At the same time that General Motors is officially talking about taking the Corvette nameplate to the next level with the new 2014 Stingray model, a report from Reuters citing “people familiar with the plans” states that the Detroit carmaker is looking to expand the range with a lower cost entry-level model priced well under $50,000.
“Clearly, there’s a lot of opportunity with Corvette,” said one of the people, who asked not to be identified. “It’s good for General Motors to be thinking out of the box a little bit.”
The news agency said that GM is looking to bring the less expensive, entry-level version of the Corvette C7 into the market in “mid-to-late 2015”. A lower price means, of course, less goodies starting with the Stingray’s new 450hp 6.2-liter V8 LT1, which would give its place to a less potent 5.3-liter V8 engine. The sources said that the base model would be offered only as a coupe and would drop several luxury amenities such as the automatic climate control.
When asked about the report, GM denied the existence of any such plans. “We haven’t even announced pricing for the Stingray yet, so it’s a little premature to talk about what’s coming next,” GM spokesman Monte Doran told Reuters. “At this moment, we don’t have any plans to offer something below where the Stingray is.”
Right now, Chevrolet’s sports car offerings include two separate model lineups, the Camaro, which starts at $23,345 for the 323hp V6 1LS rising to $36,135 for the 426hp V8 2SS (both coupes) and $54,350 for the 580hp ZL1 V8 Coupe, while the soon-to-be replaced Corvette C6, ranges from $49,600 to $114,595.
For the base Corvette to have any chances of success, GM would have to position it between the Camaro 2SS and the current base Corvette at around the $40,000 mark.
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