Bob Lutz Thinks Corvette Should Be a Brand

Former General Motors vice chairman and product development bigwig Bob Lutz has always had lots to say about the Chevrolet Corvette, and advanced age hasn’t diminished his enthusiasm for the model and its potential.

Even in the pre-recession, pre-bankruptcy days, a pre-retirement Lutz opined that the ‘Vette nameplate could host more than just a sports car. Back then, Lutz wasn’t saying that Corvette should be spun off as its own make, but he is now.

In an exercise in hypothetical product planning, The Detroit News envisioned a future — renderings and all — in which the Corvette brand spawns a sport SUV, a la Porsche and just about every other high-performance, premium automaker.

Such a creation could prove a money-maker for GM, especially if the automaker abides by the ‘Vette tradition of using plenty of off-the-shelf parts, the publication figures. Calling it the XC7, writer Henry Payne assembled advice from ex-GM brass on how the utility vehicle could succeed. What automaker wouldn’t want the bragging rights of a 650-horsepower, Z06-powered do-anything wagon?

Both Lutz and former Corvette program head Tom Wallace agree on the basics. A lightweight body structure, rear-drive proportions and optional all-wheel drive are no-brainers for a sport SUV, as are the Corvette’s engines. Lutz clearly has Porsche on the brain.

“Like the Cayenne, the appeal of the ’Vette SUV would be RWD proportions. It should, in fact, have a silhouette not too different from a Cayenne,” he said. Its price would also need to undercut the Europeans.

While he admits that the need to develop a suitable platform for such a vehicle could sink the project, not to mention the sales damage it could do to Cadillac and GMC, Lutz remains bullish on the Corvette’s brand power. If not an SUV, then something else.

“Corvette is a powerful brand that should be developed,” he said. “Go upmarket with a mid-engine sedan using big Cadillac CT6 architecture, and maybe eventually something like Cayenne. They would split it off from Chevrolet — nobody makes that connection anyway.”

[Image: General Motors]