General Motors (GM) has reportedly killed plans to expand the Chevrolet Corvette range, axing a proposed Corvette sub-brand including an electric four-door Corvette to rival the Porsche Taycan, and even a Corvette SUV.
According to GM Authority, plans for a Corvette sub-brand were drawn up by parent company GM in 2022 and included new, potentially higher-volume spin-offs from the C8 Corvette sports car launched two years earlier.
The report from GM Authority said it would involve several new models built upon the ‘GM BEV [Battery Electric Vehicle] Prime Platform’. This was said to be a more premium version of GM’s BEV3 platform used on the Cadillac Lyriq, Optiq and Vistiq electric SUVs currently sold in Australia.
Key among the extended Corvette family
Key among the extended Corvette family was an electric SUV, internally codenamed ‘V284’, which would apply Corvette ‘design language’ to a crossover-type SUV.
This may have followed a similar approach to the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV sold here, which shares only its name and some key design elements with the Mustang sports car, as the US car giant looked to capitalise on the growth of SUV sales in key countries.
In 2023, SUVs made up 48 per cent of new-car sales globally, according to the International Energy Agency, and reached more than 50 per cent of sales in countries with advanced economies.
Ford also stirred controversy in Europe when
Ford also stirred controversy in Europe when it dusted off the Capri name, previously used on a two-door sports car, for a Volkswagen-based electric crossover it unveiled in 2024, with Capri fans claiming the new car shared little with its previous namesake.
Many brands have successfully trodden this path, however, with models such as the Porsche Cayenne, which effectively used the style of the Porsche 911 sports car for an SUV when it was launched in 2002, an approach since extended to the smaller Macan SUV and other models, such as the electric Taycan.
Similarly, theLamborghini Urus SUV was launched in 2017 and now accounts for almost three-quarters of the Italian marque’s global sales, helping it achieve record annual results for the past five years.
The Corvette sub-brand was also reportedly set
The Corvette sub-brand was also reportedly set to develop a four-door electric sedan as part of the lineup, again echoing moves from Ford to develop a four-door sedan using the underpinnings of the Mustang, with both potential rivals to the Dodge Charger, which is offered in the US with a choice of EV and straight-six drivetrains but not sold here.
Yet the electric Chevrolet sedan would have been more of a rival to the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT and Lucid Air Sapphire, the latter of which is not sold in Australia.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley suggested an expanded range of models from the new sub-brand could see it worth up to US$12 billion (A$17.1 billion), six times the claimed existing value of the Corvette brand as it stands.
GM had neither confirmed nor denied the proposed
GM had neither confirmed nor denied the proposed sub-brand, with GM Authority suggesting it was axed due to slow sales of the automaker’s electric vehicles (EVs).
The company’s EV sales fell 62.1 per cent in the third quarter (July–September) of 2026 compared with the same quarter last year, which had been a record quarter for GM’s EVs.
EVs accounted for only 3.2 per cent of GM’s US sales in the third quarter of 2026, less than their year-to-date figure of 4.1 per cent.
This compares to a 1.52 per cent share
This compares to a 1.52 per cent share of all Ford Motor Company sales (including Lincoln) in the US to the end of September 2026, following its axing of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup late last year.
Similarly, only 0.22 per cent of US sales for Stellantis’ FCA US brands, which include Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, were EVs during the first nine months of 2026.
Meanwhile, GM introduced a new, sixth-generation Chevrolet small-block V8 engine, with the 6.7-litre petrol unit powering the Corvette Stingray, Grand Sport and Grand Sport X in the US for the 2027 model year.
General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) has not yet confirmed the new engine, nor the Grand Sport and Grand Sport X, for Australian showrooms.
MORE:Explore the Chevrolet Corvette showroom
