Right after Ford (F +13.18%) won the 2021 utility vehicle of the year award for the Mustang Mach-E all-electric vehicle, General Motors (GM 0.82%) is reportedly looking to turn its Chevrolet Corvette muscle car into an electric crossover SUV, too.
The soccer mom SUV may never be the same.
Image source: Getty Images.
A more expansive transformation
GM is taking a more holistic approach to the concept of transforming the car, considering turning the nameplate into a family of vehicles. The SUV would likely be the first one to emerge, perhaps as soon as 2025.
It's obviously not unheard of, as Volkswagen's Porsche easily transitioned into selling more SUVs each year than sleek, high-performance sports cars, and Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Maserati have all successfully launched SUVs too. Even GM has discussed the possibility for decades.
Nevertheless, there remains concern that the Corvette might not be able to duplicate that success. It could weaken the brand and reputation of what has long been the quintessential American sports car. However, legendary car designer Bob Lutz disagrees.
Lutz worked at GM, Ford, Chrysler -- virtually all the carmakers -- and last year told industry site Automotive News that one of the first things he would do if he was back at GM would be to produce a Corvette SUV and price it at $100,000 with a 20,000 to 30,000 vehicle production run.
Analysts estimate that turning Corvette into a broader brand could be worth $7 billion to $12 billion to GM. It even could be a vehicle to challenge Tesla.
Whether or not the Corvette is converted into an SUV, GM is pursuing electric vehicles in earnest, pledging to increase investments by 35% to $27 billion over the next five years.
