According to Mid-Engine Corvette ForumGeneral Motors will shut down its Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, for three non-consecutive weeks this spring. Supplier parts constraints, not the usual semiconductor shortages, forced the downtime. Employees received notice that Bowling Green Assembly would be closed the week of April 27ththMay 4thand June 1st. Each shutdown lasted five days, pulling three full weeks out of the production calendar.
The timing is very important. Sources indicate 2026 Corvette production is scheduled to wrap up on May 29th. June 1st the shutdown now occurs right where the 2027 model year usually begins. This raises an immediate question: Will a production pause in the first week of June delay the start of regular production for the 2027 Corvette? General Motors has yet to announce an exact start of regular production (SORP) date for the 2027 model year, leaving the schedule in a gray zone.
While the industry waits for clarity, Chevrolet is preparing a major overhaul of the 2027 Stingray. The 6.2L V8 LT2 engine is out, replaced by a new 6.7L V8 LS6 small block. Displacement rose to 409 cubic inches, compression reached 13.0:1, and output jumped to 535 horsepower and 520 pound-feet of torque. “There’s no substitute for displacement,” said Mike Kociba, assistant chief engineer for the Next Generation V8. “Our next-generation LS6 engine pushes 409 cubic inches of jackhammer fury through the exhaust pipe.”
The LS6 returns to Flint Engine Operations in Michigan, the same city where the first V8 Corvette was built in 1955. Bowling Green Assembly will build updated Stingray and Grand Sport models later this summer, although exactly when is still uncertain. For now, the Corvette production line has been stalled for three weeks while suppliers struggle to catch up.
