What’s next for Corvette in the UK? Alex Goy Interviews Pere Brugal

Corvette E-Ray at Goodwood Festival of Speed

A sit down with Pere Brugal, President and MG of GM Europe and Tony Roma, Corvette Head of Engineering

Though it’s a rare sight on UK roads, you can buy a Corvette with the steering wheel on the correct side of the car. The Stingray is a cracking thing, with a honking great V8 in the middle making plenty of noise, offering silly pace, and providing plenty of grins. It’s unashamedly American, has been for decades, and probably always will be. The working man’s supercar, it’s taken on giants and bloodied their noses with ease. But what’s next for Corvette? I caught up with Pere Brugal, President and MG of GM Europe, and Tony Roma, Corvette Head of Engineering, to find out. 

“The desire of electrification in the US is strictly performance”

The European Corvette lineup consists of the ‘base’ Stingray, the hardcore Z06, and finally, the recently announced hybrid E-ray. The hybrid system in the E-ray isn’t there for gingerly pootling around town, as Roma explains: “The desire for electrification in the US is strictly performance. That's what people want, and that's why we did it - so that it enables All Wheel Drive. It gives the car a different persona, and it enhances performance in a way that adding more power to the rear axle just wouldn't do” 

The E-ray comes with a 6.2-litre V8 powering the rear, and a ‘leccy motor driving the fronts, pushing out a combined 643bhp, which is plenty for most. The car has gone down well with reviewers the world over. You get power, all-wheel-drive sure-footedness, and something that looks pretty mean in the process. It’s a good thing, then, but what did Corvette’s engineers learn about electrification while making it? A ‘leccy ‘Vette hasn’t been done before, after all. Roma continues: “I'm not going to talk specifics, but you’ll see us use electrification to make the cars better in any way where they'll enhance performance and efficiency… Are we done? Not even close. What we've learned and how we're going to be able to apply that to the future. It's going to be awesome.”

“We learned how hard we could push the battery”

The E-ray wasn’t an accidental thing; it wasn’t born of American engineers seeing what could fit in where and hoping for the best. Roma says it was the plan from the very beginning. Hybrid systems are complex things, and need to go somewhere, which means they need to be planned for in some capacity. After that, it's a matter of how to use them. “We learned how hard we could push the battery. We learned how to strategically deploy and regen the battery to keep it in the right state of charge to learn how much regen we can get away with in certain dynamic situations, and how much discharge, also the fact that we can live with more front axle power,” says Roma. It turns out the E-ray’s 160bhp 125lb ft front motor is the tip of the iceberg - the car can take, and usefully deploy far more. 

The E-ray is a widebody car. Perfect for the US’s big, sweeping roads, but less so for the narrow B roads we have in the UK. It’s very much an American car made for Americans in America, where most of them are sold after all. That said, Roma noted that when the C8 was developed, right hand drive was part of the plan - a clean sheet car allowed GM to create an adaptable, new platform to build on. That means it’s not just the UK that’ll get to enjoy the fruits of the team’s labours, but other RHD markets. 

“We were super happy about the level of reception we're getting with Corvette, especially in the UK market,” says Pere Brugal. While UK volumes aren’t quite up there with those in the US, the three cars on offer seem to be going down well with customers and dealers alike. 

“Our DNA, of course, is American…and we’re not shying away from that”

Will the UK have an impact on the car going forward? After this year’s futuristic Corvette concept from GM’s UK-based design studio (headed up by Julian Thomson, the man behind the S1 Lotus Elise, the LRX concept, and much, much more), you may think it’s time for the blue collar supercar to pop on a Savile Row suit. “They built one of the advanced design concepts for CX,  which is like the future of Corvette. We have three advanced design centres, one in LA, one in Shanghai, one in the UK,” says Brugal, “And, of course, Corvette is a key project for us as a company, right? The fact that we have one of those concepts inspired by European customers, born and bred in a UK design studio… it's great.” Will it become more Eurocentric, though? No, no, it will not. “Our DNA, of course, is American… and we’re not shying away from that,” adds Brugal. The Corvette’s heritage is a key selling point, something that’d be foolish to ignore. But that doesn’t mean it’ll have blinkers on, Brugal notes that having three Advanced Design Studios all over the world, as well as a global footprint, it’ll look outside of the States more than before. 

Will the UK get the ZR1X?

The E-ray and Z06 Corvettes are both, to put it politely, spicy cars. They’re big, brash, and very, very fast. But while the UK and Europe have been getting more ‘Vette than ever before, the US is being lavished with them. Most recently, the ZR1X. Now, the ZR1 is a pointy car - it comes with over 1000bhp, but the ZR1X..? 1250bhp. That’s thanks to a 5.5-litre twin turbo V8 and a hybrid system you might just recognise from the E-ray (while this does do more with electrification, Roma’s claim that there’s more to come from it doesn’t seem to be aimed at the ZR1X). Accelerating from 0-60mph is expected to happen in sub 2.0 seconds, it’ll do a quarter mile in under 9.0 seconds, and given enough space, you’ll see 230mph+ on the speedo. It’s got some go, as your mother might say. Will we be getting that over here? Brugal, after saying that Corvette is concentrating on E-ray here for the moment, says no. Regulations, approvals, and all the fun that goes with it make it unlikely.

Corvettes have, for so long, been the preserve of America. An affordable, exploitable, exciting V8 sports car for all, but not quite for us. Until now. Now, we’ve got three to choose from. Maybe more in future. And maybe one with a British influence (maybe). 

words: Alex Goy
pictures & video: Corvette