GM to pause production of Chevy Volt ... just when they were starting to work out a few of its bugs ...
Posted on 04/09/2015 4:19:03 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
General Motors will stop making the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks in June and July due to slow sales and to deal with the change to an all-new version of the gas-electric hybrid car.
The company says the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that makes the Volt and four other cars will probably stay open through the summer despite plans for the Volt. The factory also is undergoing construction so it can build a new full-size Cadillac CT6 and the 2016 Volt starting late in the summer.
Sales of electric and hybrid cars have slowed this year, largely due to low gasoline prices. The national average for a gallon of regular gas was about $2.40 US on Thursday, 35 per cent lower than last year's peak of $3.70.
The cheap gas has really hurt Volt sales and caused inventory to build on dealer lots. Through March, GM sold only 1,874 Volts, down 48 per cent from a year ago. The company now has enough Volts to supply dealers for 210 days, according to Ward's Automotive. A 60-day supply is optimal.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
GM to pause production of Chevy Volt ... just when they were starting to work out a few of its bugs ...
See my post in #40 why this is baloney.
Improvements come from every car manufacturer, yet every car manufacturer is not experiencing a 50% drop in sales.
Sounds like you have a vested emotional attachment to electric cars.
25% increase in electric range, 25% increase in seating capacity, 10% increase in fuel economy, and an expected few thousand dollar price cut to boot. Care to give an example of another car that has offered a comparable level of improvement, while at the same time reducing the price, while at the same time not experiencing a drastic drop in sales?
Or do you just want to make personal attacks?
It’s generic food. That might be OK in Soviet Republics, but it’s sorry “American” who settles for it.
What personal attacks? Every post of yours is you defending a car which becomes more expensive to own as the price of oil, and therefore gasoline, falls.
They can add all of the features they want to, but if gas drops significantly, they are meaningless gestures as the entire point of this car is to drive more cheaply than using gasoline.
The car is a joke, and a bad one at that, foisted on the American taxpayers. Tesla is a car I can respect because they did it on their own and actually created a successful car which is stylish and powerful. The Volt cannot make any of these claims.
You mean the "Peoples' Car"
Lol.
Anything to promote the obamacar.
You can get a new Volt right now for about $20,000 after rebates. Compare that to a similarly sized Chevy Cruze for $17,000 and take into account that electricity still costs about half as much as gasoline, and the Volt becomes a smart choice.
Unfortunately there is so much FUD that has been spewed about the Volt that most people don't realize this.
Many people at this point in the argument jump from attacking the economics to attacking the subsidies. I'm happy to discuss the subsidies with you, but the economics of buying a Volt look pretty good right now.
Obviously, FEDGOV will need to add a bunch of Volts to their fleet. (Like they did with Chrysler products after the bailout in the 80s)
What happen once all of the subsidies go away? Obama is not going to be in office forever. This is a car which survives solely based upon subsidies to its manufacturer and also subsides to those who purchase the car. DOUBLE SUBISIDIES. What other manufacturer gets that? And STILL they cannot sell the car!
THE CALIFORNIA DIRTY VOLT BLUES
Governor says I can’t wash my car
Needs that water for some Hollywood star
Can barely see out my windows to drive
And drinking washer fluid won’t keep you alive
I got them California Dirty Volt Blues
Got no water but great ocean views
My electric car don’t hardly use no gas
But without water, we’re all shot in the ass
Just drove from central Florida to Augusta, Ga. (Masters Golf) and back. Saw one Volt going North, and another one going south today.
Not very many on the road I’m afraid.
The chebby dolt is already a joke, the loss of taxpayer backing would only make it more obvious.
And even worse for the dolt, it is a poorly designed hybrid marketed as an ev to idiots whose money would be better spent buying a hybrid that is actually good at being a hybrid.
Like a Prius.
Motor Trend is in a category by itself.
George W. Bush is the one who initially signed the $7,500 federal EV tax credit into law after giving his “America is addicted to oil” speech. But I'm sure you already knew that, right? The tax credit automatically phases out once each manufacturer sells 200,000 EVs. Expect that to happen in five or six years.
“This is a car which survives solely based upon subsidies to its manufacturer and also subsides to those who purchase the car.”
Battery prices have been falling rapidly. Initially costing around $1000/kWh, they are now at $300/kWh and continuing to fall. Once the tax credits phase out, expect prices to drop again to compensate. This article discusses the 14% per year average drop in battery prices over the last seven years:
Sticker Shock: An Electric Car Could Soon Be as Cheap as Your Gas Guzzler
“DOUBLE SUBISIDIES. What other manufacturer gets that?”
Most of them. People don't realize it but even Ford still owes the government money. And Tesla got a $465 million loan... and paid it back. Even the number one automaker in the world, Toyota, got bailed out a few times by Japan.
Look, I don't like how the bailout with GM went down either. The unions, in my opinion, were the ones that caused the downfall of the company and yet they got bailed out.
But to take a naive view of the auto industry as if all of them have not gotten government help at one time or another is silly.
Remember those days back when car manufacturers would drop an auto line if it didn’t make 80,00-100,000 unit sales per year?
“not economical to produce”
I guess GM’s accounting standards have slipped quite a bit; that, or the FedGov environmental kickbacks are insanely good.
Related...
The state of Georgia has just removed any subsidies and tax rebates on the purchase of electric vehicles and initiated a $300/year highway usage fee on them.
Below is the promo photo on the Marriott website. This guy looks WAY too happy to be crammed inside a tiny electric car.
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