Corvette still coming

General Motors may have killed off Holden and announced its exit from all right-hand drive markets, but it will still produce the new Chevrolet Corvette for a global audience – including Australians.

When GM announced it will axe its sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand by the end of this year, GM International Operations senior vice-president Julian Blissett said a RHD version of the C8 Corvette will still be forthcoming.

"The Corvette right-hand drive will still exist and we haven’t decided how to do that yet – Corvette is selling extremely well globally and is well received," he said, adding that GM will focus its strategies for the Australian market on the "GM specialty vehicle business".

"In markets where we don’t have significant scale, such as Japan, Russia and Europe, we are pursuing a niche presence by selling profitable, high-end imported vehicles – supported by a lean GM structure," said Blissett.

Separately, Chevrolet communications director Kelly Cusinato told

For its part, Holden continues to invite expressions of interest for the mid-engined C8 Corvette via its public website, but a Holden spokesman declined to comment on any questions related to GM’s first global Corvette.

In fact, 24 hours after it was publicly axed by GM, Holden today cancelled plans for a number of Australian media outlets to drive the new Corvette in the US next week.

And despite promising "a rear-drive V8 sports car" would be among 24 new or upgraded models between 2015 and 2020, it has never committed to exact Australian release timing for Corvette.

The closest it has got is suggesting the C8 would arrive here about 12 months after LHD production commenced in the US – in a single upmarket Z51 spec priced above $150K – but that was before a UAW union strike delayed Corvette production by several months, pointing to an early 2021 local release.

Indeed, in a Q&A page published yesterday on its website, Holden now says "We will work through this and share information in the coming months" in response to its own question "Is Corvette still coming to Australia and New Zealand?".

We understand Holden's reluctance to officially confirm the Corvette is because GM is yet to sign off on the new niche brand referred to by Blissett, dubbed General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV).

But our sources say the Corvette will be released in Australia next year either way, given it will be available in RHD and sold, marketed and backed in RHD markets like Japan and the UK.

In reference to HSV, which has already been linked to GMSV, Holden says: "We plan to focus our growth strategies in these markets [Australia and NZ] on the specialty vehicles business and plan to immediately begin work with our partner on that focus."

Holden will close its 200-plus dealerships as soon as August, but the 65 HSV dealers that currently co-exist with them will remain, either as stand-alone outlets or alongside another auto brand/s.

While the HSV SportsCat will likely be discontinued along with the Holden Colorado on which it’s based, HSV currently converts and sells the Chevrolet Camaro coupe and Silverado pick-up, the all-new 1500 version of which is about to be launched.

The Corvette is expected to join those models as the third Chevrolet model (this time in RHD ex-factory) and is also known to be developing a RHD version of the closely related 2021 Chevrolet Suburban SUV.

Other future GM models are also now understood to be on HSV’s radar as part of its role in the proposed GMSV business, potentially including selected Cadillac models and the upcoming GMC Hummer EV.

"HSV already sells a range of converted GM products and has more to come, and GM will have a back-end to support its vehicles and customers here for a decade, so Corvette should be a no-brainer," a GM insider told carsales.