2020 Corvette C8 Should Have Started At $80,000, Chevy Loses $20k On Each Car

GM took everyone by surprise when it announced a starting price of just $59,995 (including the $1,095 destination charge) for the all-new, mid-engine Corvette C8.

Prior to the vehicle’s launch, there were all sorts of rumors about the 2020 Corvette’s price but absolutely no one anticipated that General Motors would offer a 490 HP mid-engine sports car for such a low base price. Upon learning the MSRP, there were plenty of skeptics claiming the low starting price is just a marketing gimmick to build hype for the new product and anticipated that Chevy would raise prices later on.

After all, it wouldn’t be a first for the nameplate: it happened with the C7 Corvette too in the second year when the base price rose nearly $2,000, with another $2,000 added the following year and a fresh round of increases for the 2019 model year.

Watch: Here’s The 2020 Corvette C8’s Full Pricing And Equipment Details – And It’s A Steal

As far as the C8 Corvette is concerned, a $4,000 raise is nowhere near enough, however. MotorTrend has learned that Chevrolet is losing a boatload of money on every low-trim 2020 Corvette it sells. A senior GM source told the publication that the price would rise for the 2021 model year.

They didn’t say by how much, but added that the base price would have to go through the roof in order to cover the automaker’s cost. More specifically, the source said GM is losing around $20,000 on every low-trim 2020 Corvette model. That’s because the original budget for the C8 project envisioned a starting price of $79,995.

That would have been the correct price for GM given the huge amounts of cash that went into developing the mid-engine car but the carmaker likely feared it would alienate Corvette fans so it decided to lose money on every C8 it sells for less than $80k.

We’ve reached out to GM for a comment on this but we don’t have big hopes on the automaker acknowledging the pricing strategy. One thing is certain: if you’re in the market for a mid-engine Corvette Stingray, you’d better hurry up because who knows what the 2021MY will bring.