K-Spaz

Last year I wanted to get a new 2012. They offered 0% for 60 months nearly all year. I've not looked lately, but it might still be on. Then there's GM card savings and dealer discounts, sales incentives, adding all those things together, financing was almost a no brainer. Now, I still decided afterward I didn't want to do it. But, I was very near to financing my first vehicle since 1989.

I do without lots of stuff, in spite of the fact that I don't have to. I have no TV service at home (antenna for over air only), no cell phone, basically no monthly bills. After a few years, that sort of thing adds up. When I consider that I was looking at a brand new Vette with payments for 5 years under $500/month, and not getting rid of a vehicle in trade, well, those times without a cell phone don't seem so bad anymore.

If people thought a little more about what they need vs what they want, they'd find they would want for a lot less, cause they'd have a lot more.

This car can be for the regular Joe, but probably would not be for the 'average' Joe, since the 'average' guy is up to their eyeballs in debt.

granracing

They really don't look the same. The head of the exterior design explained the rear end to us a bit starting with the fact they tried using round tail lights, but it made it look like pokadots. They also incorporated LED lights, so wanted to show something was different and new with it. Then the vents on the side of the lights that actually serve a real purpose, influenced the design.

He also told us to not forget that the Camaro lights were an influence from the Vette, and that they do share some lineage so it's not a horrible thing. In the end though, they look different than the Camaro lights. I think anything other than round lights would have received criticism.

Michael A

Good point. I bought my BRAND NEW loaded Firebird Trans Am at the ripe old age of 21. It's a matter of having goals and being frugal. When you are young, you often don't have all the financial obligations that come later in life.

Michael

FloydSummerOf68

Have you recently priced out the MSRP of an optioned Grand Sport Coupe?

You're talking 70k for a 4LT with magnetic selective ride and NPP...closer to 75 if you get some little things like 60th anniversary or heritage package, Auto trans, etc..

I would imagine the C7 will be similar.

FloydSummerOf68

I only finance a car if I can get 0%....I'd rather let my money work for me than for them.

Slynky

One of the few places...

Otherwise, after age 54, you're pretty much out of any demographic target group. (well, except maybe AARP...)

Surf Island

I remember a video from Jay. There were nice used vettes that most anyone could afford.

JoesC5

How old are you and how many Corvettes do you own?

alanhang

invest in mazda it will work even better.

Bill17601

Invest in old Corvettes. You can have some fun and still make money. An L 88 would be fun. LOL...

DonsLS1

Well, I'm an average guy, and I resent the fact that they don't want it to be the car of the average guy. They seem to forget that it's "the average guy" who has always bought there cars and trucks. Chevrolet has always been known as a working mans car. If that's how they feel about us average guys, then let Obama buy there corvettes! They sure as hell had no problems taking the average guys tax dollar to bail them out! As far as I'm concerned, they can stick the C7 where the sun don't shine!

Sincerely,
The average guy

Mike Campbell

Problem now is the average Joe probably is on unemployment.

Slynky

LOL...(not sure how to take your question)

61 and you see my only car in my avatar.

My comment wasn't intended to be personal.

Too often I see a reference in the commercial world that indicates its prime target excludes my age group and I find that I'm rarely considered when advertising something, creating something, new movies/TV shows, and etc.

Slynky

Oooo, OUCH ! Nice left jab!

Big Dan 427

I like it DonsLS1. It's all friggin' smoke and mirrors and anyone who believes the print they read is in fantasy land! These so called journalists have nothing better to do than to give their own convoluted opinion just to write an article!

RocketGuy3

There are sooo many reasons this article completely misses the mark. The author needs to do his homework.

As has been pointed out, GM has confirmed that the price is not going up much.

Plus, how stupid of a strategy is it to try to change a car's image by making it more expensive??? This is a car. Not a liquor or wine. (Not that it's a good idea to do that with liquor, either, but it seems to work.)

Finally, the affordability of the Corvette is exactly what makes it so successful to begin with.

RocketGuy3

Agreed. You guys predicting $70K+ price tags are outta your damn minds... Not gonna happen.

tdp1

What a dumb a$$. This reporter knows nothing about Corvette owners. I'm pretty sure he doesn't own one.

Double_j01

Using price to set image is as old as marketing itself. Higher prices = more exclusive = more desireable no matter what the product.

Most luxury brands are very careful about managing the street prices of their goods so as not to dilute the overall brand image via excessive discounting at retail (Rolex is especially good at this).

And before you dismiss the benefit of a luxury image as marketing fluff, consider that luxury goods and other 'aspirational' products generally carry much higher profit margins than more commoditized (i.e., price-based) product propositions. If you can increase average selling price by 10% and only lose 5% of your volume when doing it, you're making out ahead on the deal. Not to mention the fact that luxury products tend to be less sensitive to economic swings and have consumers that tend to be less sensitive to annual price increases, etc.

That said, I don't think Chevy is automatically going to jack up the price. I think it's going to start including some touches of high end on the car without really raising prices in order to elevate the overall Corvette image with the public. Once they have the image fixed, then they'll start to increase prices at a faster than normal rate (kind of like Nissan did with the GTR - remember when it was launched as the supercar for the everyman? Now it's impossible to get one for less than six figures). I guess that we'll see pricing really start going up when the C8 is introduced.

This does imply that the C7 could be the best Corvette value ever! We'll be getting new generation quality for last generation pricing!

sportcruiser

I think they meant for the average Joe to aspire to.

Price aside, the question for me is "is this really a distinctive, good looking car?". Or, does it look like a something that is trying too hard - maybe like a japanese brand copying an Italian brand? I won't know until I see one in person. I think it's possible that it will only appeal to a younger crowd that won't buy it because of the price and the 2 seats, and the older guys might start looking harder at a 911. Time will tell.

It's all a matter of taste, of course. I am still optimistic, and looking forward to seeing one in person.