Facing a significant backlog of unsold inventory, General Motors will shut down production of the Chevrolet Volt for five weeks.
The maker has notified 1,300 workers at the GM plant in Detroit that they will be idled from March 19 through April 23 while assembly operations are idled. But the maker insists the latest setback is not a sign of long-term problems for the plug-in hybrid, noting that Volt sales in February jumped 70 percent over the prior month.
(Emphasis mine). Gee. A "significant" backlog of unsold inventory. Why on earth do you suppose that is? Could it be because GM wants nearly 50 large for a midsize car with a bowtie on the front? Could it be because they have a nasty tendency to burst into flames in accidents? Could it be that the much touted battery power that gives you a whopping 35 miles to the charge? Or that it gets a paltry 37 MPG on the gasoline engine? I had a Plymouth Sundance in 1994 that cost nearly a fifth what the Volt does and it got close to that figure. I ran the math on the Volt last year in case anyone needs a harder look at the figures.
It's not surprising that they pulled the plug on the Volt. What's surprising is that it took this long to actually decide to let the patient die - although GM is claiming that they're keeping the Volt, that things look great, that there is in fact no truth to the rumor about the ship hitting an iceberg, that in fact there is no such thing as an iceberg in the first place. It's very much like the "bring out your dead" scene in Monty Python's The Holy Grail - GM keeps insisting that the Volt is very much alive, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Perhaps a better Monty Python analogy for the Volt, though, would be the Dead Parrot sketch...
That is all.
7 comments:
and a subtantial portion of the Volt's that were "Sold" went to Goverment agency fleets. In one pocket, out the other.
All the enviro-weenies who were the only potential customers are still driving thier Pre-ii, and are reluctant to be burned a second time.....
I would point to the admittedly anecdotal evidence of my girlfriend's father's experience buying one. He actually ended up going to 4 or 5 dealerships before he found one that would even talk to him about selling him one. He was constantly told "no, you don't want that car," or "eh, that's only good for big cities like New York of LA," or some other BS. I'm curious how much of that has gone on in other areas of the country.
To extend Oddball's point, some years ago dealerships in California were skewing sales statistics on some mandatory green vehicle by only offering them for lease. After a year or two they claimed that sales of the vehicle were too low, and demanded that they no longer be required to carry them.
The whole Volt idea somehow reminded me of Thoreau's description of the dejected & disillusioned Indian. Seems that the native, watching the euro's economy, took it upon himself to make a boatload of baskets...and then was quite incesnded when the white man did not do his duty and buy all of them. GM and their cheerleaders in the White House are probably blaming the consumers for failing to buy enough Volts more than anything else, and I doubt that they'll learn any time soon.
Somehow I don't think "Walden" was on the reading list of any of the guys at GM nor in the Executive Mansion at 1600 PA Ave.
Naw, man, it's just like in that movie "Who Killed the Electric Car". You know where the Government, powered by all its oil cronies colludes to ... Waitaminnit.
I firmly stand under your banner of "Electric Cars, For People Bad at Math"
:-D
Now if only we could import the 45mpg diesel VW's that go for like $9,000 new in Mexico.
Given the state of things, I may spend $500 and buy a 40mpg 2000 dodge neon. Amazing how in just 11 years we've lost the ability to make a 40mpg car without spending 50k and putting a 900-lb battery/bomb in it.
Of course they want to increase the "rebate" or whatever they call it from $750.00 to 10,000.00.
Back in the early 1970s when all of the US manufacturers were running rebates to sell the junk they were pedaling Volvo ran an ad.
I forget all of it, but the punchline was, "When you make superior automobiles, you don't have to pay people to buy them."
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