Many of you would have seen my Corvette Devil-Ray rendering that I’ve been developing over the last several days. Now with the help of suggestions from Bob Lutz I’m happy with its form. However what I want to discuss here is not its design but what it represents, the platform it could be built on, and how it is powered. So this is not about my design, it’s just an example, but whether GM should build a car of this type and expand the Corvette Brand to a two-car range.
Devil-Ray V6 Corvette
It is common knowledge that Corvette buyers are aging and for the brand to continue into the future it needs to appeal to younger buyers and find a role in a world increasingly obsessed with energy consumption and thus engine size and efficiency. Never mind that a modern V8 Corvette is very energy efficient, it is perception that determines the market. With that in mind I suggest that Corvette needs to expand to such a two-car range. Continue with the V8 Corvette Stingray and perhaps offer higher end versions of it to go after the likes of Ferrari and Aston-Martin; not just with high performance but higher quality interiors at least as options.
So the present topic thus begs the question of what should a new entry level Corvette be? We have seen recent rumours of a V6 mid-engine Corvette in the future, but those of us who’ve been around a while have seen that movie many times before and I see no mid-engine in Corvettes immediate future. My opinion is that the only practical and economic platform GM has for an entry level Corvette, targeted at a younger audience, is RWD Alpha. We know Cadillac will get an ATS Coupe and Convertible based on Alpha and I believe a re-body of these would be the most suitable choice. Both the entry level Corvette and the ATS Coupe and Convertible would benefit from their shared underpinnings having greater economies of scale. Camaro would have shared Zeta Platform underpinnings with the Coupe60 (and new Pontiac GTO had it survived), even though the Camaro uses a shorter middle section and longer under hood section. So too Devil-Ray Corvette and ATS Coupe, while differing in proportions, outer bodies and interiors, would share the same flexible build Alpha Platform - running down the same production line. And given they would thus likely be built in the same factory, then the Corvette would benefit from the Cadillac build quality controls put in place as well.
V8 Corvette Stingray
It seems obvious to me that with the V8 Stingray upholding the high performance end of the market, then Devil-Ray as I call it (named for a smaller Manta Ray) should be V6 only. With the recent announcement of the Twin Turbo 3.0 V6 this makes a lot of sense. Entry level could be a 325hp SIDI 3.6 V6 fitted with some lighter titanium parts for a higher rev range, and a 425hp TT 3.0 V6 would power the performance version. If I had my way the Corvette transaxle would also be grafted onto the Alpha platform for this. The other benefit of sharing a platform with the Caddy ATS is that it will be designed for future hybrid and plug-in electric versions as well, making the Devil-Ray ready and future proof if demand for these power options expands to performance vehicles. Perhaps there is even room for a future European 2.9 TDi V6 diesel option, now that diesel powered sports sedans, riding a wave of torque, are becoming popular there.
The entry Devil-Ray Corvette should base for at least $10K lower than the current C6 and be a 2+2 with 911 style small occasional seats. It should not be a GT but still be a real Sports Car, however the practicality of those occasional seats for children and very short trips for 4 adults would expand its market reach and appeal. Corvette has never been a big seller in numbers outside of the US but I believe that an expanded two-car range like this could make in-roads into Asia and Europe. But most importantly, in the US, such a range could revitalise the Corvette Brand and prevent it becoming only the vehicle of choice for rare enthusiasts and aging baby boomers.
Of course GM could just do this two-car range in markets outside the US. Certainly the world's largest car market China has no history of the Corvette and most Europeans have little knowledge of it. So they would judge the vehicles on merit, not preconceptions or heritage. But they don't tend to buy cars of the traditional Corvette form and would likely be big buyers of the Devil-Ray with the V8 Stingray as an impractical figurehead for them like the Enzo is for Ferrari.
But how would US GM fans feel if the US did not get the Devil-Ray, which may well become one of the best sports cars in the world if done right? Would they be happy to have yet another car unavailable to them because Corvette in the US remained it's traditional one car model under Chevrolet? Yes people may say well then bring it to the US under another name or GM brand. But then you have the same problem as the Holden, which sells for way more than Americans are willing to pay, and so had to be stripped of content to sell at small margins under Pontiac. The styling of a Devil-Ray would not be right for Cadillac and Cadillac numbers of sales would be too small to justify a re-body just for the US. And the sale price for Devil-Ray in foreign markets of US $40K+ would be too high for even a Buick and certainly not as say a Chevy Monza or other non-Corvette label. But without the high sale price GM would not be able to make a US business case, which only the Corvette name would justify. So another car the world enjoyed would be absent it's home market.
Well that is my view on how GM could share the platform of the upcoming Alpha based ATS Coupe and Convertible to build a lower cost entry level V6 'Vette to revive and expand the brand; and appeal to a younger audience. What do you think?
Source: Op-Ed by MonaroSS
GMI Contributor – 25 March 2010
Two-Car Corvette Range - Should GM Pull the Trigger?
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