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The sad saga of the latest Edsel continues. Boldfacing and editorial comments added by poster.
GM to Idle Chevy Volt Output as Sales Slow
By SHARON TERLEP
General Motors Co. will idle production of its Chevrolet Volt battery-powered car for five weeks beginning this month because of slow sales amid an effort to boost the vehicle's consumer appeal, the company said Friday.
Launched last year with great fanfare, the Volt has had a rocky start as sales stalled, and the car became a lightning rod for critics of the Obama administration's auto-industry bailout and support for alternative energy.
General Motors will idle production of its Chevrolet Volt battery-powered car for five weeks beginning this month because of slow sales. Sharon Terlep has details on The News Hub from Detroit. Photo: AP
GM said around 1,300 workers at the Hamtramck, Mich., factory where the Volt is built will be out of work between March 19 and April 23, a spokesman said. The plant had just resumed production on Feb. 6
Mark Reuss, GM's North American chief, said in an interview the auto maker remains committed to the Volt and is taking a number of steps to improve lagging sales. GM will launch a new national ad campaign this month that features Volt owners praising the car. It also recently dropped the monthly cost of leasing the vehicles to $350 from $399 for a 36-month lease. In California, new low-emissions versions of the vehicles that qualify for use in the state's high-occupancy vehicle lanes will be sold to consumers at no extra cost.
"This technology is here to stay, we have all kinds of people who want to copy it and go after it. We are not re-evaluating anything," Mr. Reuss said. "The only question here is what the rate of sales will be." (Jesus H. Christ. This is an auto executive. Doesn't the fool realize that sales are the only thing that really counts?!)
Volt uses a lithium-ion battery to power the car and has a small gasoline engine that kicks in when the battery runs low.
Former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz the main force behind the Volt, said recently that GM's lofty targets for the Volt are its main problem.
"The Volt is a bases-loaded home run," Mr. Lutz said. "It will overcome."
"We shall overcome!
We can't sell our schitty car,
But we shall overcome!"
But short supplies at U.S. dealerships (because the dealers won't buy them either) and some missteps in rolling the vehicles out to U.S. dealers weighed on sales last year. The vehicle's relatively high price tag—$41,000 before a $7,500 government rebate—also kept many consumers away. (Ya think?)
A U.S. safety investigation into whether the car's battery posed a fire risk after a serious accident added negative publicity. One vehicle caught fire and battery packs in three others sparked or caught fire after severe crash tests by a U.S. regulatory agency. GM said it would modify and strengthen the vehicles, and federal officials cleared the Volt of any safety risk. (obvious racism at play.)
At the same time, GM has boosted the appeal of its gasoline-engine compact cars. Its 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, for instance, gets up to 42 miles on a gallon of gasoline in some versions, yet costs about half the price of a Volt.
Jack Domaldson of Davis, Calif., said he and his wife considered buying a Volt but found it impractical and bought a Toyota Prius instead. Why did the Volt lack appeal? "Short range, expensive, no infrastructure support, and the element of uncertainty with performance," he said.
Word of the production halt comes only days after President Barack Obama praised the car in a recent campaign speech in Washington, D.C., saying he planned to buy one "in five years when I'm out of office." (Let's all hope he's buying one a lot sooner than he thinks.)
GM on Thursday said it sold 1,023 Volts in February, up from 676 in January. It outsold Nissan Motor Co.'s all-electric Leaf, which had sales of 478 in February. But the Volt had a large backlog of unsold vehicles while the Leaf is in short supply.
GM's move signals, "consumer demand is just not that strong for these vehicles," said Lacey Plache, chief economist for auto-research firm Edmunds.com. "The price premium on the Volt just doesn't make economic sense for the average consumer when there are so many fuel-efficient gasoline-powered cars available, typically for thousands of dollars less."
The Volt also has garnered strong backing from environmentalists, (the kiss of death) including many of the critics who slammed GM for killing a previous effort to test an electric car called the EV1.
The auto maker has scaled back expectations for the Volt after it fell short of its target for 2011. GM sold about 7,700 Volts last year, below its target of 10,000 vehicles.
After the battery-safety probe cut customer visits to dealers and slowed sales, GM Vice Chairman Stephen Girsky cautioned the company will know by June whether the Volt "has legs" in the market.
GM's Mr. Reuss said the reduced lease price will make the vehicle more affordable. (In other words, "get these schitboxes out of here!") Demand also will increase once the newly modified version of the vehicles are on the road, he said. A planned new national advertising campaign and rising gas prices also should bring in more consumers, he said.
"There are some really good things happening and we are going to keep that momentum," Mr. Reuss said.
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