mike1952

To vetteinsider; have you noticed any slowdown on the line since the C6 became a reality?

tT-REXXX

Oh good I'm the first. What a dumb question on so many levels and i'm sure an insult to gm employees. :smash:

Ruz

What am I missing...why is that a dumb question? :confused:

tT-REXXX

Maybe i did miss the point. I thought he was asking if any gm employee had slowed down on his own or was asked to slow down by gm.In either case i don't think they would admit to it. i know i wouldn't. line emp. don't slow down they get laid off.

mike1952

ouch....i've never been flamed before.. :confused:
what I was trying to ask was if there was a slowdown of C5 orders....not the fine GM employees that are going to be building my new C6! :cuss :lol: :yesnod:

mike1952

thanks for the support :lol: ;) :seeya

shockwave

Very good question. The big dealers have more C5's then ever to unload and their allocations keep coming. The discounts from the #1 and #2 dealers are higher then ever. If the factory keeps producing them at the present rate and the dealers can't unload them they will be lining them up on the street. One local dealer is still trying to unload an unused 03. If they don't start selling these 04's and keep producing them at the same rate it may slow down and delay the release of the C6's.

BuckyThreadkiller

If the pipeline and lots were full of cars why wouldn't they just to an early shutdown and switchover?

gnosys

:iagree: :iagree: :confused:

jrc50

I imagine unless the GM sales numbers for January with the incentives show a dramatic gain versus the 38% drop in December sales compared to last December, that the Corvette plant will stop production of C5's early; have a prolonged summer shutdown; and start a slow ramp up of C6's early.
About June/July you are really going to see a nice incentive on the C5's; maybe $4k like the Tahoe, etc.
Every time I look at the price on a collector Vette, with decent ones in the $40K range minimum, it seems crazy to spend that when you can buy a new C5 for the same money! :boxing

vetteinsider

Well the C-6 has been a reality for me since about March of last 2003. But, I know what you are asking, since the C-6 has been introduced to the public. Production has dropped from a scheduled 152 a day to scheduled 136 a day. What this translates to a reduction from 9 plus hours a day to a regular 8 hour day.
:chevy

Corvette ED

Lets say you buy a new one for $40,000 and keep it 5 years. It is now worth $20,000 or less. Now if you bought a collector Vette for $40,000 and kept it 5 years chances are it will be worth $50,000. One thing for sure it will not be worth less.

It is all about what you want the car for. New Vettes are great, but there is nothing like owning a classic one.

mike1952

Do you think that C6 production might actually move up if C5 orders slow down or does that have more to do with vendors and engineering being ready? Thanks for the insight by the way!

:D :thumbs:

Mr Mojo

:iagree:

For daily driving, nothing would beat a new car, but for cruising(and in my case daily driving) a collector car is much bigger on the "WOW" factor.

I love the old classics, but seriously I would rather buy a $20,000 "beater" and drive it everyday than a $40,000 "looker" and subject it to the harsh weather I encounter.

If I get a chance, I'm going to take a look at a black/black '64 convertible for $24,000, but the temps are in the single digits so I just may stay inside.

vetteinsider

This is pure speculation on my part, no facts or info to back it up. I think that everything will goes as scheduled. The wheels turn slow on deals of this magnatude. Just MHO. :chevy

need-for-speed

My random thoughts are not based on any inside knowledge, they're merely logical speculation, but: I see statements like the above often. No offense :) but, many people ignore the fact that GM does not own the dealerships and they probably do no tie their production schedules to dealership inventory. I think the only action they may take is to offer rebates to help out the dealerships. They know what happens to inventories when the new model appears and their plans (release dates and production schedules) are most likely set in stone more than a year in advance. C4's were stacked up on the lots when the release of C5 was eminent. No one (in the GM ivory towers) is surprised at the current situation. :cheers:

JWD01

You are correct but they do keep a close eye on them. Production is based on orders and if no dealerships are ordering a model, then production slows.

Corvette Junkie

But if dealer don't keep ordering C5s this year they will lose allocation for next year.

JWD01

It doesn't make sense to order a bunch of cars that are not selling well. Then, in order to sell them, you have to discount them $1000 less than what you paid for them and if they don't sell after x number days, you start to pay flooring costs. I know they get a holdback, $1,500 on a $50,000 car, but that gets eaten up in a hurry. All this so you can be allocated more cars down the road (and they may not sell that well either since they are months away from production and dealers are already offering discounts off MSRP). :cheers:

Mitch Alsup

The flaw in your logic is that GM has already ordered parts for (lets say) 32,000 '04 Vetts of some mixture in Coupe, convertible, and Z06. The pipeline begins at the manufacturing suppliers not at GM-BG.

Now if the economy goes flat, at some point a slowdown could be initiated--but once again--this slowdown begins at the manufacturing suppliers.