General Motors Forced To Halt Production For Chevy Volt Again
General Motors has sold a lot more of their troubled electric cars this year than last year, though it’s worth pointing out that the government has piled on more incentives to buy the car as well. Those buying it now get up to a $7,500 bribe tax credit from the federal government for purchasing one, and the nation’s most populous state California has added another $1,500 credit on top of that plus permission for Volt owners to use the state’s carpool lanes.
Still, though, 10,666 units moved is a tiny number compared to other more popular models such as the Chevy Cruze which sold 202,000 units in 2011. And now GM is being forced to shut down production for the second time since the inception of this model due to supply far outstripping demand:
GM will close its Detroit-Hamtramck plant from Sept. 17 until Oct. 15, one of the sources said. Union representatives last week told the plant’s roughly 1,500 workers about the scheduled downtime, the source said. …
Volt demand has picked up this year, after sales last year fell short of GM’s goals. GM sold 10,666 Volts through July, more than triple the 2,870 sold during the same period a year earlier.
GM executives have attributed the sales increase to strong demand for a low-emissions version of the Volt that qualifies for California’s coveted carpool lanes, which GM launched in March. Previous versions of the Volt didn’t qualify.
Volt inventories have been whittled down, too, to 6,500 units, or 84 days’ worth, as of Aug. 1. On March 1, just before the last production shutdown, GM had 154 days’ worth.
Keep in mind that GM’s goal for this year was to sell 45,000 Volts in the US alone. They might reach 1/4th of that figure.
This is what happens when companies do things to satisfy government demand instead of market demand. People don’t want the Volt because it doesn’t make any sense. It’s a hugely expensive vehicle that has few advantages, even in the area of fuel efficiency, over compact cars powered by traditional gasoline engines.
Tags: chevy volt, general motors
