Fact is, the Corvette’s demographic is aging and Chevy needs to do something in order to draw in the younger crowd.

Expected to go on sale early 2019, eighth-gen Corvette C8 (internally called “Emperor”) should be unveiled in early 2018. To make it more appealing to the younger demographic, Chevy plans to make the rumored mid-engined Corvette a reality. This has even been confirmed by a former GM employee; ““It’s happening. Mark Reuss wants it,” referring to the automaker’s global product development chief. “It’s the worst-kept secret in town.””

The Corvette’s mid-engine platform will give GM the flexibility it needs to produce performance variants like an all-wheel drive or the recently popular plug-in hybrid powertrains that has electric motors sending power to the front wheels. A mid-engine hybrid Corvette may be able to compete with other hybrid supercars like the Acura NSX and Porsche 918 if it’s priced right.

If they plan to aim for the younger crowd, Chevy will have to price the Corvette C8 right. They can’t slap on a $450,000 sticker price like the Ford GT but Chevy can’t price it too low either. There’s some wiggle room to price the C8 a bit above the base C7’s $55,445 MSRP but it can’t be increased too much.

Even if Chevy fails at making the C8 appealing to the younger market, they still have the faithful enthusiasts to fall back on and those guys have already started putting down deposits. One of the top three Corvette dealerships in the United States already has around two dozen people put down a $2,000 deposit for the C8.