Chevy Volts piling up at dealers?

[LTC8K6]

http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/25/volt-drains-power-from-economy-obamas-2012-campaign/

Still not selling?

Being used as a loss leader?

Inventory piling up?

I guess we won't know some concrete info until October sales figures come in.

An earlier article I read said that the Volt is being used by dealers to sell the Cruze.

 

[Doppel]

I've heard it's being used to sell Cruzes, too. I think it's basically bullsh*t. You don't gauge a $40-45k novel car like the Volt's success based on ability to sell an econobox to people.

Some of these "sitting on lots" are being used as nonsaleable demo cars. However, you can find HUNDREDS on autotrader and i think many are for sale.

GM says that they are selling all they can make, but it also has said they don't even have a second (let alone third) shift at the factory making them. Evidently it was able to increase efficiency such that it doesn't need another shift. Another way to look at that is: there isn't the demand to sell what another shift could make.

Earlier this year the CEO of GM said he'd hit 25,000 sales of it. Then that was changed to 10,000 this year. They're way behind on that, but some think they can still squeeze out 2k sales/month through EOY to pull it off. I'm not one of them.

Volt owners, the few of them, indicate overwhelming satisfaction with their cars. Objectively it's a small four seater that has some half decent electric range and half-decent mileage on gas. And is overpriced by $10,000, IMO.

 

[saratoga172]

The problem with the Volt is that it doesn't fit into a vast majority of Americans lives as far as sole usability. I personally would have to have a second vehicle if I had a Volt. The country is too spread out for the short range it has.

Now if they could do a couple things, they would sell very well I think.
Increase range to a minimum of 300 miles. (few people who need more are outliers)
Reduce price to <$30k with some options. <$25k for a base model. (similar to how the Prius was/is)
Some kind of quick/rapid charge system. Or hot-swapable batery packs. Pull into a battery station, pay a small fee, and get new battery. For the rapid charge system you could have charge stations setup with high powered hookups that charge a small fee for a charge...$10 or so maybe? Same for swapable battery stations. Charge maybe $15-20.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with current technology quick charging gives around 80-90&#37; battery charge. So do something like that. Would still give ~250-270 miles on a quick charge with my minimum above.

Not exactly sure how we could make all of this work, but if we converted 25-30% of the current gas stations in most major areas we would have tons of recharging stations. Around here I can drive 2 miles and pass at least 7-8 gas stations.

And biggest thing is cost. Needs to get at or around that $25k mark I think. The people that are really looking at this as something as a daily driver are considering saving money on gas as well. So all associated costs need to be cheaper than current gas costs.

 

[Fenixgoon]

The problem with the Volt is that it doesn't fit into a vast majority of Americans lives as far as sole usability. I personally would have to have a second vehicle if I had a Volt. The country is too spread out for the short range it has.

Now if they could do a couple things, they would sell very well I think.
Increase range to a minimum of 300 miles. (few people who need more are outliers)
Reduce price to <$30k with some options. <$25k for a base model. (similar to how the Prius was/is)
Some kind of quick/rapid charge system. Or hot-swapable batery packs. Pull into a battery station, pay a small fee, and get new battery. For the rapid charge system you could have charge stations setup with high powered hookups that charge a small fee for a charge...$10 or so maybe? Same for swapable battery stations. Charge maybe $15-20.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with current technology quick charging gives around 80-90% battery charge. So do something like that. Would still give ~250-270 miles on a quick charge with my minimum above.

Not exactly sure how we could make all of this work, but if we converted 25-30% of the current gas stations in most major areas we would have tons of recharging stations. Around here I can drive 2 miles and pass at least 7-8 gas stations.

And biggest thing is cost. Needs to get at or around that $25k mark I think. The people that are really looking at this as something as a daily driver are considering saving money on gas as well. So all associated costs need to be cheaper than current gas costs.

something like 80% of americans travel < 40miles round trip to work. the volt's electric range works perfectly for that.

need to go farther? you can run on gas and fill up, too. that's the beauty of a series hybrid.

once the cost comes down, i think there will be a lot more uptake.

 

[NutBucket]

It could also be because many dealers were tacking on ridiculous mark ups and such when they first hit the lots. Most people of course aren't willing to pay that so they didn't buy. I'm guessing that selling around MSRP - the $7500 rebate makes them a decent buy.

I've been seeing more of them here in LA. Actually, I see more Volts than I see CR-Zs

 

[boomhower]

I like it as is, it's just to expensive. 40 miles is right at my round trip to work, they just have to come down on the price significantly.

 

[wirednuts]

its simply still too costly for mainstream. sure, people love the mpg's, but if you have to pay twice as much for the car then whats the difference? might as well get something with lower monthly payments.

the only way these cars sell is if you give people the better technology for about the same price as the old. thats the way it always works with anything. when nvidia comes out with a new chip they dont jack up the price on their enthusiast cards by 200%.

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, the $7,500 is a non refundable tax credit. So it's really "up to" $7,500. I read somewhere that the threshold income is about $60K a year for the full tax credit.

I also read that many Volts on the lots do not have any tax credits because dealers have taken them by selling them to each other.

I just think people see the Volt, and the Cruze, and then can't see why they should pay so much more for the Volt.

IIRC, there was a Volt here at the local dealer with a price close to $50K on it.

Could get a Cruze and a spare Cruze...

 

[exar333]

Well, the $7,500 is a non refundable tax credit. So it's really "up to" $7,500. I read somewhere that the threshold income is about $60K a year for the full tax credit.

I also read that many Volts on the lots do not have any tax credits because dealers have taken them by selling them to each other.

I just think people see the Volt, and the Cruze, and then can't see why they should pay so much more for the Volt.

IIRC, there was a Volt here at the local dealer with a price close to $50K on it.

Could get a Cruze and a spare Cruze...

Haha! True!

 

[wirednuts]

thats what im saying. how many years will it take to burn 25k in gas?

 

[vi edit]

Saw this at the dealer the other day:

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1...mtU-g8Cnj3OUMLg4aDd8/111026_182006.jpg?psid=1

https://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1...AltFeEwiSUPEOBKpNJNQ/111026_182037.jpg?psid=1

Almost $44,000. Shady tax credit or not...I have absolutely no reason to spend that much on it. I'd much rather get a fully loaded Prius (or that Lexus hybrid hatch) for 2/3 of that price and pay for gas for the next 10 years with the difference.

I applaud GM's effort, but shake my head at the execution and delivery.

 

[SparkyJJO]

thats what im saying. how many years will it take to burn 25k in gas?

No no, you're totally looking at it wrong. The object is not how much money you save, but how much more you'll be saving the planet!

... or, something like that :|

 

[alphatarget1]

GM needs to have a firesale for the Volt like the HP Touchpad. I'd buy one for 20k

 

[NAC]

The price is too high because the battery costs too much. I believe there is no way for GM to substantially lower the price without taking a big loss just to build each car. They already are taking a big loss if you factor in research & development, which GM will utilize for other cars in the future anyway.

GM gets great publicity from the car, taking away the environmental torch from being Toyota only. I'm sure they'd love to sell a lot more of them, but you can't judge the impact and worth of the car to GM simply by a sales target of 25k, or 10k, or whatever.

 

[thomsbrain]

The problem for me is that I ran the numbers of the cost of ownership and it is no different than the Prius or Insight, and at significantly higher hassle and initial financial outlay. Until it is cheaper to own than other options, I just can't buy one.

 

[mmntech]

Stuff some batteries into a Cruze and charge twice the price. On top of that, it's primary competitor is roughly $10k cheaper, offering better efficiency and similar functionality. No wonder people aren't buying it.

 

[railer]

I don't know....GM claims to be selling all they can make.

It seems the right wing nuts like to politicize "Government Motors" and tie Volt sales to Obama, for some reason. Heck, I remember the Pontiac G8 got awesome reviews, but didn't sell worth a damn, and I don't remember any kind of media scrutiny being directed towards it's lack of sales.

Having said that...the Volt seems like a nice car...but it is pretty expensive.

 

[thedarkwolf]

The problem with the Volt is that it doesn't fit into a vast majority of Americans lives as far as sole usability. I personally would have to have a second vehicle if I had a Volt. The country is too spread out for the short range it has.

You do know the car also has a gas engine right? Maybe the probably with the volt is people have no clue what it is.

 

[ShawnD1]

Having said that...the Volt seems like a nice car...but it is pretty expensive.

Price is really the only thing wrong with the car. It's a wonderful car, but the price makes it more of a trophy to show off. It's like a Ferrari - you don't look at it and say "this car has good value."
Interestingly enough, Ferrari and the Chevy Volt are roughly in the same ballpark for sales. About 10k per year, give or take.

 

[Doppel]

The problem for me is that I ran the numbers of the cost of ownership and it is no different than the Prius or Insight, and at significantly higher hassle and initial financial outlay. Until it is cheaper to own than other options, I just can't buy one.

It's actually MUCH different. I can identify scenarios far easier in which a Prius breaks-even. I cannot for the Volt, possibly no matter how inventive I get with access to a charge port or strange behavior of the driver.

 

[LTC8K6]

You do know the car also has a gas engine right? Maybe the probably with the volt is people have no clue what it is.

IIRC, the Leaf is still outselling the Volt, and with the Leaf, if you run out of battery, that's it.

Maybe the Volt should have looked like the Ampera instead? That would have made it stand out a bit more.

 

[ShawnD1]

It's actually MUCH different. I can identify scenarios far easier in which a Prius breaks-even. I cannot for the Volt, possibly no matter how inventive I get with access to a charge port or strange behavior of the driver.

The numbers for the Prius make sense because it's based on lots of driving. If you drive a hell of a lot, the Prius breaks even sooner. This doesn't work with the Volt because you can't drive it as much. Most of the savings are from the plug-in charging mode, but using that mode only lets you go maybe 40 miles or so.

Another problem is that the Volt is not as powerful as other cars in its price range. Usually people blow 40k on something with a lot of pep. That means an SUV with a V8 or a car with a V6. This thing is only as powerful as a 4 cylinder Camry, it's about the same size as a Camry, but it's almost twice as expensive. It's baffling why anyone expected it to sell a lot of units.

 

[skyking]

The 40 miles would get my wife to work and back. I think we'd consider it if I had a good job, but this economy is not the time to buy any new rides, and certainly not 40K rides.

 

[ShawnD1]

The 40 miles would get my wife to work and back. I think we'd consider it if I had a good job, but this economy is not the time to buy any new rides, and certainly not 40K rides.

Don't BS. If you had 40k, you'd get a car with 400HP and tear up the streets

 

[skyking]

I have a truck for that, with that, and I get 23 MPG on the highway