Chevrolet gives its official response on Z06 delays.
We awarded the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 our Performance Car of the Year, so we totally get it that you probably want one in your garage right away. (Heck, even if we didn’t bestow upon it our highest performance car honor, you’d still want one.) Unfortunately, for those who’ve actually taken the plunge and placed orders for Z06s, well, things aren’t going as well. Order holders have taken to internet forums to complain about delivery delays spanning several months. We came across a seven-page thread on MidEngineCorvetteForum via Motor1 filled with people who are waiting on their Z06 orders.
Many of the forum members mentioned that their order status is “3800” which is a production code that indicates the vehicle has been built but is awaiting shipping. “My Z07 has been at 3800 status since August and now with the UAW strike expanding who knows when I’ll get this thing,” wrote forum member “Narazumono85.” They aren’t the only member with an order status stuck at 3800 since August, the thread is filled with others who are in a similar spot.
As the comment suggests, other members are speculating the cause of the delays, thinking that the current UAW strikes may be playing a factor. There is a lot of speculation that the UAW strikes can and will disrupt supply chains so it isn’t much of a stretch to connect the two issues. We reached out to Chevrolet about the Corvette Z06 order delays and they came back to us with the following statement:
“The industry continues to experience temporary parts shortages due to a number of circumstances. Bowling Green has been impacted by this so we have taken steps to keep production running to meet continued strong demand. As a result, we are building some vehicles without specific parts and will retrofit those vehicles as the parts become available before they are shipped to customers. We are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible.”
So, Chevrolet is citing parts shortages as the culprit for the delays. However the statement keeps things ambiguous and stops short of pointing a finger at the UAW strikes as the cause of said parts shortages. Despite being nearly three years removed from the global pandemic, could the automotive industry still be feeling the ripple effect? Or is Chevrolet remaining diplomatic in the face of the strikes? We can see one or both of these factors being absolutely true. Unfortunately, none of that will help the Z06 owners in waiting get their cars any faster.