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Chevrolet Halts 2021 Corvette Production One Week Over Transmission Supply Issue

Six decades ago, suppliers weren’t as prevalent in the automotive industry as they are today. Why did OEMs gain so much popularity over time? For starters, it’s much cheaper for the automaker to get what it wants from a third party instead of making parts on its own.
C8 Corvette transmission 16 photos
Photo: Chevrolet
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Affordable and good aren’t exactly going to work together, and there are tons of examples in this regard. Hyundai and LG Chem? They messed up the Kona Electric's battery cells, which led to the most expensive EV recall thus far. Replacing the batteries of 82,000 vehicles is estimated to cost at least $900 million, almost half of the automaker’s net profit for 2020.

Two more examples from the not-so-distant past come to mind. General Motors cheaped out on ignition switches, leading to millions of recalled vehicles and 124 deaths. As you’re well aware, Takata filed for bankruptcy over faulty airbags that led to the death of 26 people worldwide.

I’m not saying that suppliers are to blame for the worrisome state of the automotive industry today, but OEMs are responsible for bringing the quality down for many automakers. Why? Well, the automakers are beating down suppliers over the lowest price possible for a part or subassembly.

Cheapening out also translates to a weak supply chain, which brings us to the eighth-generation Corvette. For the umpteenth time since it was revealed for the 2020 model year, the mid-engine Corvette will stop production over a supplier issue. This time around, you can blame Tremec, the company that manufactures the TR-9080 DCT eight-speed transaxle.

The Detroit News learned that Bowling Green will go offline for a week from March 1st to March 5th. "Our supply chain, manufacturing, and engineering teams are working closely with our supply base to mitigate any further impact on production, and we expect the plant to resume normal operations on Monday, March 8th," declared GM spokesman David Barnas.

On a more positive note, the Z06 is getting closer to its supposed reveal. According to Estero Bay Chevrolet sales specialist Marcus Veiga, July 2021 is when the first performance-oriented C8 Corvette will get out of the bag.
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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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