With GM being pretty tight-lipped over the past couple of months about the timings of the 2020 Corvette C8, it’s no wonder that we, the automotive media and blogosphere, have been screaming for details.
Well, today, GM “answered.” Sort of. “Through the grapevine,” as it were.
A post on the Corvette Forum has had several posts from either UAW Local 2164 members or those with inside knowledge of factory-to-dealer communications.
What the posts state is that the Bowling Green factory is on a slow-walk restart of production, with an inverse seniority layoff structure in place. What this means for the layman is that as parts suppliers and other GM factories restart, not enough parts are available for three full shifts of production, and if they did ramp-up to full shifts now, the parts would run out.
As such, GM is asking those workers with the most seniority if they would like to work. If they say no, they aren’t terminated but put on temporary layoff, and the question is asked to the next seniority level down until a full shift can be procured for production.
The bigger news in the thread is that the 2020 Corvette C8 Convertible, long whispered about as being pushed back to 2021, will start production on July 20. Probably. This is because, while some parts manufacturers shut down, others kept working on the convertible parts with reduced staff, leading to a small surplus of convertible parts.
As well, to be able to fit all of the current orders for 2020 C8’s in, including those that were refunded and subsequently placed as 2021 orders, the 2021 model year refresh has been pushed back from the usual August timeframe to November.
With a lot of fact-checking and unrelated posters stating the same information in the thread, we would place our money on this information being 90% or better true. So cross your fingers, toes, eyes, and anything else you can so that we can see the 2020 Corvette C8 grace our roads in greater numbers!
