Kai Spande, Bowling Green Assembly Plant Manager, joined us today at the 2021 Michelin NCM BASH to share Corvette Assembly Plant updates. To kick off the discussion, Spande mentioned how on June 1st, 1981 was when the first Corvette was produced at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. Since that historic day, there have been many performance changes and advancements. One of these advancements is Right Hand Drive. So far in 2021, 3.68% of the Corvettes produced were exports and 1.36% of exports were Right Hand Drive exports. Right Hand Drive Corvettes impact 56 jobs, 8 commodity differences, and require 526 RHD specific parts.
Also, on the topic of changes, Spande discussed how General Motors has been working to remain customer and community centric even during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the ways the plant gives back to the community is through plant tours. Although tours have not started back up yet, the plant has been preparing for their return and has gone through renovations during the downtime. Spande also announces that GM is on a journey to sourcing 100% renewable energy by 2030 to achieve a “greener tomorrow”. This project is made possible through GM’s partnership with TVA and their Green Invest Program. Spande says this is “a great thing to do from a company standpoint and a green standpoint” and that “a lot of jobs will come about from this.”
At the end of Spande’s presentation, the audience was surprised with the exciting announcement of the new 2022 colors. The new colors include Hypersonic Gray Metallic, Amplify Orange Tint-coat, and Caffeine Metallic. The colors they are replacing are Shadow Gray Metallic, Sebring Orange Tint-coat, and Zeus Bronze Metallic, respectively. The new Hypersonic Gray Metallic is described as a medium tone gray with a strong metallic content. This color will have travel, meaning that as light goes across the body of the car and the angles change, the shade of the color will also change. This helps show off the body of the car by helping to “magnify the sculpted lines.” The new Amplify Orange Tint-coat is lighter in color than the current Sebring Orange Tint-coat and is a straight shade, which means there is no metallic. This color is said to be the “Rapid Blue of orange” and is going to be a premium color option. The new Caffeine Metallic color “comes to life in the light” and has more metallic in it than any previous Corvette paint. There are many different hues that can be seen while this color is in the light including burgundy/red, silver, and gold metallic. These exciting new paint additions offer unique color options for Corvette buyers and look amazing.
