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2020 Corvette Stingray Outsells All Segment Rivals in the United States

The Corvette has always had a comfortable position over segment rivals and the trend soldiers on for the C8. From January to September 2020, the sports car from Kentucky racked up 12,634 U.S. sales as opposed to 6,402 for the Porsche 911 and 2,565 for the Mercedes-AMG GT.
C8 Corvette Stingray Z51 with ADV.1 FLOWspec ADV005 wheels 38 photos
Photo: ADV.1 Wheels
Chevrolet Corvette C8 | ADV.1 FLOWspec ADV005 Wheels
GM Authority reports that 55 percent of the segment’s sales volume came from the Corvette, which says a lot about the appeal of the Stingray. But on the other hand, we also have to remember that Chevy is charging far less money for a C8 than Porsche does for a 911 Carrera. As a brief refresher, $59,995 buys you the mid-engine sports car, and $5,000 unlocks a little more power thanks to the NPP sports exhaust of the Z51 Performance Package.

Despite the commercial success, it’s worth remembering that General Motors had a lot of issues with the eighth-generation model powered by a small-block V8 powerplant. Uneven stitching, mismatched trim, leaky transmissions, broken valve springs, you name it; the Corvette had a plenty awful year in terms of quality control. Adding insult to injury, supplier issues and the health crisis have also taken their toll on production numbers.

The Golden Bowtie intended to build in the ballpark of 40,000 examples for the 2020 model year, but 20,368 units will have to make do. Reading between the lines, a lot of customers have been pushed to the 2021 model year because of the issues mentioned earlier. So far, 16,787 vehicles have been specified as hardtop coupes, and 3,581 are hard-topped convertibles.

Those looking forward to the Z06 will have to wait even longer, though. Chevy intends to roll out the performance-oriented model for 2022, and this time around, the small-block V8 will be replaced by a flat-plane crankshaft engine with motorsport know-how from the C8.R endurance racer. From 5.5 liters of displacement, you can expect 600 horsepower or thereabouts.

Even further into the future, General Motors is reportedly going to offer two hybrid options. One of them is expected to serve as an indirect replacement for the Grand Sport, and the other could top 1,000 horsepower.
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Editor's note: C8 Corvette Stingray Z51 with ADV.1 FLOWspec ADV005 wheels pictured.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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