I had a friend who went to the Chevrolet dealer and tried to explain to the sales man that no Chevy is worth $120,000 when he saw the sticker on the ZR1. I really believe they're trying to make the car more exotic and super car like to justify the enormous price.
GM faces an uphill battle when their vehicles start getting $80K plus.
The perception of GM makes some of the pricing tough to take based on the brand’s heritage.
The CTS-V had topped the M5’s performance, yet it was short lived and didn’t meet sales expectations . At a certain price point, the prestige of a vehicle is a major factor aside from outright performance . A $100K+ C8 is a big leap from new C7 coupes which can be had nicely equipped for $65k.
To make matters worse, the typical $100K vehicle shopper has certain dealership expectations that few GM stores are able to provide. This will work against a supercar Corvette as a viable option to a $100k Porsche, AMG, M series, etc...
If the cost of entry for the C8 is 100K, GM will end up ruining their niche. They have to have plans for a separate front engined “C7.5” that they will introduce in addition to the mid engined version. Too much volume would be lost due to exclusionary pricing. They have a proven formula and gobs of R&D in front engined / pushrod V8 platforms.