Moving Forward: A Look at 2021 and 2022 Corvette Production

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On the heels of our announcement yesterday that GM notified dealers that the last allocation round for 2021 Corvette orders would be canceled this month, some folks were left confused by GM’s announcement and where their orders stand.

As stated in their announcement, “we are not planning on canceling any accepted 2021 model year Corvette Stingray orders (event code 3000 and above).” However:

…for the third model year of the mid-engine Corvette, model year 2022 allocation will evolved into the Available Days’ Supply (ADS) allocation methodology like all other Chevy allocation groups

So what exactly does this mean?

Available Days’ Supply (ADS)

ADS basically means that a Chevy dealer’s allocation numbers will be based upon how many of a particular model they have sitting on the ground and how long that model has been sitting.

For C8 allocation numbers, GM used a dealer’s previous 3-years of C7 Corvette sales.  So  GM looked at a dealer’s 2017 – 2019 Corvette sales numbers and determined how much allocation to dole out to that dealer based on those sales numbers.

This is actually great news for the Chevy dealers that chose to sell their C8 Corvettes at MSRP and move them rather than the smaller dealers who chose to rape the customer by tacking on a $20K – $30K “market adjustment”.  To all those dealers out there sitting on 2 – 5+ C8 Corvettes with “market adjustments” in your showroom for the last several months – congratulations – you just shot yourselves in the foot.

Dodge did the exact same thing with the Hellcat when dealers tried to jack-up the price of the car above MSRP.  According to a report in Automotive News, Dodge’s CEO, Tim Kuniskis was quoted:

If you want to market-adjust the car, that’s your right. But if your days-on-lot goes above [that of] the other guys that are selling them at MSRP, they will end up earning the allocation because their days-on-lot will be lower. They’re turning the inventory.”

“Some dealers are going to have heartburn with that,” Kuniskis told Automotive News. “I want this car out in the marketplace so that somebody is sharing it with 50 of their friends and elevating the brand. That’s what I want—not sitting in your showroom with a rope around it.

For 2021, GM has been extending Corvette allocation to dealers on a quarterly basis.  As it stands right now moving forward, ADS will not affect that – unless GM issues new allocation time frames to dealers.

2022 Corvette Production Startup

A month ago, GM announced that 2022 Corvette production would begin on September 6th which is exactly what I was predicting all along given the numerous shutdowns we were seeing.  Unfortunately, this is most likely no longer the case given that we’re seeing targeted production week (TPW) dates for remaining 2021 Corvette orders through the week of September 6th.

In GM’s announcement yesterday, they mentioned the start of 2022 Corvette production  “in late Q3”.  Given that statement, I would expect 2022 Corvette production to potentially begin the week of Monday, October 4th.

Had we seen a full month’s worth of production in May, I think it’s safe to say that September 6th date would have held true.  Unfortunately, there was just no way for GM to stick to that date given all of the 2021 Corvette orders sitting in the system at 3000 or higher and the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant hampered by parts shortages.

The only potential hiccup I see here is if parts shortages continue to plague the assembly plant, and production continues to suffer periodic stoppages thus pushing the 2022 Corvette startup date into early Q4.

Another topic of confusion I’ve been seeing today is whether or not BGCA will shut down for a summer break in between the model year change over.  No, they will not.  GM has stated to the media that many of their assembly plants will not take a summer break like they’ve normally done in the past.

Given that there are no significant changes between the 2021 and 2022 Corvette model year – there’s no reason for BGCA to shut down to reconfigure the assembly line, etc.

“My 2021 Corvette order was scheduled to be submitted this month – now what?”

If you submitted a deposit and were placed on a waiting list at a dealer for a 2021 Corvette, your dealer should reach out to you and ask you if you would like to convert your order over to a 2022 Corvette, or if you would like a refund for your deposit.

For those of you with orders that were sitting in GM’s Order Workbench system at a status code below 3000, GM will delete your order now.  Contrary to what many believe, orders are not automatically pushed forward into the next model year.  Your dealer will have to resubmit your order and you’ll be issued a new order number.

“All of these shutdowns and parts shortages is GM’s fault!”

WRONG – this isn’t GM’s fault.

I don’t understand the rationale behind everyone bashing GM for the numerous BGCA shutdowns.

It’s called PANDEMIC.

And yeah, I get it – we’re all sick of hearing the word “pandemic” and “COVID-19”, but for over a year now – it’s been a fact of life. Rather than focusing on JUST Corvette and JUST GM – widen your scope of vision and take a look at what has happened to the entire automotive market – both new and used. Take a look at the breakdown in the global supply chains – not just the various tiered suppliers to GM – take a look at how suppliers for all industries across the globe have been affected.

Go take a drive to your local Home Depot and just walk up and down the aisles. Notice how there’s a million of one product on an entire shelf and not a large variety of what used to be there?

Take a look at the outrageous cost of lumber and construction materials. I actually had a couple reconstruction projects planned for my house this year – I shelved them all because the cost of a simple 2×4 is through the roof.

Just about every single industry on this planet has been affected by a virus running rampant for so long before science could catch up and put it in check.

It’s not just a Corvette thing. It’s not just a GM thing. It’s a GLOBAL “thing” and yes, it’s frustrating – I get it – but people are focusing blame and pointing a finger at GM when a lot of this has been out of their control – and something that no automotive manufacturer has ever had to deal with at this magnitude in its history.

At the very least – be thankful that GM did everything they could at keeping Corvette production a priority – rather than shutting BGCA down for months-on-end like they did with Cadillac and some of the Chevy SUV assembly plants.

I get that it’s made tracking orders stressful and difficult, but even though BGCA has had their share of shutdowns this year – they’ve been open and producing more than some of GM’s other assembly plants.

Chime in with your thoughts in the forums!