The Europeans Want a Corvette. A Plebeian Supercar

[SheepDog]

FROM: PISTONHEADS, Copied from this link with thanks.

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars...footnote/40790

Yesterday Where is Europe's Corvette?


The new V8-powered Stingray costs about the same as an entry-level Alpine A110. No fair

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If you happen to live to the west of the Atlantic Ocean, your £49,500 (or $59,995) sports car budget will run to a 2020 mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with a 194mph top speed, a 6.2-litre V8 and a wholesome 495hp. For those of us who live to the east of the Atlantic, that same budget will afford not much more than a very basic Alpine A110 Pure with a sports exhaust. You're looking at 155mph, 1.8-litres, four cylinders and half the power. Though it is also mid-engined.

It's hard not to feel a little put out by that. Why is it that for the same money a North American buyer can leave the forecourt in a thundering eight-cylinder brute that wouldn't be out of place at a supercar gathering, while those of us in Europe must make do with a dainty little sports car that looks like something a Corvette would get stuck between its teeth? Well, economies of scale for one thing. And component sharing. Chevrolet has always built and sold the Corvette in such vast numbers it can be manufactured to a cost, while its small block V8 is shared with countless other models and gets pumped out of the factory like Skittles.






Of course, when the C8 Corvette does arrive in the UK - which it will, in right-hand drive - the base model will cost more like £75,000 after duties, taxes and the rest have been applied. And the $59,995 entry-level 1LT Corvette will be an airport rental special that most private buyers will avoid like the plague, upgrading instead to the $67,295 2LT or the $71,945 3LT.

Nonetheless, the fact remains: you get a great deal more T-bone for your money in the US than you do over here. So where are Europe's bargain basement performance cars? How can it be that nothing on sale over here gets even close to matching the C8 Corvette in the US in terms of value for money? I can think of only one performance car that might exist in the same ballpark and that - tellingly - is the £42,810 Ford Mustang GT V8.

I'm beginning to think there might be space for a European performance car manufacturer that gears itself - and I mean everything about itself, from R+D expenditure, manufacturing process, dealer network, parts sharing, low cost componentry (where it can get away with it) and whatever else - around affordability. If value for money was its USP. The Dacia methodology applied to the sports car sector. And what if that performance car manufacturer was a new-look Lotus under the stewardship of Geely?






The size of the European sports car market relative to that in North America probably means no Lotus will ever match the C8 Corvette on bang-for-buck. But between the eye-widening affordability of an American sports car and the eye-watering cost of a European one, there must surely be a financially viable middle ground that Lotus could exploit. I'm thinking of a new Elise at less than £35,000, or a new V8 Esprit at around £60,000. Neither cheap as chips, but both decent value for money compared to the rest of the continental sports car market.

Would it even be possible to create a desirable and capable new Lotus, one that's also respectful of the company's heritage, under such tight fiscal constraints? Maybe not. If Lotus can't realistically position itself as the European value-for-money sports car brand, perhaps we'll just have to move to the other side of the Atlantic. Or wait for someone else to see the light.

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Search for a Chevrolet Corvette here


Above is FROM: PISTONHEADS, Copied

[ZORA 69]

Lot of Good Points Sheepdog and especially that there is a possible market for a sports car like this over there.I believe GM is out to prove it. AND, that is with the crazy VAT markup. British Leyland pretty much killed themselves years ago, not the market. Lotus finally got a little smarter with dependable Toyota power plants but still a little pricey as they need to be with their low volume. The Sports car world is dying for the most part and Porsche is about to put the last nail in their coffin. A Boxster S with a 2.0 litre 4 cyl for $90,000. ??? What are they thinking. LESS SALES IS GOOD ??? Corvette stands alone in the GM world. In the last Big Recession Corvette was the only division of GM in the black. Who knows maybe GM will open a Plant in Europe then you can buy one for 49,000 Euro as the VAT will not apply. I think this may even be on the back mind of Porsche from what I have read. They are extremely intimidated by C8s and are doing a lot of politicking right now to keep them out of Europe.

[Supermassive]

I've always felt like this was inevitable. Europe creates some of the greatest sports cars in the world but they have engineered exclusivity built into their ethos. The Porsche Cayman and Alpine A110 are great cars in the vacuum of the auto landscape in Europe, one that was generally unthreatened by the goings on in the US. The C8 though, puts things into perspective. This car will be a world car, and not just a North American car which causes things to get really fuzzy in Europe. Even with the VAT included in the price the C8 will cost less than a 911 but provide performance on par with the much higher trimmed variants of the 911. The Cayman and Alpine A110 will likely remain unaffected in their respective markets which is decidedly small compared to the world sales of 911's.

This article hits upon the key to this issue though...if GM can provide a car like the C8 for the price...why can't others do the same?

It would be pretty awesome if GM could somehow produce enough of the Corvette in Europe for that market to reduce the duty fees added to the car so that it could sell more freely there. I wonder if there are loopholes that can be exploited based on percentage of production completed in Europe to qualify as "made in Europe".

[meyerweb]

Import duties on imported cars in GB are "only" 10%, so that's not really what makes Corvettes so expensive there.

VAT is 20%, but that's on both imported and domestic cars, and replaces some other taxes we have in the U.S. So VAT is a good part of the reason cars are expensive there, but not just U.S. cars.

Of course, after Brexit God only know what cars will cost. The British auto industry has already shed thousands of jobs in anticipation.

[avdb]

I can't wait to get a C8 in the UK - looks like 2021 - but a lot can happen in 2 years

[Ace]

It's not really thought through to just take the US MSRP and convert that to an european currency.
Even if you take the $60k base price Corvette you have to add 10% customs and the tax of your country like 19% for germany. That means for the $60k base price you pay your 54k€ but add about 17k€ for customs and tax - And the carmaker also have additional transport costs, extra R&D and costs for making the car fit european emission and noise laws, etc.

The european C7 Stingray was as standard equipment a 2LT with Z51 package for 79k€ in Germany. That was a pretty great price for the delivered performance. I guess C8 will also start as 2LT+Z51 here for 80-90k€ which is an ever better deal thanks to the performance increase.

But overall I tend to agree that european sportscars are way too overpriced. You get an european Mustang GT or Camaro 2SS for 45k-50k€, you will easily pay the same price for a 4cyl 230ps Audi TT. For the new Supra you pay friggin 70k€. But the problem is not that carmakers don't care, but the focus is pretty much inverted to the US market.

In the US, they think about making a fun car at first and then add how much premium or features you want to add. So you can buy a base Corvette, base GT, base Camaro LT1 with awesome performance for a pretty small budget.
In Europe, they always care about making a premium and luxury car frist. So you get a pretty nice interior and finish on TT, 4-series, etc. But if you want performance, you pay insane amounts of money extra to make these premium cars a TTS/RS, M4, etc.
The only think that fits a bit into desirable performance cars are sporty hatchbacks like i30n, VW GTI/R models, the Cupra subbrand or Fords ST/RS models.

But to have the whole context in my post: New european laws force carmakers to have their whole fleet of sold vehicles to have average emissions below a certain level, otherwise they pay insane penalties (we are talking about millions and millions of € here). So sadly they are not interested in getting a "big engine, small price" car on the market. That's also why all new models get downsized engines like Porsche 718.

[SheepDog]

I can't wait to get a C8 in the UK - looks like 2021 - but a lot can happen in 2 years

In maybe, approximately, 2 years the C8 Z06 will be available. You may get the next-step-up, more potent variant in the first C8 offering over there. I have heard that Europeans tend to prefer the more potent variants of Corvette. There are a few videos featuring a presumed C8-R race car. The exhaust sound is distinctly different than prior Corvette sounds. Some speculate that the C8 Z06 will have a version of that C8-R prototype engine. Whatever that distinctly different sound represents is a matter of opinion. And GM is only hinting. So "a lot can happen in 2 years".

[Adrenaline Junky]

FROM: PISTONHEADS, Copied from this link with thanks.

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars...footnote/40790

Yesterday Where is Europe's Corvette?


The new V8-powered Stingray costs about the same as an entry-level Alpine A110. No fair

---

If you happen to live to the west of the Atlantic Ocean, your £49,500 (or $59,995) sports car budget will run to a 2020 mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with a 194mph top speed, a 6.2-litre V8 and a wholesome 495hp. For those of us who live to the east of the Atlantic, that same budget will afford not much more than a very basic Alpine A110 Pure with a sports exhaust. You're looking at 155mph, 1.8-litres, four cylinders and half the power. Though it is also mid-engined.

It's hard not to feel a little put out by that. Why is it that for the same money a North American buyer can leave the forecourt in a thundering eight-cylinder brute that wouldn't be out of place at a supercar gathering, while those of us in Europe must make do with a dainty little sports car that looks like something a Corvette would get stuck between its teeth? Well, economies of scale for one thing. And component sharing. Chevrolet has always built and sold the Corvette in such vast numbers it can be manufactured to a cost, while its small block V8 is shared with countless other models and gets pumped out of the factory like Skittles.






Of course, when the C8 Corvette does arrive in the UK - which it will, in right-hand drive - the base model will cost more like £75,000 after duties, taxes and the rest have been applied. And the $59,995 entry-level 1LT Corvette will be an airport rental special that most private buyers will avoid like the plague, upgrading instead to the $67,295 2LT or the $71,945 3LT.

Nonetheless, the fact remains: you get a great deal more T-bone for your money in the US than you do over here. So where are Europe's bargain basement performance cars? How can it be that nothing on sale over here gets even close to matching the C8 Corvette in the US in terms of value for money? I can think of only one performance car that might exist in the same ballpark and that - tellingly - is the £42,810 Ford Mustang GT V8.

I'm beginning to think there might be space for a European performance car manufacturer that gears itself - and I mean everything about itself, from R+D expenditure, manufacturing process, dealer network, parts sharing, low cost componentry (where it can get away with it) and whatever else - around affordability. If value for money was its USP. The Dacia methodology applied to the sports car sector. And what if that performance car manufacturer was a new-look Lotus under the stewardship of Geely?






The size of the European sports car market relative to that in North America probably means no Lotus will ever match the C8 Corvette on bang-for-buck. But between the eye-widening affordability of an American sports car and the eye-watering cost of a European one, there must surely be a financially viable middle ground that Lotus could exploit. I'm thinking of a new Elise at less than £35,000, or a new V8 Esprit at around £60,000. Neither cheap as chips, but both decent value for money compared to the rest of the continental sports car market.

Would it even be possible to create a desirable and capable new Lotus, one that's also respectful of the company's heritage, under such tight fiscal constraints? Maybe not. If Lotus can't realistically position itself as the European value-for-money sports car brand, perhaps we'll just have to move to the other side of the Atlantic. Or wait for someone else to see the light.

---

Search for a Chevrolet Corvette here


Above is FROM: PISTONHEADS, Copied

England built the Spitfire and we had our Mustang. England had Radar first and I believe SuperCharging first on their planes. Of course they could do it !! Now Do It UK !! Would love to see a great valued sportscar from our brothers across the pond with SuperCar performance