America has proven time and time again that it makes fantastic sports cars. In fact, one of America's most well-known sports cars is often used as a benchmark for how good a sports car should be! The latest generation of this particular sports car is genuinely the best American sports car out there on the market. But, it seems like the world doesn't exactly want it. Why is that? Well, there are several reasons... The Chevrolet Corvette Is America's Best Sports Car - But It Barely Sells Outside Of The US Bring a TrailerIt may have been a bit controversial with enthusiasts when it first launched. But, the C8-generation Chevrolet Corvette quickly proved itself to be the best American sports car around. The switch to a mid-engined layout and dropping the manual transmission entirely was the source of all that enthusiast outcry. But it made the C8 Corvette a fully modern sports car with brilliant driving dynamics. It could finally hold its own properly against its rivals from Europe. The Z06 model has supercar-like performance for a relatively bargain price, while the ZR1and ZR1X versions are on the verge of being able to challenge million-dollar hypercars!As fantastic as it is, the C8 Corvette has a big problem. It's available globally, but its global sales have been poor. While sales are into the thousands or even tens of thousands per year in the US, they're almost laughably small elsewhere. The numbers that sold in Europe and Japan last year are only in the hundreds in total. Cars sold in Australian and New Zealand last year dipped below the 100 mark. In Israel, the number of C8 Corvettes sold only totaled three. So, why isn't it selling? This question has left a lot of Americans puzzled, and it's easy to understand why. But, there are some good, concrete answers as to why the C8 Corvette just isn't grabbing the market share that it should be. The Corvette Isn't As Much Of A Performance Bargain Outside Of North America ChevroletIn North America, the C8 Corvette is an absolute bargain for the performance it gives you. That's not so much the case in Europe. If you want to buy a base-model Stingray version in the United Kingdom, you can expect to pay between £90,000-£100,000. That's between around $120,000-$133,000! Compare that to the base MSRP of $70,000 for the Stingray in the USA, and it starts to make the Corvette feel like a rip-off. There Are More Affordable Sporty Options Than The Corvette Outside Of North America PorscheBecause of how much more expensive the Corvette is outside of North America, there are other brand-new performance options that start to become much more appealing. If you live on the European side of the Atlantic and want a mid-engined sports car, the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 is a cheaper option. Its MSRP in the UK is around £75,300 (around $100,362), it isn't massively slower (0-60 mph in as low as 3.9 seconds), and (perhaps most crucially for driving purists) it's available with an old-school 6-speed manual transmission.This isn't just limited to new cars, either. You could very easily get a nearly-new Porsche 911 Carrera or Carrera S for the same kind of money or less in Europe than what a brand-new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray would cost you. There's also the absolute used bargain that the Mercedes-AMG GT can be at times, as well as used examples of cars like the Aston Martin Vantage. Add all that up, and the case for the Corvette on a price basis really falls apart for non-American buyers. There's A Lack Of Support For The Corvette Outside Of North America General MotorsWhen people who live outside of North America have bought Corvettes, they've often ended up running into a few particular problems. These issues aren't exclusive to the Corvette. In fact, they're often the same issues faced by anyone buying and importing a USDM car to their home country. But, considering the Corvette is officially sold globally (including in right-hand-drive versions in countries like the UK, Australia, and Japan), these problems really shouldn't be affecting it! All these issues center around the Corvette having a lack of support outside its traditional home market. Other sources also show users asking the exact same question, which highlights many of those concerns. Chevrolet Has Barely Any Dealers Outside Of North America ChevroletOne of the biggest reasons why there's a lack of support for the Corvette outside of North America is that, once you go over to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (or, in some cases, the other side of the Pacific Ocean), there are barely any Chevrolet dealers. In North America, you might see between 14-15 Chevrolet dealers just within the area of one major city. Go over to Europe, and there might be fewer than 15 Chevrolet dealers in the entire country. That's an almost terrifying lack of dealer support, and a lot of potential customers might be really put off by that. There Aren't Many Mechanics Outside Of North America That Are Willing To Work On Corvettes ChevroletThe lack of dealers (and, therefore, dealer support) for the Chevrolet Corvette has a knock-on effect that spreads out into how to keep these cars maintained. Many mechanics outside of North America just won't want to try to maintain them. Many independent auto mechanics can be quite conservative regarding the cars they're happy to work on, and the C8 Corvette is a car that'll be almost completely unfamiliar to those outside of America. That's not even going into the issues that could be caused if you ask them to work on one of the hybrid E-Ray or ZR1X models! The Spare Parts Market For Older Corvettes Is Controlled By A Small Number Of Importers MecumIt's not just owners of new Corvettes who have to deal with all these issues that come with a lack of support outside of North America. If you've got an older Corvette, you're going to have all these problems and more. As one commenter on the previously linked Reddit thread states, the supply of parts for older Corvettes is often controlled by a small handful of importers. Because they have basically no competition (combined with older buyers not being as internet literate and not knowing that they can shop for better deals elsewhere), these importers often severely mark up the cost of the parts they're importing. That could make maintaining an older Corvette much more expensive than it should be. The Corvette Is Seen As Less Prestigious Than Its European Rivals Aston MartinPerhaps one of the biggest barriers to the C8 Chevrolet Corvette not getting a decent market share outside of America is that it's just seen as being less prestigious than its European rivals. They say that perception is reality, and with the Corvette that seems to have rung true. American cars are typically viewed as being lower class in many other countries. This includes Europe, a traditionally badge-snobby region of the car market. Compared to a Porsche 911, a Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman, a Mercedes-AMG GT, or an Aston Martin Vantage, the C8 Chevrolet Corvette looks like it's turned up to a posh party wearing a T-shirt and jeans. It just doesn't have that same level of class. And sadly, that's where an all-American sports car like the Corvette will always lose out.Sources: Chevrolet, GM Authority, Porsche, Reddit (r/Corvette)