C6 Vorstellung Jänner 2004, Detroit

[Austrian Vette]

Ja, richtig gelesen, Jänner 2004 wird die C6 auf der Detroiter Autoshow zu sehen sein.
Kein Fake!

Michael



Hier die Infos des Interviews mit dem GM´ler:


Automotive News / December 23, 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GM's Dave Hill says Corvette fans can expect the next-generation Vette to offer more performance, higher quality and tremendous value.


Dave Hill, vehicle line executive for GM Performance Cars and chief engineer of the Chevrolet Corvette since 1995, is facing two of the toughest tasks of his 37-year career at General Motors.

He must ensure that the new Corvette-derived Cadillac XLR is built tight and free of mechanical glitches when it goes into production this spring. At the same time, he's overseeing the development of the next-generation Corvette, due in 2004.

Hill, who turns 60 on Jan. 15, spoke this month with Staff Reporter Richard Truett in Detroit.

How has the Cadillac XLR made the next Corvette a better car?

We have quite an infusion of talent now that we have two programs. We might not have been able to call on that amount of talent had we only had one. One example of where we are really going to get a payout is getting to the next level of surface perfection with SMC (fiberglass) panels. Really, the Corvette measures up very well today, but we want to get to the next level. (Because of) the tooling strategies and other manufacturing techniques that we've worked on with our suppliers, we've got the Cadillac XLR up to the highest level of SMC surface perfection that has ever been seen. That's going to have a trickle-down effect on the Corvette.

Anything else?

Quietness. To make our architecture suitable for that Cadillac-Lexus-Jaguar-Mercedes set, we had to work a lot on quietness and isolation without losing the lightness value. We have made a fantastic change in the personality of the Cadillac, and that is going to have a benefit in the Corvette, too.

Is there pressure on the workers at the Bowling Green, Ky., Corvette plant to deliver the quality that Cadillac buyers expect?

The plant manager at Bowling Green has really changed the culture there. One of the things that's unique about the plant is that it is open for tours. Every day, you've got the public going through there. A lot of them are Corvette owners and fans. Our work force has really gotten connected to the customer. I think they have an enhanced sense of importance about every operation on every car that they build. The quality ethic is just fantastic. We've had the Lexus (SC 430), Mercedes (SL500) and Jaguar (XK8) down there, so that the workers can understand that the standards are different, the values are different and that the cars do different things well. They are definitely rising to the occasion. They are going to compete. They are really fired up.

Do Corvette buyers cross-shop the Dodge Viper?

You see a little bit of that. And certainly the Z06 is a definite contender for that extreme performance enthusiast. But I wouldn't say we consider them in our main set of competitors. But they are doing a good job. They are improving, and we are glad to have them in our segment. The more competition there is, the more interest there is.

Has the new Dodge Viper - with its 500-hp engine and 4.1-second 0-to-60 mph performance - influenced the next Corvette? Do you have to have the bragging rights to the fastest, the highest, the lowest or whatever to get the attention of that kind of buyer?

Not just quantitatively. You can sometimes overconcentrate on making the numbers at the expense of the total car. Certainly, the Viper puts stimulation into the segment. But we don't literally feel that we should stop being who we are and try being their competitor. For every car they sell, we sell 35 cars. We are still going to play our song - and that's balance, doing many things well and offering tremendous value. Obviously, our customers would like to have more performance, and we are going to get it for them.

Has the Z06 lived up to your sales expectations?

The nice thing about the Z06 is that the person we made it for - the extreme performance enthusiast - is the person who is buying it. The Z06 has really done us proud. We came out with the car stretching as far as we could in 2001 with 385 hp. Fifteen percent of sales were Z06s. We were somewhat constrained on the number we could make. We solved the constraints. We got up to 405 hp. We improved the brakes. We improved the engine and clutch, and we've been selling 25 percent Z06s in 2002.

Will there be a Z06 in the next-generation Corvette?

We will have a great Z06 in the next generation but not at the outset.

Over the years, the Corvette has been stuffed with more and more luxury features. How much luxury is too much for a Corvette?

That's a delicate balance, and we try to make sure we stay on the right side of it. We want to use our engineering skill to keep expanding the area in which the car is really good and exceeds the people's expectations. If we can make it more comfortable and just as fast, then that's the right thing to do. If we start making it more comfortable at the expense of performance, that's the wrong thing to do.

What other sports cars attract your attention these days?

Nissan is now offering an attractive car (350Z) at a nice low price, and they are being rewarded with a lot of customers at the moment. I think it's probably a pretty good car. I think Nissan has done a marvelous job of turning themselves around. That might task our price-value relationship. But there is always going to be lots of competition in the marketplace.

Mazda is also coming back (with the RX-8). We competed with them in the past. They are great competitors, and we'll compete with them again, on performance and value.

Is the next Corvette on target and on budget?

Yes. It will be in the 2004 North American International Auto Show

[Manni]

Hallo Austria Vette,

gibts denn da keine neuen Erlkönige zu sehen? Hat Automotive News auch eine Internet-Präsenz?

Grüße Manni

[Austrian Vette]

Hab die news selbst vom Corvetteforum.com

Internet-site gibt´s sicher, weiß aber die Adresse nicht.
Erlkönige hab ich noch keine gesehen......wenns`soweit ist werd ich Pics posten.


Michael

[hjpdeg]

Erlkönig ist im OSC- Forum zu sehen !

[icedsoul]

Das läßt ja mal hoffen.

[Dutch]

https://www.c6vr.com/default.asp

The Official C6 Vette Registry

[Corvette-1111]

Nee, es gint wirklich keien verwertbaren Erlkönig-Bilder!

Ich bin sehr neugierig!. Im Januar 2003 war ich mit Freunden in Bowling Green / Kentucky und wir waren auch beim Direktor der Corvette-Fabrik. Will Cocksey, der Direktor, hat sich nur zu der Information hinreissen lassen, dass die C6 keine Schlafaufen mehr bekommt.

[Rene H-over]

keine schlafaugen mehr.....

[Mike03]

In der neuen Auto, Motor und Sport (Juni 2003) sind zwei Zeichnungen von der C6 ...

Naja ...