GM Struggling to Meet Chevy Volt Goal

National Legal & Policy Center ^ | November 2, 2011 | Mark Modica

[jazusamo]

General Motors has staked much of its credibility on the Chevy Volt. GM has a goal of selling 10,000 of the vehicles in 2011 and is only about half way there with two months remaining. Ad spending seems to have ramped up faster than sales though with much of GM's marketing dollars going towards Volt commercials while only 1,108 of the vehicles sold in October. I can't remember ever seeing as many TV ads for a vehicle that has sold in such low numbers. Despite the low proportionate sales to hype ratio for the Volt, sites like Mother Nature Network are proclaiming success for the Volt with the headline reading "October was a great month for Chevy Volt Sales."

So just how great a month was it for the Volt and for the taxpayers who continue to be bilked out of billions of dollars for the misguided greening of America? Well, compared to the Nissan Leaf tax subsidized vehicle, Volt sales don't look too bad. Only 849 Leafs sold in October. The two most hyped green vehicles of the year, which were built at the expense of billions of taxpayer dollars, could not even break 2,000 combined sales. It is hard to validate the benefits to society or polar bears at such low levels of sales, particularly given the fact that the Volt has limited range in electric mode. The bar had been set so low for Volt sales in the first portion of the year that green ideologues are now boasting about sub-mediocre Volt sales.

Up to this point, GM has blamed supply constraints for low Chevy Volt sales. This defense loses credibility when you take into consideration the fact that GM recently canceled plans for a second shift to produce Volts. The Toyota Pius, which had supply hampered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, managed to outsell the Volt by a margin of 10 to 1. Curiously, the numbers looked somewhat similar, with the exception of a missing 0 from the Volt numbers. Prius sold 11,008 compared to the Volts 1,108. Sales for the year stand at 104,251 for the Prius and 5,003 for the Volt. And the Prius does not benefit from a $7,500 tax credit for buyers like the Volt does.

The actual supply of Volts is also a source for debate. GM claims a 72 day supply of inventory for the Volt. Cars.com shows 3,537 Volts available for sale. VIN numbers are listed for these vehicles. Either GM is not telling the truth about Volt supply, or Chevy dealerships are (perhaps illegally) advertising vehicles that are not truly for sale. The most likely scenario, in my opinion, is that GM is not counting any vehicles that have been used as demos as inventory, even though these vehicles are now available for sale. If the cars.com number is a more accurate number for inventory, the Volt would have over a three month supply available. Compare this to the 11,677, or one month supply, of Toyota Prius vehicles listed on cars.com and the low supply defense for poor Volt sales further erodes.

There is another missing set of data for Volt sales that is the most important. Just who is buying the vehicles? Many articles point to localities buying vehicles, at heavy discounts , for police and other fleet use. Crony corporation, GE, has stated that they will buy 25,000 of the vehicles. Our federal government continues to help GM out through fleet purchases and funding through government owned Ally Financial. If GM manages to somehow manufacture enough demand for the Volt in the last two months of the year to sell 10,000 vehicles by year end, the sales will most likely not have come from individual consumers. That won't matter to GM though; regarding the perceived success of the Chevy Volt, while it might not be nice to fool Mother Nature Network, GM will certainly continue to try.

Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.

[Gen.Blather]

“…why not stop all ads, just put a $10k coupon for the Volt on the Checy website...the news would spread virally....”

After tax a 40,000 car costs 43,000. With the $7,500 socialistic incentive the cost after tax is: $34,937. Take an additional $10,000 off that at you’re down to $24,178. That’s close to the $25,000 list price of a VW Golf TDI. The Golf is comfortable and accelerates like a banshee and gets 40mpg+. It will never need a $2500 battery replacement.

There are many nicer fuel efficient cars in the $25,000 range. So, not even a socialistic taxpayer funded $17,500 off the base price will make the Volt attractive. Besides, the Volt is on target to be the 2011 Edsel.

[jazusamo]

That’s an excellent comparison.

One more thing you can add to your last paragraph. President Eisenhower didn’t make any pledges to FoMoCo to buy Edsel’s for government use.

[Reagan80]

hahaha...no doubt.

Especially since Robert McNamara (FordMoCo’s Eisenhower-era CEO); was Kennedy and Johnson’s Def. Sec.

No help coming there...

[cableguymn]

There are tons of used volts rusting on dealer lots to. Dealers where titling them for the credit and selling them to each other. Many used ones with less that 100 miles on them out there.

[Hoodat]

The mis-information they have been putting out on inventory and sales borders on criminal, if they are traded.

Yes, it it publicly traded. And yes, it is criminal (except when a Democrat does it).

Right now, GM is facing a class action lawsuit regarding the crappy suspension in their 2007-2008 Impalas. The new GM says they are not liable for claims against the old GM. Except that we have the President of the United States declaring that GM warranties are now even better because they are backed by the US government. And he did this to manipulate the stock price upward right before the government unloaded a ton of shares.

If anyone in the private sector had done this (like Jeffrey Skilling at Enron for example), they would be facing time in prison. Oh wait . . .

[Hoodat]

The money that was flushed down the Solyndra toilet would have bought 13,000 Volts.

[shoff]

I am so surprised that the government failed at this too they have such a history of success. I mean the last time they got involved in the auto industry brought us the popular Henry J.
“The 1951 Henry J was introduced in February 1950 at a Chicago Auto show. It was refered to as the “Red Car”, but was not officially on sale till Sept 28, 1950. The 1951 Henry J is often described as “Spartan.” This is an accurate description - especially true of the earliest Henry Js.
The Henry J was manufactured using funding from a government loan granted by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Part of the agreement was that the car would sell for $1300. To achieve this, features such as trunk lids and glove compartments were not included. Passenger side sun visors and dual horns were not included on the 4 cylinder models in order to meet the price of $1299 FOB.”

http://home.comcast.net/~ljfid/hjmodels.htm
click link to see more. (Not my blog)

[WOBBLY BOB]

but our tax dollars gave us these wonderful Volt Dancers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwTMZNWGuk

[ken5050]

Thanks....BTW..whatever happened to Obamagirl?

[WOBBLY BOB]

I think she’s servicing homeless men in tents at OWS events.

[TheOldLady]

Click the Pic             Thank you, JoeProBono

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[gymbeau]

I drove a Volt last week at the Canadian Car of the Year TestFest. Not impressed. Lots of flash inside (whiz bang displays, etc.) but I’d rather drive many other hybrids - and I’m not a fan of most hybrids.

And it could only manage a third place finish in its category, I was pleased (and surprised) to see. it was beaten out by KIA, IIRC, and justifiably so.

Cheers,
Jim

[jazusamo]

Thanks for your post. I’ve suspected they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

I read articles on various websites that are supposed to be written by buyers and most of them sound like press releases from Chevy/GM.

[Paladin2]

Unless they are quite small, Al heads on a cast Iron block are a recipe for disaster at higher mileages. Cast Iron on Al? What WERE they thinking?

[nascarnation]

http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:GM

[nascarnation]

http://obamagirl.com/