Corvette ‘Godfather’ retires for EVs, spinoffs and high-performance SUVs

DETROIT — Tadge Juchter’s first “experience” working on a Corvette General Motors Back in 1985, the goal was to find out whether enough Americans could afford a new, high-performance model of the famous sports car known as the ZR1.

Nearly four decades later, not only are there enough people who can afford such a car, but GM’s new 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 serves as a coup de grace of sorts for Juechter, who retired Wednesday after nearly 47 years with the Detroit automaker.

The so-called “godfather” of the modern Corvette has retired, about a week after helping to unveil the new 2025 Corvette ZR1, the most powerful and fastest car ever.

“The common thread in every great Corvette produced over the years and decades is you — your knowledge, your skill, your hard work and your passion,” GM President Mark Reuss told Juechter as he unveiled the car. “Thank you for making the Corvette the brilliant American sports car it remains. Thank you for making our company better.”

Reuss announced last month that all Corvettes from 2025 onwards will have a silhouette of Juechter’s head emblazoned on the window locations and on the lower front tunnel reinforcement panel of every Corvette.

CNBC spoke with the 67-year-old Juechter as he nears retirement, talking about his career, the Corvette business, plans for an all-electric version and the possibility of spinning off the brand and SUV.

GM has said it will release an all-electric Corvette but hasn’t said when. Last year, the company unveiled a hybrid version of the Corvette called the E-Ray.

While Juechter wouldn’t share details about the upcoming Corvette EV, he believes the E-Ray proves that GM can successfully electrify the Corvette.

“Electrification has the potential to be a great addition to the car. I’m a big fan of efficiency. … We’re big fans of efficiency in everything we do,” he said. “Efficiency also makes a great sports car. So I think electrification is just a technology, and we have to figure out how to leverage that technology in a way that resonates with customers.”

“The E-Ray is the first step. We’re thinking long term — decades into the future. Yes, General Motors is committed to 100% electric, and it’s our job as engineers to figure out how to get there. We’re also businessmen. We have to take the customer with us.”

Juechter said there was a “natural backlash” from the sports car fanbase against an electric Corvette.

“I’m hoping that the E-Ray will help people realize that electrification isn’t so bad,” he said.

Wall Street analysts have said GM could better leverage the Corvette brand by expanding its model range and, to some extent, sales. In late 2019, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the Corvette sub-brand could be worth between $7 billion and $12 billion.

This has raised questions about whether it would be better to separate the Corvette from its parent company, GM.

But Juchter doesn’t necessarily think that’s the right way to go.

“I don’t know if we need to separate it. The Corvette is the heart of Chevrolet. It’s a pure business. If we have the brand equity, we can keep it domestically or we can monetize it and take it overseas.”

“General Motors has never done anything like that before. We care about our key franchises, and this is a really key franchise,” he said.

As for leveraging the brand for future products such as an SUV, which has been under discussion for several years, Juechter said that’s a little different, but declined to say whether any such plans or considerations exist.

“How do we leverage that? That’s a question for the future. You can see it if you look at the models that we’re rolling out. We’re taking full advantage of this mid-engine architecture. And, you know, I’m also working on EVs, trying to bring some of that performance ethos to the EV space. How that will be applied in the future and how it will be branded is a story for another day,” he said.

The notion of a performance car brand making an SUV or crossover would have been considered blasphemous a few years ago, but as consumer tastes move away from traditional car models, several brands, including Porsche, Lamborghini and even Ferrari, are doing just that.

Juechter has worked on four different generations of Corvettes, from the fourth-generation ZR1 to the new mid-engine, eighth-generation sports car.

The first Corvette he bought himself was a 2006 sixth-generation Corvette Z06.

“It’s hard to pick a favorite. Like, who’s my favorite kid? It’s actually harder than, who’s my favorite kid. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about parenting, but we’ve put our heart and soul into each of these cars and they’re all special.”

“I don’t know. I can’t pick one. If I was forced to pick one, I think it would be money. I bought that Z06. I paid for that car myself. … That car was very special to me,” Jeuctor said.

Juchter said he hadn’t planned on buying a Corvette, but after seeing a “fully loaded example” roll off the production line at the Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky, he just had to have one.

He later sold that car and bought an eighth-generation Corvette Stingray Convertible last year as a “retirement car” in anticipation of no longer being able to get a free Corvette to test drive.

“I’m not a convertible guy, but this is a touring car for my wife and I – a cross-country touring car. It’s not going to be on a track. It’s going to be a daily car,” he said. “If you’re just looking for a daily cruiser, the Stingray is a pretty good car.”