The Competition

[ltomn]

Do you not find it very interesting that many of the glamor vehicle manufacturers are releasing new cars right now? Ford's new GT Mk2, Ferrari offers the F8 Tributo and the SF90 Stradale, McLaren launches the GT, Mercedes releases the SL 63 Roadster, Lamborghini the Huracan Spyder and the list goes on. Are these companies merely doing their business duty for introduction of new goods or are they responding to the pending, and eminent, release of the C8? I have little doubt which it is!

Will the mid and front engine market place for performance cars be upended with the release of the new C8. I, for one, believe that the potential for what is, comparatively, a moderately priced mid engine vehicle, will turn heads and, more importantly, wallets. Most of these other vehicles are in excess of $150,000 and many are well in advance of that. But this is not an observation solely about price, only the comparative nature of it, and the entrance of the ZORA into the supercar category. Where will it land?! How will it be received? Will it noticeably affect the competition? Will any other companies change their way of doing business? How influential will the ZORA be?

Inquiring minds wish to know!

[Skank]

I also noticed that there has been a rash of new intro's from other manufacturers. Ferrari being the most obvious and now today the Ford GT MK 2

[455SDguy]

Itomn your points are well taken by me. It sure seems that the other mid engine automakers are playing their flash cards to make sure their brand is not overlooked by all of the excitement created by the C8. I think it will be interesting to see how and if Ford and Dodge react to the price point that the C8 will create in the mid engine segment. They both are watching in awe I suspect of the interest level that the C8 has received. Will Dodge and Ford have an answer? Will be fun to see.

[John]

Wonder what we and analysts would be written two or three years from now. Would not surprise me if media analysts then wrote:

The C8 Corvette came in like a bang, and with its just released X model, should continue to dominate the mid engine market segment. Not saying that one can not get a more exclusive car at 5-15 times the price, but now there is no need to do that, that is unless you are a person who is stuck up on themselves, still trying to impress your friends.

[Skank]

Remember, rumour is Dodge is developing a new Viper...

[455SDguy]

Remember, rumour is Dodge is developing a new Viper...

There was a recent story that I read that Dodge actually built a test mid engine Viper mule a few years ago. Your right Skank I would not be surprised to see them back in the game with a mid engine viper. Would be great for the segment. As they say competition is good for everybody.

[ZORA 69]

I really do not feel that manufacturers like Ferrari, McLaren, Lambo and other high price exotics are paying too much attention to Corvette. They are in their own world of limited production and people who pay high prices for cars only because they can. BUT, after release I feel they may look a little closer. Porsche I am sure is paying very close attention as the C8 will hurt them severely.

[ltomn]

Frankly, I do not assert that an automobile company will consciously ponder their own course of business events based on another companies offerings. However, one has to think that in the back of their minds, there is a knock saying: we have to make this cost less, or go faster, or look better, or have more durability. All of these things are something that Corvette can bring to the table en mass. Maybe one or another competitors have a lock on one part, but no one cumulatively as Corvette will. Ferrari may be more sublime looking, Lamborghini may have the edginess, Mercedes may have racing history, etc. Corvette has all of those. Coupled with a, yet unknown price, and it may cause a few epiphanies.

[Frenzy36]

Remember, rumour is Dodge is developing a new Viper...

RT article by Bob Sorokanich Full Article Here https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...oncept-secret/
I asked Helbig if, with a mid-engine Corvette on the way, his opinion of the mid-engine Viper proposal has changed. It would be pretty great, I said, if each of the Big Three had a mid-engine supercar on the market.

"I’m glad that they’re building a mid-engine Corvette," he told me, "because that just continues to separate the Corvette from the Viper. And I don’t regret for a minute that we didn’t build the mid-engine car."

[Klinn]

The newly announced Ford GT 2 is not really a competitor. Granted, maybe Ford chose to introduce it now to steal some of GM's spotlight, or to avoid having it ignored in all of the upcoming C8 hoopla, but as a $1.2 million track-only special I don't think anyone's going to be cross-shopping it with the Vette.

[John]

Great article Frenzy36. Thanks for that find. GM has spent, not counting the $900M on BGA Plant upgrades getting ready for the ME, at least another $900M on developing the C8.

FCA is not, IMO interested in investing that amount of money it would take to make a ME, nor even to come out with another new FE sports car that would cost probably cost at least $1.5M to turn into reality, i.e., the plant where they built the Viper is no longer, and FCA’s plants are currently being maximized for Jeep and truck production. Lastly, the number of sports cars being sold at this time is declining annually, and as FCA keeps further limiting its vehicle breadth, just not seeing their ever returning with a new Viper. Let us not forget that they never sold more than 700 units sold per year in the last decade of its life, e.g., a definitive, massive-looser financial program, and only one year in its entire 21 year Viper existence did they marginally sell over 2,000 of them.

[P-Tree]

No, they're doing business as usual and mid cycle refreshes to stay relevant.

[RoketRdr]

They all see the writing on the wall with emissions requirements for 2022-2024. If they don’t build them now they will never be able to. This is why electric hybrids are the future and all manufactures are developing them quickly.

[John]

Nice avatar RoketRdr. Good points in your post.

[Meldoon]

Wonder what we and analysts would be written two or three years from now. Would not surprise me if media analysts then wrote:

The C8 Corvette came in like a bang, and with its just released X model, should continue to dominate the mid engine market segment. Not saying that one can not get a more exclusive car at 5-15 times the price, but now there is no need to do that, that is unless you are a person who is stuck up on themselves, still trying to impress your friends.

And to those people, the C8 will still be a “Plastic Chevrolet” built by “Kentuckians”.......live and let live I reckon! 😎