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Just received a flashy mailer from Chevrolet (photo attached). Where's the Volt? I'm probably biased, but I think the Volt is the best of the bunch. They just don't want the public to know????
Chevy ad - Where's the Volt?
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Why advertise vehicles you ultimately lose money on? I just read that GM might break even on the new volt, but lose up to 9K on the Bolt. That is if they sell as projected, which they do not in spite of better sales than ever.
I imagine GM wouldn't even make these vehicles if it were not for California's stringent emission laws
I imagine GM wouldn't even make these vehicles if it were not for California's stringent emission laws
What about Toyota, VW, Ford, MB, BMW, Honda, Jeep, Audi, Mazda, Land Rover, Acura, Jaguar, Dodge, Fiat, Nissan, Subaru, Hyundai, Chrysler, Kia?
What EVs/EREVs are they selling today? Why don't I know? I've never seen a Leaf commercial after 7 years. And I've seen even less of the other offerings. Both in the media and on the roads.
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It's America's "best kept automotive secret"....whatever that means.
GM just isn't serious about alternative energy vehicles...they are far too embedded in oil and gas circles to truly care.
I also received same add and one more offering to choose another Chevy, probably because one of my Spark EVs is due to be turned in in couple of days.
For those who is exposed to corporate world it won't be a big surprise if I say that most of the time "The right hand has no idea what the left one is doing or 'thinks' of doing". Seems to be huge disconnect between the GM management goals and actual dealerships trying to move some metal. I bet if you ask most sales mangers at the dealers they'd say it's time to bring some heavy incentive to move some 2017 Volts and Bolts off the lots. I also drove the Bolt using one of their "request the drive your way" or whatever it's called, so the car comes to you, bypassing the dealer, or so I thought. Well, now I am receiving regular phone calls from different local dealers because of "my interest" in the Bolt. I don't want to talk to them, I just wanted to drive the freaking Bolt, that's all. So they are trying to gauge the interest in the vehicle by number of requested test drives and "help" the dealer to sell the freaking thing that imo starting to pile up on the lots. What a behemoth GM still is, the sales is what's ultimately going to matter, not the number of people test driving.
For those who is exposed to corporate world it won't be a big surprise if I say that most of the time "The right hand has no idea what the left one is doing or 'thinks' of doing". Seems to be huge disconnect between the GM management goals and actual dealerships trying to move some metal. I bet if you ask most sales mangers at the dealers they'd say it's time to bring some heavy incentive to move some 2017 Volts and Bolts off the lots. I also drove the Bolt using one of their "request the drive your way" or whatever it's called, so the car comes to you, bypassing the dealer, or so I thought. Well, now I am receiving regular phone calls from different local dealers because of "my interest" in the Bolt. I don't want to talk to them, I just wanted to drive the freaking Bolt, that's all. So they are trying to gauge the interest in the vehicle by number of requested test drives and "help" the dealer to sell the freaking thing that imo starting to pile up on the lots. What a behemoth GM still is, the sales is what's ultimately going to matter, not the number of people test driving.
Chevy's Volt is seldom advertised as other cars are. Even I when the Volt came out, and I am a hybrid fan for years, I always thought that Volt was nothing more than a hybrid that ran on premium gas and got lousy mpg's compared to a Prius. We in fact own a 2010 Prius which we purchased new in May 2009.
I had no idea when running on electric it was 100 % electric, not a mix of both. When I found this out my wife and I took the plunge and bought a 2014 Volt, even though premium gas was a turn off, then after more than 40,000 miles we traded it in for a 2016 Premier Volt in July 2016.
Its hard to believe that the Volt hardly gets any attention compared to other cars and car companies. Now with summer temps electric range is close or even exceed 60 miles and mpg's just on gas is currently in the high 40's even breaking 50 mpg at times.
Price for the Volt is of course higher than most comparable cars. The $7,500 Fed. Tax Credit, which we used both times for the 14 and 16 Volt, sure lowers the price to that of a well equipped Civic or Corolla.
Its nice to have the ability to switch by the push of a button electric or gas, your choice. We head out to Portland Oregon at least once a month. Place the Volt in hold mode, arrive 75 miles later and drive in the city on total electric. When the battery supply is eventually diminished you go on gas for well over 300 miles or so.
I just don't know why more Volts are not sold...
I had no idea when running on electric it was 100 % electric, not a mix of both. When I found this out my wife and I took the plunge and bought a 2014 Volt, even though premium gas was a turn off, then after more than 40,000 miles we traded it in for a 2016 Premier Volt in July 2016.
Its hard to believe that the Volt hardly gets any attention compared to other cars and car companies. Now with summer temps electric range is close or even exceed 60 miles and mpg's just on gas is currently in the high 40's even breaking 50 mpg at times.
Price for the Volt is of course higher than most comparable cars. The $7,500 Fed. Tax Credit, which we used both times for the 14 and 16 Volt, sure lowers the price to that of a well equipped Civic or Corolla.
Its nice to have the ability to switch by the push of a button electric or gas, your choice. We head out to Portland Oregon at least once a month. Place the Volt in hold mode, arrive 75 miles later and drive in the city on total electric. When the battery supply is eventually diminished you go on gas for well over 300 miles or so.
I just don't know why more Volts are not sold...
The 2008 GM bailout by the federal government may also have something to do with it. If I recall correctly, developing an electric vehicle was part of GM's end of the bargain.
I read an interesting take on this recently. The reason why GM develops, makes and sells the Volt now despite the fact that demand is pretty low (partly due to very low oil prices) is because they are looking towards the future, 10-20 years from now. It's no secret that most car makers are scrambling to add electric cars to their lineups, or at least include plug-in hybrid versions. When those finally start becoming popular, GM can point to its 10+ year history of selling Volts and say they have the most experience in the industry... so their argument will be, buy our cars because we know what we're doing and all the bugs have been worked out.
But for now, GM barely breaks even, or actually loses money on each Volt and Bolt sold. So, they make enough to satisfy regulations (average MPG, California's requirements, etc) and don't bother to market them.
Both GM and its dealers push hard on what sells and is most profitable. Stockholders don't care about product mix as long as profits are up. Dealers, too, want products that are profitable and also will keep their expensive service departments busy.
This may change when battery costs drop 90% from today's prices. This is the Miracle Battery that will change everything.
This may change when battery costs drop 90% from today's prices. This is the Miracle Battery that will change everything.
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Someone here gets it.It doesn't sell in high quantity...I personally think the Vette, which outsells the Volt, is the best Chevy makes and it's not there either...
Now quit your nagging. Bitch bitch bitch.......
You know what sells Volts in California and similar places? Sitting in traffic and watching the Volts go by you in the HOV lane.
I agree that its more than just that Chevy loses money or only breaks even with the V's & B's. I think that they are scared that if they advertise the demand could really outgrow their ability to produce the cars. Witness the 500,000 persons lined up for the Tesla Model 3 and the huge effort Tesla is making to meet that demand. I don't think that Chevy and the other car makers are ready to face that kind of transition. They are delaying it as far as possible into the future by not advertising and not investing in charging infrastructure. Once electric cars are about 10K cheaper and get over 200 miles per charge all hell will break loose because yes they are great cars and no matter what the car manufacturers do the general public will find out about it.
As corporate giants like to say "that would be a nice problem to have"
You could offer any segment of vehicle, have 1000 miles of range at say 20% less than it's ICE counterpart and at best only half would opt to pick ICE over EV...A person who loves a Silverado or Camaro loves it not because it's smooth and quiet, but because it rumbles and it's loud...GM has still had issues selling it's extremely limited run hybrid versions of the Silverado and they've had offering over the past three generations...
To get 500K people to buy an EV Chevy you'll need GM to build Z06 EV for $35K...
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