The C8 Chevy Corvette may not be less than $60,000 for long

The 2020 Chevy Corvette boasts a starting price under $60,000, but don’t be surprised if the 2021 model year Corvette creeps over that $60,000 figure. A recent report from Motor Trend citing an anonymous source claims that the under-$60,000 price is only going to last for the first model year. They say that we should expect a price hike for 2021, which doesn’t surprise us at all.

To say that we were shocked when Chevy shared the C8’s performance details and then said the starting price of the C8 would be under $60,000 would be an understatement. Essentially every analyst and expert out there was expecting C8 buyers to take a much larger wallet hit with the move to mid-engine. When that didn’t happen, the hype train on the C8 only sped up.

Motor Trend points out that price increases directly after a new Corvette’s release are not out of the ordinary. The C7 was priced at $51,995 when it initially launched, but the price was raised to $53,995 just a few months after the rollout. Chevy said this was a result of higher-than-expected demand at the time. We think it’s safe to say that demand is even higher for the C8 than the C7 when it was launched. Chevy even told us that the 2020 model year run is nearly fully allocated. As of today, Chevy hasn’t indicated that it has any plans to increase the price, though. We expect the 2020 car will stick with a base price that is under $60,000, especially now that Chevy has made such a big deal about the reasonable cost of entry.

Prices tend to creep up by small amounts every year on most car models, and the C8 doesn’t have to stray far from its $59,995 base price to lose the under-$60,000 badge of honor. Consumers are used to these incremental price increases, though. At the end of the C7’s life, the price is sitting at $56,995. That’s up a total of $5,000 from when the car was launched, and we expect a similar, gradual climb for the C8. Even so, expect the ‘Vette to remain a virtually unrivaled performance bargain.