February 2
GM Offers Customer Service on Twitter
Whether you own a Corvette or any other GM model, there's now a live person (actually, six live people) ONLINE to help you with questions. The Social Media Team is available from 9:00am - 9:00pm M-F and Saturday from 10:00am - 6:00pm (EDT).

This team watches for 'tweets' about GM products, but you can also Twitter them directly.
Find them on Twitter at
 http://twitter.com/GMCustomerSvc.

January 28-31
MECUM AUTO AUCTION….WHERE YOU CAN SEE AND TOUCH YOUR DREAMS!
Members, I have just enjoyed a wonderful weekend at the Mecum Auto Auction here in Kissimmee, Florida. By all accounts, there were hundreds of gorgeous restored Corvettes and about anything else you have ever seen. Members, you have all told me over the past years about how many wonderful Corvettes you have owned back in the “good old days” and how much they were a part of your life during that time. I, too, bought my first new Corvette in 1978. It was a 25th Anniversary Edition Coupe. This Corvette has always meant a lot to my wife and I because we “Honeymooned” with it the following year. Like many of you, we sold it ten years later for that “extra money” to buy a home for our family.

This year’s Mecum Auto Auction was televised on the Discovery Channel HD Theater. I’m sure there will be re-runs on the Discovery Channel for months to come. You don’t want to miss this just due to the sheer beauty that these Corvettes brought to the stage when they were being auctioned. I just want all our members to know that the Mecum Auto Auction is an OUTSTANDING venue for buying or selling one’s prized Corvette possession. They treat you like family! Look for a Mecum Auto Auction http://mecum.com  that is coming to a town near you. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit the Corvettes of your past and see these beauties in pristine condition.

Click here, for a list of the Corvettes that were auctioned, and the one’s that sold, prices are duly noted!
 

January 21
Limited Edition Corvette Auction to Benefit Haitian Earthquake Relief
Scottsdale, Ariz. – Earthquake relief efforts in Haiti will receive all proceeds from the auction of a limited edition 2008 Chevrolet Corvette at this weekend’s 39th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction.  

The proceeds, which will be donated to the American Red Cross relief fund, are in addition to a $100,000 contribution from the GM Foundation to the Red Cross.

“This is a very good example of the compassion GM employees have,” said Ed Welburn, Vice President of GM Design. Welburn will call the vehicle to the stage to start the bidding process at the event.

The limited edition 2008 Chevrolet Corvette was the last of 427 cars built specifically for North America and the only 2008 Z06 available in Crystal Red Metallic Tint Coat. Sporting a 7.0L V8 engine with 505 hp, the Corvette contains spider design chrome Z06 wheels, Z06 plates, a Stinger-style stripe on the front hood and fascia, chrome exterior badges and a painted Z06 spoiler and body color door handles. Inside, the Corvette contains a Dark Titanium leather-wrapped interior and special Crystal Red center trim plate.

All 427 of the limited edition Corvettes were signed and numbered in the center console area by Will Cooksey, the Corvette plant manager who retired in 2006 after 15 years running the plant. The Corvette also features “427” hood badges and engine cover emblems and “427” seat and floor mat embroidery.

The Corvette is Lot #1318 and will be auctioned on Saturday evening, Jan. 23, at the Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale,
 

January 16
GM TO LAY OFF 75 WORKERS AT THE BG PLANT.
Officials cutting Corvette production from 11 cars per hour to eight

About 75 Bowling Green area residents will be without jobs as the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant indefinitely lays off more workers.

Plant officials are in the process of laying off those workers and cutting vehicle production from 11 cars per hour to eight cars per hour.

It has been a tough year for the Corvette plant - a bad economy and company financial troubles have forced the plant to temporarily shut down for a total of 26 weeks this year. And even though GM emerged from bankruptcy and recently reported good sales figures, the local plant still struggles.

"It’s almost positive news because there’s not as much negative news," Bowling Green plant manager Bob Parcell said. "The biggest challenge in the short term is that we (cut production at) the plant, and we’re still struggling to get the pieces of the puzzle put together."

As demand for luxury vehicles, such as the Corvette, has dwindled, the plant has been forced to slow production. Last year, the plant churned out 18.5 cars per hour - that rate was cut to 15 cars an hour in October 2008 and then to 11 cars an hour in March, according to Andrea Hales, communications manager for the local plant.

Now, production lines slowly move, transitioning to eight vehicles an hour. Earlier this year, the plant halted production of the Cadillac XLR.

Production cuts create the need for fewer workers. At the beginning of this month, the plant employed 486 workers - a drop from the 1,100 workers it once employed.

Employee morale is “not very high,” Parcell said. “You look at 2009 ... and the plant’s been down as much as it’s been run. It’s hard to come to work all fired up.”

In fact, strengthening employee morale is one of Parcell’s goals and, on a positive note, no temporary shutdowns are scheduled for 2010.

This year, employees, such as Patrick Klein, have watched co-workers get laid off and have temporarily been without jobs during plant shutdowns.

“It’s hard for anybody to keep their chin up when they know they’re going to get laid off,” he said.

Klein has worked for General Motors for 13 years and has been at the local plant for seven years - he’s also vice president of the United Auto Workers Local 2164.

For Klein, it has been difficult to make plans, such as scheduling a family vacation, due to job uncertainty.

“It’s been kind of a struggle not knowing month to month how many weeks we’re going to work,” he said. “Just not knowing what our work schedule is going to be, it’s hard to plan things.”

And even though the company recently released better-than-expected sales figures, Corvette sales are still low, Klein said.

“And that’s what directly affects us here,” he said. The plant will struggle “until those sales pick up a little bit, so we can stop (production cuts) and layoffs.”

Nick Davis has worked at General Motors for 15 years and at the local plant for five years. He remembers his first day at the Corvette plant.

“I walk in ... and I see clean, beautiful cars,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m in Disney World.’ ”

And while he enjoys working at the local plant, the past year has been challenging, he said.

“It has been difficult,” he said. “So difficult that, sometimes, I don’t want to talk about it. Some people are in worse shape than others because of it.”

Davis said he tries to concentrate on any positive news, and, for him, there’s an upside to temporary layoffs.

“Personally, I really enjoyed it,” said Davis, a father of two young daughters. “It made me a stay-at-home dad and brought me closer to the girls than I ever expected. It was kind of a blessing, but not really.”

Even though times are rough, workers said they’re optimistic about their jobs and about the plant’s future.

“It’s just a difficult time, a very difficult time, but I do have a positive outlook,” Klein said. “I think things are going to get better; I just don’t know when.”

Davis said he’s confident in the local plant and the product it makes.

“It is one of the last muscle cars being made,” he said. “I do believe we’ll be here for a while.”

January 4, 2010
NEW LEADER FOR CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE MARKETING TEAM
John Fitzpatrick  is the Chevrolet Performance Cars Marketing Manager. Along with his current duty as Camaro Marketing Manager, John will now embrace both Camaro and Corvette as well as any future performance Chevrolets as Chevrolet Performance Car Manager.

Harlan Charles will continue as Product Marketing Manager for Corvette and will focus more on the  final Corvette product.