DETROIT — Tadge Juechter’s first “taste” of Corvette working at General Motors
was to research whether there were enough Americans who could afford a new high-performance model of the famed sports car, known as the ZR1, back in 1985.
Nearly 40 years later, not only are there enough people to afford such a vehicle, but GM’s new 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 stands as something of a coup de grace for Juechter, who retired Wednesday after roughly 47 years with the Detroit automaker.
The so-called “godfather” of the modern Corvette retired roughly a week after helping to introduce the new 2025 Corvette ZR1 — the most powerful and fastest version of the car ever produced.
“One thing all the great Corvettes of recent years and decades have had in common is you. Your knowledge, your skills, your hard work, your passion,” GM President Mark Reuss told Juechter when revealing the vehicle. “Thank you for making Corvette the glorious American sports car it remains. Thank you for making our company better.”
Reuss announced last month that all 2025 Corvettes and beyond will feature a silhouette profile of Juechter’s head etched in window locations and the front tunnel reinforcement panel beneath every Corvette
CNBC interviewed Juechter, 67, ahead of his retirement, touching on his career as well as the business of Corvette, including plans for an all-electric version and the potential of spinning off the brand and for an SUV.
Electric Corvette
GM has said an all-electric Corvette is coming, but it hasn’t given a time frame. Last year, the automaker introduced a hybrid version of the car called the E-Ray.
Juechter wasn’t inclined to disclose any details of an upcoming Corvette EV, but he believes the E-Ray proves GM can successfully electrify Corvette.
“Electrification can be a wonderful contributor to cars. I embrace efficiency. … We’re passionate about efficiency in everything that we do,” he said. “Efficiency makes a good sports car, too. So, I think electrification is just another technology, and we have to figure out how to play that technology in a way that resonates with our customers.
“E-Ray is the first step. We think long term, you know, decades long term. Yes, General Motors committed to 100% electrification, and it’s our job as engineers to figure out what’s the way to get there. We’re businesspeople, too. We have to bring our customers with us.”
Juechter said there’s been some “natural push back” to electrified Corvettes from the sports car’s fan base.
“We’re hoping maybe the E-Ray warms them to maybe this electrification thing’s not so bad,” he said.
Corvette spinoff and SUV
Wall Street analysts have said GM could better leverage the Corvette brand by expanding models and, to an extent, sales. In late 2019, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said a Corvette sub-brand could be worth between $7 billion and $12 billion.
That has raised questions around whether Corvette would be better spun off from parent GM.
But Juechter doesn’t necessarily believe that’s the way to go.
“I don’t know if we need to spin off. I mean, Corvette’s at the heart of Chevrolet. It’s a pure business play. If you’ve got this brand equity, you can just keep it at home or you can choose to try to monetize it and put it outside.
“General Motors historically hasn’t done that. We embrace our important franchises, and this is a really important franchise,” he said.
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