GM Pulls Plug on 2023 Corvette Z06 Orders, Leaving Many To Question If/When They’ll Be Able to Purchase One
Let’s be honest, history has not been kind to the eighth generation of Chevrolet’s beloved Corvette sports car. Since its introduction in 2020, the car has been plagued with setbacks due to union strikes, COVID, supply chain issues, tornadoes, and more. In August 2022, Chevrolet announced another setback due to “supplier constraints.” These constraints (most assuredly tied to the same computer chip (and other tech hardware) shortages that are plaguing thousands of tech and automotive companies around the globe), forced GM to restrict production of the new Z06 to just ten percent of their accepted orders.
As of September 5, 2022, the situation has deteriorated to a point where GM has announced it will not longer accept ANY new sold orders for their mid-engine supercar.
Who is impacted? Anyone looking to order either a 2023 Corvette Z06 Coupe or Convertible. At the time of this publication, it remains unclear if GM intends to begin taking additional new sold orders again for the 2023 model year, or if Z06 production will be canceled until next year when GM can, hopefully, begin building 2024 Corvette Z06 cars. What’s worse is that it seems likely that many of the registered 2023 model year orders will also get delayed until the 2024 model year due to these same setbacks.
Production of the 2023 Corvette Z06 was slated to begin this month at GM’s Corvette Manufacturing Plant in Bowling Green Kentucky. Given these supply chain constraints, it is unclear how many 2023 Corvette Z06’s will see the light of day. It seems certain that a small number of these super-car Corvettes will roll off the production line this year, but for most expectant customers, the brakes have been “slammed to the floorboard,’ metaphorically speaking.
While there’s no way to please everyone, General Motors has elected to allocate their 2023 Corvette Z06 units to dealerships across the United States using a Historic Sales Volume model based on 2020, 2021 and 2022 Corvette C8 Stingray 3LT sales volume. Effectively, this means that dealers that sold the highest number of the base model C8 Corvette Stingrays in the 3LT trim will be the first to receive their Z06 order allocations.
Here’s the kicker – even those dealers who receive their Z06 Corvettes will find that certain options and features – including the Z07 Carbon Fiber Aero Package and the limited-run 70th Anniversary Edition package – will be heavily constrained, which could mean that even customers whose orders are processed may not end up with the car they wanted in the first place.
What’s important to remember is this – THIS IS NOT GM’S FAULT. In fact, GM has done everything possible to try and maintain production volume despite ever-increasing supply chain shortages. The reality is that much of the technology needed to make these cars a reality simply isn’t available….ANYWHERE. GM is facing the same supply chain hardships as the rest of the world….unfortunately, their product has insanely high visibility and desirability, which makes demand a lot greater than, say, a dishwasher or microwave oven, even though production of both is restricted for the exact same reasons as the newest Corvette.
