The Covid-19 Crisis Crunch Puts Key Cars On Ice

Plans for the V8 Raptor and C8 Corvette in oz hang by a thread as manufacturers bleed cash

- Cameron Kirby

When Wheels broke the news of Ford’s secret V8 Ranger Raptor project earlier this year, the response from our readers was significant: “Hell yeah!”

Well, we now come bearing bad news, as the highly anticipated muscle truck has been put on ice; a victim of the global financial belt-tightening in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

An industry source confirmed it’s unlikely the V8 Raptor will be the only victim, with many ‘indulgence’ programs being shelved as companies focus on higher-profit products.

This is true for General Motors’ latest baby, the mid-engined C8 Corvette. It has been reported that GM’s executive director in charge of program management, Michelle Braun, told suppliers to hold fire, as all development programs have been halted. This includes the righthand-drive Corvette, which had been expected to come to Australia despite Holden’s closure. Its arrival is now slated for 2023 at the earliest, if at all.

Why? Well, if you were searching for the perfect metaphor for the impact COVID-19 is having on the global car industry it would be a giant mountain of cash, licked with vicious flames, and no buckets of water in sight.

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess admitted the German giant, which has 124 manufacturing plants and 671,000 staff, is bleeding money, with the shutdown costing €2 billion a week.