I checked Jeffhardy.com this morning to see the ZR1 inventory. There are now 19 cars listed as available. The Bowling Green plant closed sometime in December, although I don't know the exact date. I believe at the time of closing, there were less than 40 ZR1's available.
What the data suggests is that the ZR1 is selling at the rate of slightly over three cars per week, world wide. That would seem impossible, but unless someone has some other numbers, that seems to be the case.
I also checked total vette inventories for the three years the website provides. The numbers are:
2009 - 6579
2008 - 2068
2007 - 130
Combined, there remain about 8,800 unsold vettes sitting on dealer lots. This number has hardly moved since the plant closed. We need to start asking ourselves whether the plant will really open as scheduled. Dealers are not going to be placing orders for cars to sit on their lots unsold.
I checked Jeffhardy.com this morning to see the ZR1 inventory. There are now 19 cars listed as available. The Bowling Green plant closed sometime in December, although I don't know the exact date. I believe at the time of closing, there were less than 40 ZR1's available.
What the data suggests is that the ZR1 is selling at the rate of slightly over three cars per week, world wide. That would seem impossible, but unless someone has some other numbers, that seems to be the case.
I also checked total vette inventories for the three years the website provides. The numbers are:
2009 - 6579
2008 - 2068
2007 - 130
Combined, there remain about 8,800 unsold vettes sitting on dealer lots. This number has hardly moved since the plant closed. We need to start asking ourselves whether the plant will really open as scheduled. Dealers are not going to be placing orders for cars to sit on their lots unsold.
Very scary.
I think the ZR1 numbers are going to remain right where they are until BG opens again. Those cars are held by people who are either waiting for the high markups or they just like the way it looks on their showroom floor. You can rest assured that any ZR1's sold since BG closed, went for over MSRP.
Please give me your address so I can send you the "Captain Obvious" cape....
Duhhhhhhhhhh
SIgn of times jack...
Your sarcasm is greatly appreciated - stick it.
You do understand the implication of what I wrote, right? Do you appreciate that there is only so long you can have a production facility idle. Parts suppliers go belly up, your production people leave, etc. All it takes is one part not being available and you have no production. Plus, you have extensive overhead on large non-producing facilities at a time when you are struggling to stay alive.
The Viper may well be gone and why would you think the vette is immune? Being someone with a long history of buying vettes, I find the implications rather onerous and very disheartening.
I think the ZR1 numbers are going to remain right where they are until BG opens again. Those cars are held by people who are either waiting for the high markups or they just like the way it looks on their showroom floor. You can rest assured that any ZR1's sold since BG closed, went for over MSRP.
I think it tells an interesting story - basically that there are not many of us willing or able to pay over MSRP. The question is how many people are willing to pay MSRP. Bet not as many as some of you think.
By the way, I could care less what others pay for their cars - it is free enterprise at work and it is not up to me to make judgments about other folk's values.
The scores of posts about ZR1 prices have up to now been mostly based on supply and demand. Eventually supply meets demand and prices drop.
The economic problems in this country have seriously deepened in the last 60 days which has changed alot of the variables, so I think we are no longer just looking at a supply and demand situation.
Alot of the points now being brought up are possibly valid.
Will Bowling Green reopen at the end of February with 8000+ unsold C6 cars on dealer lots?
Will suppliers (expecially specialty ones such as makers of carbon fiber pieces) be able to survive the number of GM, Chrysler and Ford plants on temporary closure and be there to produce pieces when plants like Bowling Green reopen?
Under current economic conditions, Is there still a market for a 1200+ units of a $120,000 Corvette?
I certainly know my thoughts at about current economic and business conditions have substantially changed in the last 60 days. Prior to Thanksgiving we were expecting a slow start to 2009 with business improving during the second have of the year. Expectations were that our total 2009 business would be off by approximately 25%. That is no longer our thinking or our plan.
I will repost a note I made about ZR1 sales in a few days when my forcast comes to fruition. There can be only one thing that will save corvette pricing this year.....it is if they do not make anymore. Sorry but the truth sometimes hurts...
I wonder how accurate the inventory numbers are on Jeffhardy.com? I know of another ZR1 and five 2009 ZO6's that are in inventory at Schumacher Chevy in North Palm Beach, FL, where the dealership nor the cars are listed on this site. They also have several '08 ZO6's.
There is absolutely no reason to open the plant to make more in 2009.
Here is another thought...wouldn't it be time to do a little marketing? I can't remember the last time i've seen a Corvette commercial or advertisement.
There is absolutely no reason to open the plant to make more in 2009.
Here is another thought...wouldn't it be time to do a little marketing? I can't remember the last time i've seen a Corvette commercial or advertisement.
Remember, the vette is a discretionary item that none of us need to have. It is a toy, not a necessity. When you have concerns about your job, your home and your ability to feed your family, the last thing in the world you would buy is a very expensive car with limited utility.
From GM's perspective, they have a heck of a lot more unsold SUV's, sedans and trucks sitting on dealer lots than they have corvettes. They are already strapped as far as their expenses go - they will focus their advertising dollars toward products that will sell the most. From what I can see from watching football, that seems to be trucks, at least with respect to Ford and Chrysler. If I see another "hemi" ad, I think I will get sick.
It is a tough sell, the ZR1 might be a fantastic car but for well north of 140k out the door most people would never pay that for a Corvette, its still a Corvette. Even the Porsche and Ferrari people who buy 140k plus cars still think of it as a Corvette. They should have made the ceramic brakes and carbon fiber as options and priced the car around 85k and dropped the Z06 in 2010. They would have sold as many as they produced because every Z06 owner would have moved on up.
It is a tough sell, the ZR1 might be a fantastic car but for well north of 140k out the door most people would never pay that for a Corvette, its still a Corvette. Even the Porsche and Ferrari people who buy 140k plus cars still think of it as a Corvette. They should have made the ceramic brakes and carbon fiber as options and priced the car around 85k and dropped the Z06 in 2010. They would have sold as many as they produced because every Z06 owner would have moved on up.
Maybe, maybe not. A very good idea, but almost nobody is buying sports cars.
Maybe, maybe not. A very good idea, but almost nobody is buying sports cars.
But when the ZR1 was being planned, built and tested the market was much stronger and people were spending money and loans were easy to get.
I bought my 08C6Z in August and traded in my 07C6Z. I would have bought one without the CF garbage, hole in the hood and the brakes at around 80-85k. But I am not going to spend 120k for a ZR1 with all that garbage on it. I bet in 4-5 years the CF parts will yellow or start breaking down.
Last edited by 90sundevil; 01-25-2009 at 06:34 PM.
Well if you look at it another way, Chevy has about 4100 dealerships in the US and if there are 8,000 Vettes, that's about two each. Doesn't sound that unreasonable that way. That doesn't include Canada and elsewhere.
Corvette Store
ZR1's and Vettes in General Not Selling
