A historic group of storms battered six states over the weekend, destroying hundreds of homes and leaving at least 80 dead. Recovery teams will be assessing the damage throughout the week, but the destruction appears worst in Kentucky. Rescue teams continue to search the wreckage in some of the hardest-hit areas.
General Motors builds its Chevrolet Corvette Stingray in Bowling Green, Kentucky – approximately 125 miles from the town of Mayfield, where the worst of the storms appears to have hit.
No One Injured; Factory Roof Damaged
GM reports that “The small number of employees that were on-site are all safe.” But the factory itself suffered some damage and will be closed for at least a week as “trained teams work to get tooling, equipment, and the facility space up to standard.”
A nearby tornado started a fire at the plant. The fire “has caused damage to the facility, including the roof and an employee entrance,” the company says.
The nearby National Corvette Museum, in a statement, says its collection of historic ‘Vettes “was spared from significant damage.” A track at the facility will require repairs and has canceled events indefinitely.
About 1,400 people work at the Bowling Green facility, the only plant in the world building Corvettes.
Already in Short Supply
The plant shutdown will temporarily make it harder to find a Corvette for sale. The Corvette has been in short supply all year due to a series of supply chain issues. GM has fewer than 700 Corvettes in stock nationwide at the moment. That is less than 10 days’ worth, at the current sales pace.
The plant is gearing up to launch the ultra-high-performance Corvette Z06. GM has not yet commented on whether the damage will delay that launch.
