Bradan Donaldson
Chevrolet confirms that 2021 Corvette Orders that have a status code of 1100 or higher are exempt from the $1,000 price increase
After a contentious weekend of misinformation going back and forth between GM and dealers, Chevrolet has finally confirmed in writing that all 2021 Corvette orders placed in GM Order Workbench with status code 1100 or higher are price protected.
As per Chevrolet Marketing:
The MSRP of the 2021 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe and convertible at all trim levels will increase by $1,000 beginning March 1. Buyers who have event code 1100 sold orders and beyond by March 2 will not be impacted by the price increase on the 2021 Corvette Stingray. We monitor and adjust pricing on all our products regularly, and we’re confident the Corvette remains a winning formula of performance and attainability.
From Chevrolet:
Chevrolet is announcing revised prices effective for vehicles produced on or after March 1, 2021. This revision affects base prices for 2021 Corvette Models.
Dealer price schedules will be available in GlobalConnect effective March 1, 2021.
Retail sold order price protection eligibility dates are dictated by the customer and dealer order dates as follows:
-Customer order date must be prior to the date of the price increase.
-GM systems order date (date dealer enters in GM system) must be no more than one work day after date of the price increase.
These units will be invoiced at prices in effect at the date of production;
It is anticipated that this pricing information will be reflected in the Order Workbench Configure a New Vehicle process at 8:00AM EST March 3, 2021.
Friday morning we broke the news that Chevrolet would be increasing the price of the 2021 Corvette by $1,000, however customers and dealers were left in the dark as to which orders would be price protected within GM’s Order Work Bench system.
Dealers were originally led to believe that all orders at 1100 or higher were price protected, but later on Friday afternoon, the story began to change when word started coming from GM that the price protection “might” only cover orders at 3000 or higher.
This led to extreme confusion in what some dealers were able to relay to their customers as some customers were left wondering where they stood on dealer waiting lists with deposits.
There is one Caveat however…
The one thing to remember though is that even though an order is at 1100 in GM’s system, it doesn’t mean GM has accepted the order. That doesn’t happen until the order moves up to status code 2000.
It also depends upon an individual dealership’s allocation. If the dealership doesn’t get enough allocation – some orders may not be accepted. So while your order may be at 1100, there is still no guarantee your order will be accepted by GM.
Why the Price Increase?
That’s anyone’s guess.
If orders at 1100 or higher in the system are price protected, that means GM won’t be getting the additional $1,000 per unit built going forward. Given the demand for the car, it’s safe to assume that there are a ton of orders in the system waiting to be built.
However, last month, between supplier issues and weather issues, the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant was really open only about a week and half for production.
This week, the Assembly Plant is shut down once again due to supplier issues – so March production has already lost a week.
We know that three colors for the 2021 Corvette model year will be coming to an end at the end of June – July which means it’s probably safe to assume that the 2021 model year will wrap up around that time, even though GM hasn’t confirmed a cutoff date yet.
So why roll out a price increase now if there’s really no guarantee that the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant will be full steam ahead from next week until mid-summer unless the switchover from 2021 to 2022 production will be delayed like it was for the 2020 to 2021 model year?
That’s right there is big question!
Chime in with your thoughts in the forums!
