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Chevrolet Corvette 2020: Is a Corvette SUV next?

Chevrolet could spin-off its Corvette sports car into its own sub-brand.

Would you buy a Corvette SUV?

It seems a mid-engine, Porsche-rivalling, Australian-bound Corvette may have only been just the beginning for Chevrolet's plans for its famous sports car. US publication Autoweek reports that General Motors could extend the Corvette nameplate into its own sub-brand with an SUV and sedan.

According to the report, GM is looking to leverage the popularity of the Chevrolet sports car amid a global push for the car; with the decision taken to engineer the Corvette in right-hand drive. It would allow GM to capitalise on the strength of the Corvette brand in the booming performance SUV market, with a Corvette SUV an obvious rival to the likes of the Porsche Macan and Cayenne, and Maserati Levante, as well as the go-fast versions of the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes-AMG GLE.

While spinning off the Corvette into a sub-brand may sound like a strange idea, it makes some sense given the popularity of those SUVs listed above. GM's arch-rivals Ford are planning to offer a Mustang-inspired electric SUV, so the car market is changing rapidly in ways previously unthought of.

When asked about the rumours at the C8 launch this week, Chevrolet head of performance cars Jim Campbell said: "I can't say anything one way or the other."

That's neither a denial or a confirmation but the report says planning is still in the early stages, so it's possible no firm decision has been made.

At the same time, there are also reports from multiple outlets in the US that GM is also considering creating a new halo model for luxury brand Cadillac utilising the new mid-engine platform of the C8 Corvette. Cadlillac hasn't had a flagship sports car since the XLR, which was based on the C6 Corvette, but only had a short life between 2004 and 2009 before poor sales led to its demise.

Adding a Corvette-based coupe would allow GM to amortise the cost of developing the new platform, but it's likely the Caddy would get its own engine instead of the C8 Stingray's LT2 6.2-litre V8. The most appealing proposition would be Cadillac's own 4.2-litre 'Blackwing' turbocharged V8 that is good for 410kW of power and 850Nm of torque. The Blackwing was developed for the CT6-V sports sedan and isn't used in any other model.

Given its performance, the Blackwing could also be a candidate for the Corvette's range-topping ZR1 model that is likely to be revealed sometime in 2020.

Chevrolet may have another major surprise for the Corvette in store - a V6 engine. Testing footage of the C8.R Le Mans-spec racing car reveals a soundtrack more similar to a turbocharged V6, rather than a V8.

That suggests a version of the 3.6-litre twin-turbo V6 used in several GM products, including the Cadillac ATS-V, could be deployed in a road-going variant of the Corvette. That would give the Corvette another Australian connection as the V6 engine is part of Holden's local engineering portfolio of calibration work for GM.

Would you buy a Corvette SUV? Tell us what you think in the comments below.