Question for Mike Furman

[JustOneMore]

The number of manuals produced seems to be 23%. What is the percentage ordered by customers, not for stock?

[Mike Furman@Criswell]

Good question. Closer to 40% of my factory orders are stick shift. I had 7 sold order Convt’s in a row that were all sticks!
The bulk of the Chevrolet dealers probably order all Auto trans Corvettes for stock because of the lack of volume that they deal with.

mike Furman

[RoketRdr]

Good question. Closer to 40% of my factory orders are stick shift. I had 7 sold order Convt’s in a row that were all sticks!
The bulk of the Chevrolet dealers probably order all Auto trans Corvettes for stock because of the lack of volume that they deal with.

mike Furman

WOW! You surely sell more manuals than any other dealer in the country. So another question...are most of those your repeat long-term customer base?

[Mike Furman@Criswell]

WOW! You surely sell more manuals than any other dealer in the country. So another question...are most of those your repeat long-term customer base?

I have only dealt with repeat, referral or forum customers over the past 7 years...and yes after 40+ years of selling Corvettes many of my customers are long term repeat customers.

Mike

[RoketRdr]

I have only dealt with repeat, referral or forum customers over the past 7 years...and yes after 40+ years of selling Corvettes many of my customers are long term repeat customers.

Mike

Pretty darn impressive Mike.

[meyerweb]

If I buy an ME it will be from Mike!

[tooold2race]

Our local dealer (one of the top 5 Corvette sellers in the country) told me when it comes to ordering 'for inventory', he always orders automatics. He said he can ALWAYS sell an automatic to someone shopping for a manual, BUT he can NEVER sell a stick to someone looking for an automatic....

[Rfong]

Mike, if the ME actually goes into production with first deliveries in Aug 2019, will you be taking orders where customers can order specific options for their cars? If so could I place my spec’ed out order in a June for August delivery? Wishful thinking?

[Mike Furman@Criswell]

Mike, if the ME actually goes into production with first deliveries in Aug 2019, will you be taking orders where customers can order specific options for their cars? If so could I place my spec’ed out order in a June for August delivery? Wishful thinking?

My belief (Educated guess) is production will begin late Summer 2019 and with that being said you would need to get in my deal folder line now because once the ME actually gets announced(this Winter...my guess again) my deal folder line will triple inside of 30 days.

Mike Furman
301-212-4420

[John]

As Mike is noting, we are now just guessing about major things. Let me add in a few more. Of course starting with we do not know when the reveal is, then when the first customer ME orders are taken, then when production actually starts, then how slowly that initial ramp up is (it took months for the C7), then how long the quality control hold (QCH) is. Personal guess re the GCH, is that like far past and unlike the recent past, this time since so much is new, the QCH will be a full month long.

And despite all those, I remain the optimist that the first customer deliveries will be sometime next summer.

As to a major milestone that you specifically asked about, Rfong, with so much new, GM will want to get initial orders in pretty earlier so they can know, pretty close, initial take rates (if for example is there a front axle lift option, might that be ordered by 10% or 30% of ME customers), but that once those initial orders are taken, we will die a slow death by a thousand knives waiting for the first ones to actually move forward.

Let me add my wild guess to your question Rfong, that ordering will not be until immediately after the BASH (so the first week of May).

Iit would be a two edged sword if before then. First on the positive side, it would be super exciting for orders to start earlier, but the downer part is that the BASH is the time when GM bring 80 Corvette staff from Michigan and from BGA to do seminars about the next year Corvette, specifically what is new, walkarounds of the new car pointing out what is new — and answering questions, and most importantly to those who are ordering, be there for all three or four days you to individually walk up and ask questions of them .

Turly, without exaggeration, for the 2014 BASH, both Harlan and Ryan Vaughan (the C7’s Chief Interior Designer), spend about 20 minutes each with my wife and I helping up choose our options, and after that, I then spent about 15 minutes having a 1-to-1 conversation with Alex MacDonald (Senior Chassis Engineer) talking about Z07 package or not for us.

So part of me wishes ordering starts earlier; yet another large part of me hopes it does not start until after the BASH.

But the bottom line, we are just wildly guessing, at best surmising, at this time.

[meyerweb]

If I buy an ME it will be from Mike!

Assuming, of course, he gives me a fair price!

[whl3]

Besides being automatics, I'd bet most local small volume dealers rarely order 3LT/LZ interiors with most of their stock orders being 1LT/LZ to make the sticker price look attractive. I'd like to think that most of us who have religiously followed this forum, are more knowledgeable gear-heads than those who blindly walk through a Chevrolet dealer's front doors. To them, a Corvette is a Corvette (other than coupe or convertible). We know different! Also Re. the "front axle lift option," like it and other new ME options, it will only be an initial guess by GM as to the demand for these items. I suspect to see an "arm's length" of constraints for ME options shortly after orders begin! The moral: "Get on Mike's list now!"

[Racer X]

Out of curiosity - how much does it cost to have a slot in the coveted "deal folder"?! And is it fully refundable if for whatever reason a deal cannot be closed?

Thanks Mike.

[John]

Mike’s desk direct phone number is: (301) 212-4420

You will be pleased with his answers (but I never speak directly for our vendors).

[Mobius]

Out of curiosity - how much does it cost to have a slot in the coveted "deal folder"?!

Hmm, with your reputation (I used to watch Speed Racer reruns as a kid), I think you'll want to have several AMEX Black Cards handy when you call...