One of the remaining unknowns for the 2020 Chevy Corvette before its unveiling last week was its cost. Corvette fans braced for the worst; would it cost more than $100,000? More than $80,000? Could a high price kill the car within a few years?

But then Chevrolet announced the 2020 Corvette would start below $60,000, and many automotive pundits opined that the Corvette team had pulled a rabbit out of a hat. With its high-tech aluminum construction, improved power, and the promise of improved performance thanks to the mid-engine design, bumping the price over the current car by a mere $5,000 or so sounded like a gift to Corvette fans.

How did Chevrolet do it?

2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

At the reveal of the 2020 Corvette last week, both General Motors president Mark Reuss and Corvette Chief Engineer and Vehicle Line Manager Tadge Juechter told us how.

Ruess pointed to GM's new Global B electrical platform.

Tadge touched on some of these strategies that you’ll see introduced across our lineup. Global B is one of them. Global B, don’t underestimate what that’s going to do capability-wise for all our cars and we’re doing it in volume, so that’s how you do it,” Reuss said.

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

General Motors next-generation electrical platform

Global B will provide the wiring, computers and structure for active safety systems, infotainment systems, and even electric cars. It can install updates over the air and provide improved cybersecurity for GM vehicles.

Reuss also noted the Corvette will spread its cost over an expanded future lineup.

“A lot of what you see here leads to a portfolio of things that happens, just like there’s a portfolio of Corvettes today. We’ll have a portfolio like that for Corvette as we expand,” he said.

Juechter noted that today’s car is a value given its technology.

2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

“How’d you get today’s car to $55,000? It’s aluminum, it’s composite, it’s got carbon fiber in it,” he said.

The chief engineer noted economies of scale for the next-generation car.

“It’s what we do. We engineer performance value and we leverage General Motors’ economy of scale wherever we can to try to give you all the content but not pay for a bunch of extras. So, we have an advantage for being part of a very big company,” he explained.

Just how much under $60,000 the new Corvette will cost hasn’t been announced, but don’t expect it to be much. When asked, Juechter said with tongue in cheek: “Well, you know us.”

We expect a price around $59,995, which will be more like $61,000 with the mandatory destination charge. Still, that’s a lot better than $80,000 or $100,000.

Color us impressed.