Q1 2022: 33% Increase in Corvette Deliveries

GM released its sales report for the first quarter of 2022. This report revealed 8811 new Corvettes were delivered during the quarter. This signifies a 33.3% increase over the 6,611 Corvettes sold in the first quarter of 2021.

If General Motors can continue this pace, then we might see an annual output of nearly 40,000 Corvettes in 2022. For reference, last year Chevrolet produced a total of 33,041 Corvettes.

According to Steve Carlisle, the executive vice president and president, of GM North America, despite supply chain disruptions this year, the company is expecting to outperform its production goals for 2021, particularly in its second half.

Source: General Motors

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Rick Hendrick Buys the 2023 Corvette Z06 Convertible for $1 Million

Following his purchase of the 2023 Corvette Z06 VIN 001 Coupe for $3.6 million in January, Rick Hendrick, the owner of NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports and a Chevrolet dealer, has now purchased the first retail 2023 Corvette Z06 Convertible for $1.6 million. Talk about paying over MSRP for a C8 Corvette!

On a Saturday, the 2nd of April, this was at the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach when the first retail 2023 Corvette Z06 Convertible auctioned off and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. This was Chevrolet's latest donation of a VIN 001 Corvette and other special vehicles, as is its culture.

A prototype of the retail version of the Corvette Z06 was shown on stage, as the production of the real thing will begin by summer. Rick will be able to customize his Z06 once they are available for production.

GM's Sean Finegan announced during the event, Rick gets to build his LT6 engine for the Convertible and select the colors and options. He also will receive it at the National Corvette Museum upon completion.

Source: Barrett-Jackson

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Chevy Corvette Sales Gain 16 Percent Share During Q1 2022

The mid-engine Vette continues to be a market leader. Corvette Q1 2022 sales have been compared with those of recent competitors like the Porsche 911 and the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT.

Sales of the Porsche 911 (formerly Carrera/Targa) fell by 24% to 2,123 units, placing it in second. Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT sales fell by 22% to 942 units, placing it third. With a 48% drop in sales to 782 units, the Porsche 718 (formerly the Cayman/Boxster) dropped to the fourth position. The Audi R8 sales fell by 54% to just 68 vehicles, while Nissan GT-R sales dropped 50% to 50 units.

The upcoming 2023 models should make things even better for the North American manufacturer. This spring, order books for the 2023 Corvette Z06 will open for the track-focused model. A hardtop coupe or a hardtop convertible will be available for the 2023 Chevy Corvette Stingray and the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06.

Source:GM Authority

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C8 Z06 HTC With Z07 Performance at New York Auto Show

During the 2022 New York International Show on the 15th of April, attendees got a good look of the new Corvette Z06. This particular Z06 featured the Z07, GM's track focused aero packaged, including racing canards, dual-post high wing, and rakes underneath the body of the Z.

Thanks to YouTuber rockcityfilms3 for capturing many different angles of the Z06. Especially catching some early looks before the convertible C8 was positioned in the show. We were drooling all over this footage. Check out the video below:

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2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 Trailer: Corvette Academy Released

About four weeks ago, the trailer of the 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06 was released by Corvette Academy. The video features Josh Holder, Chief Engineer at Corvette, Steve Haener, Senior Marketing Manager at Corvette, Laura Wontrop Klauser Sports Car Racing Program Manager, Yoon Lee, and Tommy Milner.

"The Corvette Z06 is the pinnacle of engineering, design, and technology and represents the best of America taking on the world," says Steve Haener, Senior Marketing Manager at Corvette.

From the video, we can tell that the Z06 is worth every penny and positive review. Built with efficiency in mind, it is right to call the 2023 Corvette Z06, "a dream car."

Laura Wontrop Klauser says the "Corvette Z06 is hands down the best car GM has ever made". And we consider that worthy praise of the Z06. It is no surprise that fans are raving online about the Z06. We are confident they would not be disappointed with its release.

If you are wondering what the Corvette Academy is it is Chevrolet's new initiative in creating a series of online resources such as videos to help ease you into and get the most of our your C8 Corvette. This includes tips and tricks for memory settings, road user, maintenance and more.

We recently started sending out our own Tips and Tricks for C7 and C8 Corvette owners. We send out one tip a week to your email. We cover things like how to program your seats, features you may not know about, facts about your Corvette, and much more. You can sign up and select which tips you would like to receive.

You can watch the Corvette Academy video below:

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Does Lowering A C8 Corvette Void Your Warranty?

Thinking of lowering your C8 Corvette? A recent CorvetteForum member found out that his lowered C8 cannot be repaired after his front lift stopped working.

A dealer recently denied Corvette Forum member Fairorth warranty repair coverage. According to Fairorth, this was because his C8 has a lowered suspension.

He owns a 2021 C8 with Z51 mag ride and front lift. Ten months ago, he had a lowering kit professionally installed, which was working perfectly until recently. The lift became inoperable, and after a long waiting period, he was told that his car had voided the suspension warranty.

According to fairorth, the dealership can only help repair the lift when he restores the car to its stock height. This is an uncommon problem that has left Fairorth clueless on what to do. Many members of the forum believe it is a dealer problem and not a GM problem. No solution has been found yet, but pieces of advice have been pouring in for the C8 owner.

This does seem more of a dealer issue, so if you are thinking of lowering your C8, then it would be wise to check with your dealer and see where they stand on the issue.

Source: Corvette Forum

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2022 Corvette Production Comes to a Halt Due to Parts Shortage

On Monday, the 25th of April 2022, GM announced the shutting down of the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant due to a temporary part constraint for a whole week. This will be the second time the Corvette Assembly Plant will be shut this year.

Dan Flores, spokesperson for General Motors said, "Due to a temporary part constraint, Bowling Green Assembly will take downtime next week (week of the 25th of April) on both first and second shift. Our supply chain, manufacturing, and engineering teams are working closely with suppliers to mitigate further impacts on production, and we expect to resume operations the week of the 2nd of May."

Another component shortfall forced the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant to close on the 21st of March. GM made up for the March shutdown by extending the production of the 2022 Corvette by one week.

Source: Corvette Action Center

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Electrified Corvette Confirmed by GM

In a video posted on Chevrolet's official YouTube channel a few days ago, Chevy unveiled the new fully electrified Corvette that will be released in 2023.

The video shows a camouflaged C8 blazing through a snowy road with all four tires spinning

In the video's description, GM mentions that an electrified Corvette and fully electric Corvette will be available as early as next year. This points to having both a hybrid Vette and of course and full electric version.

You can watch the video below:

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Customer Spotlight

We received a lot of positive responses following last month's customer spotlight, so we will be showing some of your builds featuring ACS products! Keep sending us pictures in to order@acscomposite.com

B. Rea's Accelerate Yellow C8

Mr. Rea's C8 features the ACS 5VM Side Rockers in Carbon Flash Black, and they really pop against that Accelerate Yellow body color

ACS Install

We had some Corvettes come in for installs these past few weeks, and here are their builds.