New Sales of Corvette in UK still on the Up!!!
Discussion
Amazing in the climate at the moment that sales year to date are at 21 new Corvette sales up to April this year! and this time last year they were only 6!!
Not loads I know but it's the only car in the UK market with a change of 250% increase! I am sure Stratstones Firesale is helping the UK Corvette scene along as well!
www.am-online.com/NewCarSalesFigures/
Not loads I know but it's the only car in the UK market with a change of 250% increase! I am sure Stratstones Firesale is helping the UK Corvette scene along as well!
www.am-online.com/NewCarSalesFigures/
Hi Guys,
I suspect that, if the C6 Grand Sport was available at less than £50K - £55K and even better, if it was available RHD, sales would be in the order of 100 cars in the UK for that model alone in the 12 months after release - maybe even more !
However, I imagine GM would not consider making a RHD model unless sales were closer to 5,000 per annum !
Market will just have to get used to LHD Vettes then !!
Best Regards Chas
I suspect that, if the C6 Grand Sport was available at less than £50K - £55K and even better, if it was available RHD, sales would be in the order of 100 cars in the UK for that model alone in the 12 months after release - maybe even more !
However, I imagine GM would not consider making a RHD model unless sales were closer to 5,000 per annum !
Market will just have to get used to LHD Vettes then !!
Best Regards Chas
Tom74 said:
I couldn't imagine there ever being enough af a RHD market for a vette, The demand in the UK, Australia and Japan can't be that big and I don't see that many African countries on the list for one either.
Any other RHD places?
Keeps the uniqueness!
From Wikipedia:Any other RHD places?
Keeps the uniqueness!
Total: 75 countries and territories Today, only four European countries drive on the left: Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom. None shares a physical border with a country that drives on the right and all were once part of the British Empire. Some Commonwealth countries and other former British colonies, such as Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and South Africa drive on the left, but others such as Canada, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the United States drive on the right. Other countries which drive on the left in Asia are Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor and Japan, in South America only British Guyana and Suriname and furthermore most of the Pacific countries.
They must be mad not to make RHD
P.S. I love the way it refers to the US as "a former British colony" - must be Clarkson's edit.
Edited by GW65 on Friday 8th May 09:49
Edited by GW65 on Friday 8th May 09:49
I think there may be enough potential sales worldwide to justify engineering and building a RHD Vette. The problem would be the cost of establishing a dealer network capable of handling the darned things. We know from the 1988-2002 fiasco that econobox Vauxhall dealers couldn't handle the Corvette alongside Corsas and Astra vans. VXR8/Monaro doesn't exactly fly off the shelves either despite RHD. The more recent Corvette dealership difficulties have shown the overall branding just isn't good enough to sell cars, let alone the halo model.
When Mr Estate Agent £40,000 - £60,000 car buyer visits a dealership for sales or service he has a simple choice. Loads of glass, chrome, and coffee at Jag, Lexus, Porsche, BMW, Merc forecourts or a trip to the Corvette dealer whose presentation is much less glamorous. And the real killer even for "enthusiast" buyers who don't need the glitz is that Corvette dealers have traditionally held no parts stock and had almost no-one in the workshop who knows the first thing about the cars.
Weak brand image ("Do you get those from the Daewoo shop?"), unsexy forecourts and feeble parts/service backup are no recipe for success. Amongst car enthusiasts, including Clarkson's variety, modern Vettes have earned considerable respect but the other factors still weigh heavily. At least it stops Corvettes becoming an everyday sight on the roads like the default sportscar buys!
When Mr Estate Agent £40,000 - £60,000 car buyer visits a dealership for sales or service he has a simple choice. Loads of glass, chrome, and coffee at Jag, Lexus, Porsche, BMW, Merc forecourts or a trip to the Corvette dealer whose presentation is much less glamorous. And the real killer even for "enthusiast" buyers who don't need the glitz is that Corvette dealers have traditionally held no parts stock and had almost no-one in the workshop who knows the first thing about the cars.
Weak brand image ("Do you get those from the Daewoo shop?"), unsexy forecourts and feeble parts/service backup are no recipe for success. Amongst car enthusiasts, including Clarkson's variety, modern Vettes have earned considerable respect but the other factors still weigh heavily. At least it stops Corvettes becoming an everyday sight on the roads like the default sportscar buys!
Agree on the dealer issue, I bought a VXR Monaro back in 2004 and even though my local Vauxhall dealer was a VX approved one, they couldn't service it, which is great as they were the sole dealer on the Island!
In the end I both bought and dealt with aftersales service with a dealer in North Wales. They did have a fancy coffee maker though
In the end I both bought and dealt with aftersales service with a dealer in North Wales. They did have a fancy coffee maker though
Like I said a year or so ago, GM should have been knocking on all the ex-TVR dealerships that lost their sales. Most were keen, would have welcomed the ease and reliability that Corvette would have presented to them and and equally strong following if it was ever to properly get off the ground over here.
Instead they gave it to Pentragon. Instant doom. Still, never too late.
Instead they gave it to Pentragon. Instant doom. Still, never too late.
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