ojamali

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Mar 29, 2014
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CORVETTE C7
I looked at the sales figures of 2014 C7's vs the 2015 C7's and with only 4 months of 2015 C7 sale remaining it doesn't look very encouraging.

GM Canada delivered around 1200 2014MY (Model Year) C7's.

So far for 2015MY GM Canada has delivered around 350 C7's (deliveries from Sept 2014 -March 2015). With only 4 months remaining for deliveries (April-July) of 2015 C7's they need to deliver over 200 C7's every month to match their 2014 deliveries.

Things to keep in mind however are that back in 2014 we didn't have Z06's and the Convertibles were late availabilities so really we should have more deliveries for 2015MY except that for 2015MY we have 6 weeks shorter production cycle.

A lot is riding on April delivery numbers. If its not close to 200 then some people will be pretty disappointed this Spring/Summer as they will have to wait longer for a 2016MY.
 
So is this a shortage of people ordering or simple GM not fulfilling as many Canadian orders?

I know GM was delivering Canadian C7's in the winter early on for the 2014's, then stopped later on after tires were cracking. They weren't shipping Canadian cars during the winter for 2015 as I understood it. So the deliveries should pick up quite a bit now that the snow is gone/disappearing.
 
Its certainly not because of the lack of orders. And whether Gm Canada has shorter supply will be more clear once April sales figures are released.

Its true that last year GM continued to deliver C7's at some dealers in winter and this year there were very few vehicles delivered in winter due to the tire cracking issue so now they need to makeup for the lack of shipments to Canada in the coming months. I was told by my GM Rep in Feb that they intend to built atleast the same number of 2015 C7's this year if not more. This was soon after they assigned the additional 3 allocations back in Jan.

So for GM Canada to deliver the same number of C7's in 2015MY they need to deliver an average of 400 C7's each month from April till July. Last year they delivered around 150 each month from April-August.

The demand is higher than supply and reducing supply makes it worse. The traditional practices are to either increase production or increase prices or both. In Canada with the sinking dollar the increase has been even more. Also in Canada GM employees, Dealership Employees and Suppliers get no additional discounts or preference to get the vehicle so it discourages them to submit an order therefore reducing demand further.


So is this a shortage of people ordering or simple GM not fulfilling as many Canadian orders?

I know GM was delivering Canadian C7's in the winter early on for the 2014's, then stopped later on after tires were cracking. They weren't shipping Canadian cars during the winter for 2015 as I understood it. So the deliveries should pick up quite a bit now that the snow is gone/disappearing.
 
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Thanks Owais your insight always appreciated.

Changing the subject slightly, do you have a view on the cold temperature at which the stock C7 tires should not be used? Also, is there any reason why an all season tire could not be used all year round?

Thanks in advance,

Rod
 
@Rodmo: Ultra High Performance Summer Tires should really be used in summer only in my opinion to extend the longevity of the tires. However I believe it is safe to drive them at as low as 7C with caution.

All season tires are allowed to be used all year round in Ontario. In some provinces winter tires are mandatory so follow your local requirements. If possible I would always recommend winter tires on every vehicle across Canada and more so on rear wheel drives. All wheel drive vehicles see lesser benefits from winter tires as far as I know. I have been using winter tires on my personal front wheel drive vehicles for many years and find them very useful. They are definitely worth every penny.





Thanks Owais your insight always appreciated.

Changing the subject slightly, do you have a view on the cold temperature at which the stock C7 tires should not be used? Also, is there any reason why an all season tire could not be used all year round?

Thanks in advance,

Rod
 
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Thanks, great to have your expertise here!

@Rodmo: Ultra High Performance Summer Tires should really be used in summer only in my opinion to extend the longevity of the tires. However I believe it is safe to drive them at as low as 7C with caution.

All season tires are allowed to be used all year round in Ontario. In some provinces winter tires are mandatory so follow your local requirements. If possible I would always recommend winter tires on every vehicle across Canada and more so on rear wheel drives. All wheel drive vehicles see lesser benefits from winter tires as far as I know. I have been using winter tires on my personal front wheel drive vehicles for many years and find them very useful. They are definitely worth every penny.
 
When GM found that the tires were cracking, why wouldn't they just switch to another tire. Seems like a pretty poor excuse to stop production. Look at how many kept on driving the smaller cars even after that the ignition switch could get them killed. People are bound to drive Corvettes with these tires in cold weather and perhaps get them killed and GM sued. GM should leave tires like this to the aftermarket, or would that be too sensible. I worked for GM for 41 years and have never seen the weird stuff that is going on there like there is today.
 
Very interesting how it seems we are getting the shaft not only with the C7Z but the regular C7 as well! Wow. How lame is that.....however, as you said, it's not July yet!

I'm conflicted on the tire issue.
It doesn't make sense to go through the expense of having two different tires available for the 10 owners who drive their Corvettes in winter.
However, it also doesn't make sense to have a Ultra Performance summer tire on a car for the 10 owners who actually take their Corvette to the track. (Mostly just saying these things out of humor)

Which would be better? If GM installed an all season tire that forces people to buy tires who track their sports cars OR GM installing high performance tires that forces people to buy all seasons who drive their sports cars in cooler/cold temperatures?
 
Should have just given an option on All Season or High Performance, pick which tire you want installed on your car. I had no idea when I ordered my car it came with summer only tires. For me since I put it away in winter not a big deal but if it was a daily driver I would have been jumping up and down at the dealership about it. Fortunate for me and GM it's not an issue, I tend to be a squeaky wheel :)
 
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Wouldn't that make too much sense and allow them to keep their claimed advertising specs. Make the tire choice a selection ... They would probably even have made money from those Z06 owners willing to pay for the tire upgrade alone.
 
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It's a high performance sports car, keep the performance tires on it as is. Onus should be on the owner to purchase A/S if he/she chooses. It's a Corvette, not a Camry.:D Have a V6 300HP version Corvette with all seasons.
 
Although I agree that this is a high performance car, the vast majority of people who buy both the Z07 and the Z06 will never track it IMO. There are already numerous people on the diff forums selling off the stock tires for something more suited for their need. An all season Michelin (for example) would have been a great thought and actually made them money. Thats just my thinking...
 
Street Car First

I agree with Allflash. The Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is less than 25 miles away from where I live. If I were to get serious about tracking the car, I would be buying tires for the track and running alignment specs for the track as well. then putting things back for the street. What is best for the track, isn't the best for the street.
 
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I agree Keith, tires for track different compound then tires for the street. If I purchase a C7 next spring, it won't bother me if it has only summer tires, as I never drive during the winter months.

Agree, never seen a vette driven in winter. Snow tires or not, I can't imagine how this car would (wouldn't) handle in the snow.
 
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I think the Corvette would be a great winter car. Despite never wanting to do it, but it's light, it has better weight distribution front to rear than all the BMW's, Mustangs, Challengers, Chargers, Camaro's, and other rwd cars we don't think twice about seeing driving around in winter. They make winter tires in the sizes available for Corvettes, and just like the other cars, the Corvette has traction control, abs, and active handling. Plus it's low center of gravity gives the same benefits in winter as summer so unless it snows enough to be pushing snow, or the ruts in the roads would bottom it out. I think the Corvette would out perform a lot of other vehicles in winter conditions.

However, with all that said, it would make me sick to my stomach thinking of driving my Corvette in winter.....unless I could afford two of them. My summer vette and my winter vette. :D
 
I will not be driving mine in the winter. However, if I did decide to do it, with a good set of winter tires I am confident the car would have few issues. The 'weather' mode in the C7 basically makes it idiot proof (well, almost..) when driving in slippery conditions. Used to be that rear wheel drive vehicles were terrible in slippery conditions. Software and engineering has for the most part fixed that.
 
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