The plan to turn Chevrolet’s Corvette into its own brand and have a range of models isn’t new and it was even mentioned when Bob Lutz was in charge of General Motors. The well known (now former) GM exec was envisioning Corvette as a brand which would offer rivals to the Porsche Panamera (or Taycan) and Cayenne, and it seems the idea isn’t dead, although it has been given an electric twist.
We’ve covered previous reports stating that GM was still looking to spin Corvette off as its own brand, and now Car & Driver adds more context quoting an unnamed source with knowledge on the matter. The insider working in the GM Tech Center told C&D that
Corvette is not just a brand. It's a constantly evolving system paired with a dramatically different user experience. The aim is not to beat Taycan and Cayenne at their own game but to create three American legends capable of breaking new ground by making the essence of Corvette scalable. To do so, that essence must at all times be in a state of progressive flux.
Apparently this insider has already seen the first design proposals for the Porsche Taycan-rivaling four-door (which is more fastback than traditional sedan) and the electric SUV. He said they are “copies of nothing,” referring to the fact that they are not GM’s interpretation of the Taycan and Cayenne, but original designs with their own style and flavor.
The insider went on to say that the designs “encapsulated emotional purity,” which must only apply to the four-door, not the SUV, which in our minds still has a design along the lines of the older Corvette SUV rendering that we’ve been using to illustrate past articles – it’s the image we used in the opening of this article too and we hope the actual design will be very different and will pleasantly surprise us.
Having seen the Ford Mustang Mach-E, though, we feel like we are ready to lay eyes on an electric Corvette crossover and we imagine GM will think long and hard about how to make its design both visually appealing, a not towards the model’s heritage, as well as a breath of fresh air in the segment. Frankly, we are more excited about the four-door electric Vette, which should both look and drive better than the SUV, while also remaining closer to the nameplate’s sports car roots.
