New Zealand might miss out on Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Muscle car and supercar fans alike congregated together this morning for the overnight photographic debut of Chevrolet’s new 2023 Corvette C8 Z06; the first of the go-faster C8s to break cover. 

But, it appears that New Zealand could miss out on the mid-engined track weapon. 

In a statement issued to Australian outlet Drive, a General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) spokesperson said the Z06 has yet to be confirmed for any right-hand drive markets. 

“No right-hand drive markets have been confirmed as part of the Z06 programme,” they said.

“At GMSV, we’re concentrating on bringing the all-new C8 Corvette to Australia and New Zealand – the first time it’s been available direct from the factory as right-hand-drive.”

NZ Autocar contacted GMSV’s local spokesperson, and they confirmed that the statement also applied to the New Zealand market. 

“We haven’t advised it’s LHD only, we’ve stated that no RHD markets have been confirmed as part of a Z06 programme. But yes, the same statement is correct for both markets,” they said. 

Those among us who prefer to think of the glass as being half full will hold some hope to the fact that both statements don’t specifically rule out a right-hand drive Z06 being produced at some stage. 

But, we’ve seen several cases of this before, where an American brand will leave right-hand production on the table only to confirm later on that it’s not happening. The Ford Bronco is one such example. 

As previously reported, the overnight Z06 release from Chevrolet included little more than one new image of the Corvette Z06 camouflage free. Powertrain details and other mechanical changes unique to the model are yet to be confirmed. 

To read more on the Corvette Z06, click here.