GM to Halt Corvette Output to Complete Plant Upgrade

General Motors Co. is suspending production of its Chevrolet Corvette for three months to complete previously announced upgrades to its Bowling Green, Ky., manufacturing plant.

During the hiatus, GM aims to complete the construction of a new paint shop. The facility will feature streamlined processes and more efficient equipment that will allow it to be about half the size of the current paint shop, Chey officials tell CarsDirect.com.

The carmaker already has delivered some 2018 model Corvettes, including a Carbon 65 Edition, and has nearly a five-month supply of 2017 models. Dealers won’t be able to order new models for the first month of the shutdown. Production is due to resume in November.

GM announced the paint shop project in early 2015 and said at the time the upgrade would cost $439 million. This is on top of a previous $135 million investment made in the Bowling Green facility four years prior to establish a new body shop and house the Performance Build Center formerly located in Michigan.

Last month Chevy said it was suspending public tours at the Bowling Green plant through the end of 2018, which would effectively close the plant to outside eyes as it retools for the next-generation Vette due in early 2019. That vehicle is expected to have a mid-engine layout and debut next January at the Detroit auto show.