The Corvette badge will always appear on a Chevrolet product, says General Motors President Mark Reuss. Why is this news? Shortly after the C8 Corvette was launched in 2019, reports emerged that GM was considering turning the Corvette nameplate into a standalone sub-brand, and a similar plan was said to be under consideration for the Camaro and Escalade. It seemed that GM wanted to capitalize on the buzz surrounding its first-ever mid-engine ‘Vette, and according to the rumor mill, this new strategy would have seen the sports car moniker branch out in ways that some might consider sacrilegious, with the creation of an electric SUV and an electric four-door sedan.
The Door To Alternative Body Styles Is Not Closed
While walking Jay Leno around the new Corvette ZR1, Reuss was complimented on the way that the Corvette name has come to be viewed worldwide, to which the GM exec responded, “We don’t need to go out and do other things.” When Leno said, “Corvette has really become its own separate brand now,” Reuss didn’t disagree, but he did give a definitive reply when asked if the Corvette name will ever truly stand alone: “Never.”
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Basically, while the Corvette range sits above anything else that Chevrolet offers and is more high-end than ever, it will always be linked to the Bowtie brand. That being said, Reuss makes comments that could be construed as leaving the door open for alternative applications of the Corvette name: “The core of Chevrolet is offering people more than they thought for the money, and doing it with fantastic design and performance. That’s what Corvette is.”
Hypothetically Speaking…
We’ve collated all the Corvette SUV rumors in a long-format article, but in a nutshell, such a vehicle would not be unlike the Porsche Cayenne or Lamborghini Urus SUVs. Former GM Chairman Bob Lutz said that a Corvette SUV would need certain attributes: “A gorgeous interior. No V6 powertrain. No low-end version. It has to be the stellar premium sport-utility made in the United States, and the Corvette brand could pull that off.”
Some rumors have pointed to a combustion-powered Corvette SUV, but whatever its powertrain, such a vehicle would be controversial (remember the initial outcry when Ford created an electric SUV and called it the Mustang Mach-E?).
For now, the Corvette name seems safe, but with the major changes it has undergone with the C8 generation – a mid-engine layout, an AWD hybrid version, and now a turbocharged model – what it means to be a Corvette can easily change. With the falling rate of EV growth in mind, GM is prioritizing hybrids at the moment, but when interest in EVs inevitably grows again, an all-electric Corvette SUV may yet come to fruition.
H/T:
TheDrive
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