[C7Z51]

Originally Posted by Stingray

By Andrew Stoy for AutoWeek

Originally Posted by Stingray

The new Corvette Stingray has made its debut at the Detroit auto show, and there's little doubt it's going to thrill leagues of current Corvette aficionados. But Chevrolet has hinted it wants to broaden the Vette's appeal beyond its core Baby Boomer buyers, now in their 60s. GM design head Ed Welburn stated the Stingray aims for “a bit of a shift to appeal to younger customers,” according to Automotive News.

According to market research firm Strategic Vision, the average Corvette buyer is 59 years old. That means the “younger customers” Chevrolet is targeting are members of Generation X, born from about 1960-80. Big differences exist between the Vette's current core audience of Baby Boomers and the slacker generation (of which your author is a member), including these five significant hurdles that stand in the way of the Corvette's demographic downward drive.

1- Ghosts of Corvettes past
As good as the new Corvette is, Chevy's got skeletons in the closet that many of us Gen Xers remember all too well. Consider that drivers in their 40s and early 50s came of automotive age from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s -- exactly the time the Corvette was huffing 200 or so horsepower through a long-in-the-tooth Mako Shark body. It wasn't an object of lust for many of us -- exotics like the Lamborghini Countach, Porsche 911 Turbo and Ferrari 308 were what stirred the soul, not the paunchy next-door neighbor's two-tone '78 C3.

YA right – Ever drive a Countach? POS even back then. It was primitive at best.
The 911 turbo seems cool but it handled like pooh and had turbo log galore,
308 - fancy body and classic what can I say. Oh ya they were just as slow as the Vette at the time….and you could speed shift them

Originally Posted by Stingray

2- We still have kids at home

Originally Posted by Stingray

Getting married and having kids happened a lot later for those in Generation X. Many put off child-raising until their mid-30s, meaning those parents won't be empty-nesters until their mid-50s (at the earliest). What good is a two-seat sports car to someone who has to haul three or four people around regularly…and pay tuition, all while hiding the keys from irresponsible hands? For the same money, an Audi S4 or even a Cadillac CTS-V makes more sense.

Makes sense but above he spoke about Countach, TT Porsche 911 and 308 Magnum PI mobile – all 2 seaters. If I wanted a slow S4 I would not be looking at the Vette in the first place. CTS-V!! OK I can deal with a family of four driving a CTS-V instead of the Vette – what’s his point – he lost me.

Originally Posted by Stingray

3- It'll still be too expensive. Remember that nasty little recession we had a few years ago? Most of us Gen Xers were just hitting our peak earning years when that whole mess hit and wiped out jobs, savings accounts and IRAs. Yes, things have improved, but a lot of us are either gun-shy or still broke, so a $60,000+ plaything isn't on the shopping list at the moment, nor is it likely to be anytime in the next few years.

IMO he is all over the board. If you can’t afford a 60k Vette you can’t afford anything fun in the same 60k range. That includes the ZL1 Camaro or the 100k Audi in the other thread. If his point is GM wants to get the guys under 60 to purchase, GM never said they wanted people under 60 that don’t have 60k to finance. Again he lost me. GM had the Fiero which was the poor mans vette at the time. Those days are over. Show me a car in the same range or less that gives you the same bang for the buck all around.

Originally Posted by Stingray

4- We don't like flash. Not every member of Generation X slouched about in flannel several years longer than they should have. But car sales trends continue to show that the majority of buyers continue to value an understated automotive presence. We're snapping up silver Passats with abandon, luxuriating in lookalike Audis and even revering the gawdawful Prius as an aspirational vehicle. A low, sleek, hyperventilated land missile doesn't fit the image many of us have of success.

WTF – Unless you are a celebrity that owns 3 or 4 or 20 gas guzzlers but drive a Prius once in a while to impress your fans (as if you really cared about a few tree hugging liberals) then no one drives a Prius to show they are successful. The same can be said for the Passat. It's a great car as is the Hyundai Genesis but the guys that buy those cars are not trying to or able to impress many folks with those vehicles. SORRY CHARLIE. To be honest, it all depends on which circles you travel in. As an example. Many people were never impressed with my GTR even when I was the first around to have it. BUT the ones that knew what it was would follow me like little kids and take snap shots. When I valet parked it at even the most fancy restaurants all the kids (and by kids I mean 18 to 25 year old car parkers) would move Ferraris and Mercedes out of the way to position the GTR directly in the front and then call their friends to come see it – it was crazy the respect that car got from the people that knew what it was. So in short the vette IMO is not intended to impress people that "I spent 60k on it" but to the right guy - they think this guy knows a great car when he sees it. Look at it like this everyone wants to race a Vette because it is a standard to which many want to be compared to. – That impresses me. The only thing I HATE about the Vette….everyone can have one. But that is also the reason why we all love it – it is in fact defacto the working mans exotic and every time GM brings out the latest version it’s that much better – count me in.

Originally Posted by Stingray

5- We've been tipped off. Chevy showed its hand when it announced the Corvette would attempt to appeal to younger customers. Now we know that Chevy is coming for us, and we'll be watching for telltale target marketing around every corner. As marketing trade publication CRM Magazine notes, “Gen Xers are averse to ad hype and overstatement and keep a constant lookout for hypocrisy and self-importance. They're also far less daring when it comes to spending their money.” None of these characteristics bode well for a splashy Corvette campaign.

– I disagree. BTW I am now 45. I got my first Vette at 20 and never looked back. I would say of the vette owners I also hang out with, 95% of them are also in my age bracket not 60-somethings

Originally Posted by Stingray

CRM also notes that experts “warn against ads that appeal to a broader sense of heritage, history, and tradition, because Gen X doesn't go for that.” In other words, two years of “Chevy runs deep” probably hasn't helped matters, and the resurrection of Stingray is likely to fall on indifferent ears.

Ok I would agree that many of the “kids” (under 50-something) probably are not sentimental about the Stingray history but they will dig the new modern logo. When I first read about the 2014 Vette I thought the paper indicated you could have a Stingray or a Z51. I wanted the Z51 package but also wanted the Sting Rays on the side of the car because I liked the look of them. I was pleasantly happy to find out I read it wrong and all the Vettes had the sting ray on them. They could call the new Vette a Fuego edition and I would buy still buy it if it represented the best Vette GM has to offer.

Originally Posted by Stingray

What the new 2014 Corvette does have going for it are the same things Corvette has long offered: Tremendous performance for the dollar, striking looks and everyday usability. Once the new car goes on sale this fall, we'll find out if it offers something the Corvette hasn't had in decades: Youth appeal.

Originally Posted by Stingray

(Source: http://www.thepassinglane.ca/2013/01/five-reasons-the-new-corvette-will-stay-an-old-mans-car.html)

Setting aside this last paragraph, I can’t help but feel this guy drives a mid 70’s Porsche.