Why Is General Motors Getting Rid Of Key Corvette Personnel?
GM's Performance team dedicated to the Corvette has lost three high-profile members in the past twelve months—what's going on?
Kirk Bennion, Corvette’s Exterior Design Manager, has left General Motors, marking the third high-profile departure from GM’s Performance team in the past year. His exit follows those of Corvette Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter, and Corvette Project Manager Harlan Charles, raising questions about what's going on with GM’s marquee sports car program.
Juechter’s retirement had been expected, but the circumstances surrounding Charles and Bennion’s departures remain unclear. Charles has openly referred to his exit as a forced retirement, while it's reported that Bennion was fired.
With three major figures now gone, the shakeup raises speculation about GM’s future performance car plans. While the company insists Corvette will remain within Chevrolet, it’s possible these moves signal a consolidation of its sports car programs. GM's only remaining sports cars are the Corvette and the Cadillac V-Series models. GM has already retired the Camaro, and rumors persist that it could return as an EV or in a dramatically different form.
Bennion’s departure also ties back to the Camaro program, as he was responsible for designing the sixth-generation model, which was discontinued last year.
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An experienced automotive storyteller and accomplished photographer known for engaging and insightful content. Michael also brings a wealth of technical knowledge—he was part of the Ford GT program at Multimatic, oversaw a fleet of Audi TCR race cars, ziptied Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars back together, been over the wall during the Rolex 24, and worked in the intense world of IndyCar.
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Not even sure why this article was written, it shed no new light on anything and we’ ve known about the departure of these individuals for weeks if not months already.
This is not a big deal. We had a new lead come into the program and they generally chose their own people to specific areas of the car. Design has changed often so that should not be a surprise and the other guy was the one who marketed the E ray and it was mistake. He was popular at the Corvette events but he swung and missed on the E ray that should have just been a Grand Sport.
The Corvette today still sells in the price range it always has been in. While the price is up the dollar value is right in the same area in past dollars. Not everyone can afford a new Vette and in the past most of the time it has been that way since the late 60's.
As for the Camaro the Pony car formula is dead. These were based on cheap Econo sedans that got cooler bodies and bigger engines. A Camaro was a Nova and a Mustang was a Falcon. Cheap RWD no longer exist and they have had to go to more expensive platforms. They have made some wonderful cars but sales volume has dropped making these cars even more expensive.
The days of high volume Pony cars are over. Even the Mustang is at risk as it used to sell 600,000 units a year and now struggles to get to 50K.
It is not just about making money but when you make a business case for a car it has to make the most return on investment to get approved.
This is why everyone is doing as Honda and Toyota and just selling boring cars because they make the most money.