Is Corvette Making A Cayenne Killer?

My wife: I like the four-door Porsches; they’re one of my dream cars. I think the SUV Porsches are ugly but I definitely want to get a four-door Porsche sedan.

Me: Four-door Porches are stupid. Porsches were never meant to be practical machines; they are sports cars. That would be as stupid as making a four-door or SUV ‘Vette.

GM: Hold my beer!

I distinctly remember having this conversation with my wife within this past year. The Porsche Panamera has been around since 2009 and the Cayenne goes back to 2002, but it still does not sit well with me that  a performance brand would sellout in order to have a larger mass appeal. It was like when your favorite independent label artists sign to a mainstream label; they lose their soul and lack anything that distinguishes them from every other pop artist out there. They all make bank by going mainstream at the end of the day though.

So will GM make Corvette into its own subbrand, a la the Prius with Toyota?  An article from Corvette Forum that came out last week implicates the possibility of that not only there might be a Corvette SUV but Corvette might turn into its own brand at GM. Okay, yes, it was an April fools joke, but how far fetched is this really? Look at the watering down Porsche is doing with its line of SUVs and sedans. The big three Germans (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) are diluting the gene pool to the tune of massive sales gains.

This makes perfect sense in the midst of the moves that GM has been doing with its performance cars. People were scratching their head as to how Chevrolet would allow the Camaro ZL1 come anywhere near the performance levels (and more) of the top-level Corvette Z06. It is simple; the Z06 might not be the top-level ‘Vette anymore.

With rumors of a possible mid-engine ‘Vette swirling around out there and now this (again, even thought it was a joke), it is logical that Corvette might become its very own brand within GM. A line up of a high performance SUV, conventional GT Coupe, and mid-engine monster would be tailored to go up against the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches of the world. The timing of this would be perfect now that Ford will be producing its own supercar soon. GM’s high performance brand would certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the automotive world. The prospect of a Corvette Performance Brand seems delightful. Corvette could definitely stand to make some bank with this possibility.