Volt Unplugged?

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DETROIT -- Some Chevrolet dealers are turning down Volts that General Motors wants to ship to them, a potential stumbling block as GM looks to accelerate sales of the plug-in hybrid.

For example, consider the New York City market. Last month, GM allocated 104 Volts to 14 dealerships in the area, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Dealers took just 31 of them, the lowest take rate for any Chevy model in that market last month. That group of dealers ordered more than 90 percent of the other vehicles they were eligible to take, the source said.

In Clovis, Calif., meanwhile, Brett Hedrick, dealer principal at Hedrick's Chevrolet, sold 10 Volts last year. But in December and January he turned down all six Volts allocated to him under GM's "turn-and-earn" system, which distributes vehicles based on past sales volumes and inventory levels.

GM's "thinking we need six more Volts is just crazy," Hedrick says. "We've never sold more than two in a month." Hedrick says he usually takes just about every vehicle that GM allocates to him.

GM spokesman Rob Peterson confirmed that "dealer ordering is down" for the Volt. He said many dealers have been waiting for resolution of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's investigation into the risk of fires in the car's battery pack. Last year three packs caught fire in the days or weeks following government test crashes.

This month GM announced a voluntary repair aimed at protecting the battery pack. And last week NHTSA said it has closed its investigation, concluding that the battery pack poses no significant fire risk.

"There's a lot of misinformation that has swirled over the past month," Peterson said. "Dealers are kind of waiting for things to settle down."

Hedrick and other dealers say that their GM zone reps aren't pressuring them to take more Volts. "They haven't jammed us," he says. "I think they'll just give them to somebody else."

Industry insiders are closely watching sales of the Volt and Nissan Leaf as barometers of market demand for electric vehicles. Several other automakers are set to launch EVs this year.

At the Detroit auto show this month, GM executives said they wouldn't chase a previous Volt production target set for 2012 -- 60,000 units, three-quarters of which would be for U.S. sales -- and vowed simply to build as many as customers want.

GM sold 7,671 Volts in the United States in 2011, short of its 10,000-unit target. It launched the car in seven key markets starting in late 2010, but didn't begin a national rollout until this past autumn.

"We haven't satisfied demand," GM North America President Mark Reuss said on the sidelines of the Detroit show. He said GM will be able to gauge Volt demand by sometime in the second quarter.

Many dealers say they no longer have customers waiting in the wings

One East Coast Chevy dealer said he agreed to take all five of the Volts that GM allocated to him this month, even though he has seen a "huge dropoff" in customer interest.

"I probably should have taken only one," he said. "Sometimes as a dealer you choose to do things that are good for the company. I believe in the car."

The sales staff at Ourisman Rockmont Chevrolet near Washington, D.C., sold 19 Volts last year. General Manager Dug Dugger says "there are more buyers out there."

He's about to find out. Last week he had 18 Volts en route to his dealership.

Dugger says: "I'm not about to run scared until I have a feel for what the appetite is."


http://www.autonews.com/article/2012...#ixzz1kIld19cJ
 
"Many dealers say they no longer have customers waiting in the wings"

Given that the Volt was SUPPOSED to get around "200 mpg" (and ended up actually getting, what, 30+ or so actually declared on its window sticker?) probably has a LOT to do with it.
 
......A toyota for $23,000 loaded gets 42 miles to the gallon........GTJOEY1314

My eldest daughter's Civic cost her $17K or so, seats 4 or 5 "depending", and gets 40 mpg (hiway of course)! That $6K price 'gap' will take the Toyota owner a looooooooong time to make up at 'the pump' given the supposed 2 mpg 'mileage difference! :rofl

:cheers :thumbsup
 
 


'Couldn't agree more, Sam. They really messed up the new car. My daughter is soooooooooo glad she bought the one she did!
 
Chebby Cruze, 40+MPG, you can fix it with a hammer and costs much less than the Volt.
 
Just for discussion, what is the underlying problem with the Volt other than price? Does it not have sufficient electric range to do any better effectively than a non-plug in hybrid in the real world? It never was a true electric but a plug in hybrid. Just wondering what the issues are with the design.
 
Just for discussion, what is the underlying problem with the Volt other than price? Does it not have sufficient electric range to do any better effectively than a non-plug in hybrid in the real world? It never was a true electric but a plug in hybrid. Just wondering what the issues are with the design.

I think you may have answered your own question ~ GM marketed/positioned the Volt as an 'Electric Car'. It isn't, it is BE Hybrid.

There are competitors in that powertrain segment that actually can deliver what they promise in mpg/equivalent. Importantly, the public is beginning to understand key differences in the alternatives, and perhaps a bit more pragmatic in evaluating alternatives; e.g. vehicle range, battery cost, life of vehicle cost, et.al. That said, there are some places where these vehicles are excellent choices.
 
It is worth buying in California in 2013 purely from a Carpool access advantage. The massive Tax Payer rebates are not bad either. Lease would be the way to go with the Volt IMO
 
Does it not have sufficient electric range to do any better effectively than a non-plug in hybrid in the real world?

A Volt owner might - might...depending on terrain - see 40 miles on battery power before the car's aux. engine kicks in (assuming the battery had a full charge when the garage door went up). So, since various studies have shown most people supposedly travel less than 40 miles daily, it might actually be possible for some Volt owners to avoid gas stations completely...so to speak. Buuuuut, my guess is those people would have to live in areas that are very flat geographically...OR they would have to be people who only drive, say, 10-20 miles a day 'max'.

Just considering the above factors alone and disregarding other costs of electric hybrid ownership, logic would dictate that a person would be faaaaaaaaaar better off dollar-wise to just buy a std econobox and pocket the dollar difference! (And that would pretty much apply regarding any electric hybrid for that matter.) One can buy a lotta $5-per-gallon gas with that "cash difference"...aaaaaand probably pay for maint., license tabs, insurance, and depreciation to boot! :biggrin
 
Of course, if saving money on gas is one's biggest concern, there's always the Peel 50. There are a few drawbacks to owning one though...not the least of which being the fact one's knees "are the crumple zone." But, hey, one can't have everything.:facepalm:

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/01/worlds-smallest-car-peel-to-be-revived-video.html
 
Of course, if saving money on gas is one's biggest concern, there's always the Peel 50. There are a few drawbacks to owning one though...not the least of which being the fact one's knees "are the crumple zone." But, hey, one can't have everything.:facepalm:

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/01/worlds-smallest-car-peel-to-be-revived-video.html

Forget the carpool lanes, and go for the ELEVATORS :biggrin

[video=youtube;dJfSS0ZXYdo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo[/video]
 
'Beatcha to it, Richard! :lol
 
Hybrids are a fashion statement. The cars that have the hybrid drive train (like the Honda) but look like the regular model do not do well. The Prius shows everyone how much you care and how superior you are. Combine that with the fact that most of these cars are sold in California where they are not big American car fans, and the prospects are not good for the volt.
 
Hybrids are a fashion statement. The cars that have the hybrid drive train (like the Honda) but look like the regular model do not do well. The Prius shows everyone how much you care and how superior you are. Combine that with the fact that most of these cars are sold in California where they are not big American car fans, and the prospects are not good for the volt.

On the trip to Bony's service (wow - nearly three years ago), Team Jeff & I took admittedly perverse pleasure :devil every time we blew by a holier-than-thou California Prius driver, knowing that the Ford GT is probably a LOT greener than the Prius over the complete life cycle of each vehicle, and knowing that we were having a hell of a lot more fun than they were in the process!

Here's to Bony :cheers