Why the Mid-Engine Corvette Might Not Debut in Detroit

There have been rumors that the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette will make its grand debut at the upcoming 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but an even bigger vehicle introduction might push the arrival of the next generation Corvette back to New York in April.

We should start by pointing out that General Motors has never issued any official statement to confirm that the automaker is working on a mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette. However, the many spy shots of camouflaged test cars and CAD images posted online have all but confirmed that GM is working on something that has the engine mounted behind the driver’s seat.

Some rumors have suggested that this mid-engine supercar might be a Cadillac and not a Corvette, but most people in the automotive world believe that a midship Chevy supercar is on the way. Many of those people also believe that this mid-engine Corvette will debut at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show, but GM already has a massive debut planned for the 2018 North American International Auto Show – the next generation Chevrolet Silverado.

Chevrolet Silverado Debut
A few weeks back, Chevrolet introduced the next generation Silverado at a 100th anniversary celebration in Texas. That first truck effectively introduced the world to the new LT Trailboss, but few details were offered up at that time. At the time of the sneak peak, GM announced that the new Silverado would be properly introduced with complete details at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Detroit show opens to the media on January 15th, so it will be less than a week until we know everything about the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado.

The Chevrolet Silverado is routinely the second-bestselling vehicle in America each year, trailing only the Ford F-Series. GM sold 585k Silverados in 2017, 574k in 2016, 600k in 2015 and 529k in 2014, so in moving more than a million units every two years – the introduction of a new generation is a very big deal for the company.

In fact, it might be too big of a deal for the company to risk taking any attention away from their new half-ton pickup by introducing the first-ever mid-engine Corvette.

In most cases, it isn’t a big deal for an automaker to introduce two new models at the same major auto show, but the Silverado is Chevrolet’s bestselling and GM’s bestseller while the mid-engine Corvette will likely become the world’s next legendary sports car. Even though GM might only sell a few thousand mid-engine Corvettes (if it is a standalone model and not the replacement for the front-engine Corvette), the introduction of the first mid-engine Corvette will draw massive amounts of attention from the media and the public.

Even though the Silverado and Corvette apply to two distinctly different audiences, Chevrolet will likely want to avoid doing anything to take attention away from the debut of the next generation of their bestselling vehicle ever.

There is a Chance
While it seems unlikely that General Motors would want to divide up the attention paid by visitors to the Chevrolet display at the Detroit Auto Show, there is another way to look at this situation.

If Chevy introduces the next generation Silverado and the first-ever mid-engine Corvette side-by-side, it might cause some interference between the two models, but it might also allow GM to steal the show. Chevrolet is already looking to draw the attention of the truck market in Detroit, but they could also draw the attention of the performance car market at the same time.

This scenario seems less likely, but with the debut of the new Silverado planned for next week, GM might save the Corvette for New York later this year.