At a recent Midwest Automotive Media Association dinner hosted by Chevrolet, Ed Peper gave a very compelling speech about the state of affairs at Chevrolet. While he acknowledged tough times ahead, the overall prospects for the brand look good. Especially since the new focus is fuel economy, fuel economy, fuel economy.
In fact, Chevrolet announced today that the 2010 Equinox SUV is expected to deliver an estimated 32 mpg on the highway with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. This means you can travel about 600 miles on a single tank of gas. While final EPA estimates aren't out, the expected city/highway mileage when the Equinox hits the streets in June will be 22/32 mpg. This is significantly better than the Honda CR-V (20/27 mpg) and the Toyota RAV-4 (22/28 mpg).
With all the focus on efficiency, one of my twitter friends raised a very good question: What about the Corvette? With only V-8 engine options, you're looking at a best case scenario of 26 mpg on the highway.
During the dinner, Peper had good words for the Camaro and several of the all-new smaller offerings from Chevrolet like the Cruze and Orlando ... but nary a word about Corvette. Anyone out there who can weigh in on this?
Does Corvette have a future? I sure as hell hope so.
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I love the C6 - the best Corvette yet--but am curious as to why younger customers are shying away from it. It frankly is an old person's ride. Want proof? Attend any Corvette fest like Bloomington or any of those shows.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I attended a Corvette collectors show. In addition to having a representative Corvette from every year, they had auctions, swap meets and other activities. Music was in the air. But only one type: Fifties Music. And it seems the only people that were listening were the old folks and the gold chain-hairy chest set. There was scant interest from anyone under the age of forty. Why? My guess is that to them, cars like an R34 GT-R or M-series BMW were more exciting_The 'Vette just doesn't speak to such buyers.
Unfortunately, it looks like once these current Corvette owners are gone to the great garage in the sky, the car won't be long for this world either