2023 has been a great year so far. Unfortunately, not all of the news was good. While the Corvette E-Ray reveals and delivers the Z06’s high points, Z06 engines explode and now, the C8’s production hiatus has taken the wind out of Chevy’s sails.
Good news for those awaiting delivery of the C8 — the production outage should last about a week.
General Motors spokesman Dan Flores pointed out that a supply chain problem was responsible for the halt in production. Flores declined to add any other information, but said semiconductor chips were not the cause of the production problems this week.
Separately, GM spokeswoman Rachel Bagshaw says the supply chain and engineering teams are working together to meet demand for the C8 Corvette.
When will production of the C8 Corvette resume?
Fortunately for those waiting to reserve the C8 Corvette, the downtime should be short-lived. As of this writing, assembly lines are scheduled to resume on Monday, February 27th. The Kentucky plant in question produces both the Corvette Z06 and Corvette; However, the issue does not appear to be related to recent engine issues related to the Z06.
Instead, an unspecified and temporary shortage of parts halted production of the new Corvette. A short layover is nothing to worry about unless you’re one of the thousands of bookers waiting for a new Corvette to arrive.
This isn’t the first time the Corvette has gone out of business
Unfortunately, the current C8 Corvette’s discontinuation isn’t the first for Chevy’s new supercar. This past August, another one-week outage occurred amid similar circumstances. As global supply chain issues continue to spread, such pauses are becoming more and more normal. This is especially true of the new Corvette, which shares few parts with any of its GM siblings.
How many new cruisers were made at the Kentucky plant?
Production of the new car has fluctuated since sales began in 2020. In the first year, the Bowling Green plant produced just over 20,000 units, while 2021 production rose to more than 26,000 units. However, a parts shortage and a hurricane hampered the plant in 2022, producing just 25,831 C8 models.
Each year of production, the new Corvette has seen delays for a variety of issues. The latest stop is the first of 2023, though it may not be the last. Global disruptions and shipping restrictions are likely to cause continued outages throughout the next year. This is bad news for Corvette buyers, as demand for the cars in demand has skyrocketed. With a pike going down, it could get worse.
The new Chevrolet plug-in hybrid sports car will also come off the Bowling Green assembly line. Any future outages will affect three of the most popular variations of the C8 Corvette as demand for the sports car only grows. Of course, none of this is GM’s fault. Global logistical problems are largely out of their control, so it’s a waiting game for everyone involved.
