolet has its head in the sand - or somewhere even darker !!
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
The following demonstrates just how successful GM Chevrolet have been with the C8.
The DVLA lists 1900 Corvettes of all years, types, variations etc., as currently being registered in the UK (2021 Q2 statistics taken from the DVLA website).
That represents a steady climb from a "relative" low point in 2014 Q4 of just 1140 cars being registered.
UK sales of the new C8 are in excess of 300, so the DVLA figures are in for a significant increase over the coming months (years).
When you consider that 1900 figure, as I said above, includes all Corvettes from 1953 to the present day, 300 additional C8s must make this the most popular Corvette of all time.
And still GM Chevrolet has its head in the sand - or somewhere even darker !!
Are you sure that '300 sales' shouln't read as 300 orders......not quite the same thing.....
 

C4H

CCCUK Member
Ref "Sales" vs "Orders" - true - not the same thing but the end result should be the same. OK, there may be people who get cold feet, cancel and loose their deposit, but lets look on the bright side !!
 

Chuffer

CCCUK regional rep
I bet there are more than 300 C3`s registered in the UK and will no doubt always outnumber any C8`s that arrive in the UK . If ever sales of the C8 exceed the number of classic / later Vettes in the UK , that really will be success story !
 

C4H

CCCUK Member
Ref the C3s - I dare say you are right - with over 500,000 C3 Corvettes being manufactured over the 1968-1982 production run, those stats would take some beating.
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
Ref "Sales" vs "Orders" - true - not the same thing but the end result should be the same. OK, there may be people who get cold feet, cancel and loose their deposit, but lets look on the bright side !!
I'm with you on this one - likelyhood is that eventual sales of the 300 vehicles that supposedly have deposits places will be spead over 2 or 3 years - 'Launch Editions' surely must all be allocated now - wonder how many? - wonder how many will be allocated for next year sales (and presumably delivery 2023?)
 

Chuffer

CCCUK regional rep
I wonder if some depositors will end up selling their place in the queue as with Morgans once they get bored with waiting and buy a new toy straight `off the shelf ` ? :unsure:
 

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
For last month here in the USA, Corvette was second-highest seller of all vehicle makes sold in the USA

fastsales.jpg

Remember to watch on the 26th of this month as GM shows off the C8 ZO6
Keep an eye out on all the release info at C8 ZO6 Home site, and GM seems to think this will be a great sports car

"First, we made the mid-engine Corvette a reality.
On 10.26.21, we’re giving the world its first full look at the ultimate performance machine – the All-New 2023 Corvette Z06. "

"The track will never look the same.
Driving from one world-famous track to another in a supercar ready to take on anything, anywhere around the world, you’re not just sightseeing – you’re the sight to see."

"The streets will never sound the same.
The All-New 2023 Corvette Z06 is a supercar unlike anything you’ve ever seen, or heard."
 

CaptainK

CCCUK Member
Hang on.... you mean I won't be getting my C8 for Christmas after all? Santa let the cat out of the bag a bit early and sent me a club t-shirt with the C8 logo on it about a week or so ago, so I'm expecting one for Christmas now :cool:

(In reality I ordered a C3 t-shirt, and I think "3" and "8" look similar as they sent me a C8 one. Replacement C3 one on its way shortly.)
 
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