[ClarksonCote]

The Volt sales represent a 61% gain year over year, which is nice. Bolt EV sales are likely limited by the gradual rollout. The number is lower than what I would want to see, but it's awfully hard to quantify numbers with how they are rolling out to full nationwide availability.

 

[bro1999]

I really think a lot of people are going into dealerships wanting to purchase/lease a Bolt, get presented the numbers and go "OMG!", then decide to get a Volt because it is much cheaper. I think you can easily get $4k off a Volt right now as a dealer discount, then you toss in the lease loyalty/conquest rebate, farm bureau, etc...and a Volt acquisition ends up way cheaper than a similar Bolt one.

 

[viking79]

Exactly, hard to say no to a Volt when they are 10 or 20% off plus getting the tax credits and other incentives from some states. Also, how available are the Bolt EVs really? Are they sitting on the lots and are some dealers still asking more than MSRP for them? Cars.com is showing about 1 or 1.5 months supply available, so still less than the 2 or 3 months manufacturers generally like to have.

I also wonder how much the Model 3 is hurting Bolt EV sales right now. I imagine it is hurting it some, but hard to say how much. People might not buy a Bolt EV if they are expecting a Model 3 soon.

 

[jehrler]

Anyone have the link to the GM press release. Their site doesn't have it up yet.

 

[jehrler]

Anyone have the link to the GM press release. Their site doesn't have it up yet.

found it finally.

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/...t/Pages/news/us/en/2017/mar/0301-gmsales.html

 

[Qinsp]

Feb was a short month. Corrected to Jan, it's 1054.

 

[dutch husky]

Great to see the year-over-year gains for the Volt - and the month-to-month, considering it was a shorter month! That is fantastic. But I'm honestly shocked, even with the shorter month, that Bolt sales were so low. I was expecting similar #'s to the Volt, if not higher. Although, the weather in CA for much of February probably had an impact, and maybe it's still too supply constrained in the few other states its available.

 

[Qinsp]

Exactly, hard to say no to a Volt when they are 10 or 20% off plus getting the tax credits and other incentives from some states. Also, how available are the Bolt EVs really? Are they sitting on the lots and are some dealers still asking more than MSRP for them? Cars.com is showing about 1 or 1.5 months supply available, so still less than the 2 or 3 months manufacturers generally like to have.

I also wonder how much the Model 3 is hurting Bolt EV sales right now. I imagine it is hurting it some, but hard to say how much. People might not buy a Bolt EV if they are expecting a Model 3 soon.

I believe the "Model 3's Will Be In Production In July" press release had an effect. Which might have been the reason for the release. Now, if there is no proof there are more than a handful of Model 3's on the roads in the Bay Area in August, it could backfire.

I'm a Day One reservation in California. I honestly do not expect to have a Model 3 in my driveway sooner than 12 months from now, I expect it about September 2018 realistically.

 

[Charge]

1527 Bolts currently on Cars.com

Time for GM to offer some attractive leases to move these nice cars while the ink on the great reviews is not dry yet.

 

[Bacardi]

http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/
"Unfortunately, and despite added 3 more states of availability in February (Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia joined California and Oregon), Bolt EV sales fell to 952 moved during the month.

And the sales slump didn’t have anything to do with inventory, as it steadily grew over the course of the month, ending several hundred units higher that the month prior and rapidly closing in on the 2,000 unit mark."

There was a stat that 55% of EV/PHEV "owners" prefer to lease; leasing numbers are fairly brutal and as bro said, since the Volt qualifies for targeted incentives, qualify for a couple and you can often lease a Volt for half of what it costs to a lease a Bolt EV in a CARB state...

 

[viking79]

1527 Bolts currently on Cars.com

Time for GM to offer some attractive leases to move these nice cars while the ink on the great reviews is not dry yet.

This is why I am asking how many of these are actually on lots. At this stage in the game cars.com can be misleading in how many are out there, small numbers. It would be interesting to hear from someone in CA who can go to a bigger dealer and see how many are actually present on the lot and if they are MSRP or not. My hunch is a few dealers are discounting them slightly to move quickly, like Rydell and others might be marking them up and not selling them. Rydell is showing about 141 with around 1/3rd of those in transit, so that seems like they would have a lot available on lots, I am curious how many of those are actually sold at this point and maybe it is most of them or maybe not.

 

[viking79]

I believe the "Model 3's Will Be In Production In July" press release had an effect. Which might have been the reason for the release. Now, if there is no proof there are more than a handful of Model 3's on the roads in the Bay Area in August, it could backfire.

I'm a Day One reservation in California. I honestly do not expect to have a Model 3 in my driveway sooner than 12 months from now, I expect it about September 2018 realistically.

Several of Elon's announcements have come at times to possibly disrupt other manufacturers announcements. I imagine that is not on accident. Keep people from putting down money on a competitor. Now that the Bolt EV is readily available in CA and other companies will be announcing their long range EVs he mentions the test production date, etc. "Wait, hold out a little longer..." I don't care, but it is interesting to me to see the timing of the releases.

I still think GM needs to work with financing companies to offer a Model 3 lease reservation holder special. Someone who has a Model 3 reservation could get some sort of flexible lease that would end when they took delivery of their 3. This would get them driving a GM product and they might end up liking it and keep it, etc.

 

[16513]

Tough winter weather may be a factor, but just filling what I thought was a healthy pre-order backlog should have produced more sales for Bolt EV, but what do I know? As far as Volt sales go, we have been waiting for that magic sales chain reaction to begin for SO long. Maybe this is the year Volt conquest sales outstrip Volt re-ups. Hey, maybe they do already.

 

[Bacardi]

This is why I am asking how many of these are actually on lots. At this stage in the game cars.com can be misleading in how many are out there, small numbers. It would be interesting to hear from someone in CA who can go to a bigger dealer and see how many are actually present on the lot and if they are MSRP or not. My hunch is a few dealers are discounting them slightly to move quickly, like Rydell and others might be marking them up and not selling them. Rydell is showing about 141 with around 1/3rd of those in transit, so that seems like they would have a lot available on lots, I am curious how many of those are actually sold at this point and maybe it is most of them or maybe not.

http://www.adweek.com/digital/81-shoppers-conduct-online-research-making-purchase-infographic/ states 81% conduct online research prior to buying a car...Now disclaimer, there are many steps in the "online research process" whether that's "I need a new car and I have no idea what I want" vs "I want a fully optioned black Bolt EV at the cheapest price" but in either scenario, the amount of cars on the physical lots makes little difference...The Bolt EV is very niche and somewhat high tech, so you could argue Bolt EV suitors are closer to 95%+ starting online...My point is, lot inventory doesn't matter...The "had to have it now" early adopters got theirs, despite GM stonewalling out of state sales, if you ordered early enough you could have had one...

I believe if they simply increase the lease incentives and advertise some sort of $X,XXX down & $299/mo lease special it would do far better...Also I've explained many times before, EV shoppers seek out the FULL tax credit, $7500 as an incentive...GM should listen to that, there are so many factors to a lease that most do not understand, but they understand the $7500...GM should finagle the residuals, CCR, MF and allow a $7500 off since is one of the most important aspects of leasing an EV...

Yet doing all that has consequences, will lower the resale value quicker...However, isn't turning on the incentives inevitable? Is it fair to have a GM credit card and being to use your points for most every GM vehicle, except for the Bolt EV?

 

[Jmaj]

Did I read that Chevy needs to sell 6500 Bolts in CA to capture the necessary credits? If so, they are way ahead of schedule.

 

[Charge]

Maybe we'll some new Bolt lease plans come Monday 3/5/17

 

[Bacardi]

I still think GM needs to work with financing companies to offer a Model 3 lease reservation holder special. Someone who has a Model 3 reservation could get some sort of flexible lease that would end when they took delivery of their 3. This would get them driving a GM product and they might end up liking it and keep it, etc.

Tesla 3 and Bolt are vastly different buyers...You're better off to target the Leaf/Energy/Prius buyers vs T3 holders but I think they should open it to all...Turn on the incentives & more subsidized lease pricing for all...

 

[Qinsp]

Tesla 3 and Bolt are vastly different buyers...

From my reading, Tesla wants BMW 3 series conquests. That could be a problem for me and Model 3.

First, I don't like to weave in and out of traffic to get places slower,
Second, using turn signals is habit for me, I'm not sure I could forget how,
Third, I'm a professionally trained sportsman class racer with a clean DMV sheet, I might not be able to learn how to drive poorly soon enough for the Model 3 release.
Fourth, I don't even know how to play with cellphone while driving. Maybe there is a community college class in it?
And last, I hate limo tint on my windows. I enjoy being able to see out of a car at night.

Kidding. Or am I?

 

[viking79]

Tesla 3 and Bolt are vastly different buyers...You're better off to target the Leaf/Energy/Prius buyers vs T3 holders but I think they should open it to all...Turn on the incentives & more subsidized lease pricing for all...

I think they have a lot more overlap than you think. Many people placing reservations on the Model 3 are buying it because they think it will be an affordable 200 mile range electric car with Autopilot and Supercharger access. It is also a BMW 3er replacement, but it lacks a lot of luxury relative to that car unless they change that vs the early prototype. I think GM's bigger problem is it is the people looking at the Tesla would probably never consider a GM product given the company name. Just as most Apple iPhone people wouldn't even consider an Android phone even if it is a better product. Having something to entice them, but still allow them their Model 3 would get them to try out a competing product. Might not change their mind.

 

[baragona]

I really think a lot of people are going into dealerships wanting to purchase/lease a Bolt, get presented the numbers and go "OMG!", then decide to get a Volt because it is much cheaper. I think you can easily get $4k off a Volt right now as a dealer discount, then you toss in the lease loyalty/conquest rebate, farm bureau, etc...and a Volt acquisition ends up way cheaper than a similar Bolt one.

Funny... Back in 2012 people were saying the same thing except that they would look at the Chevy Volt and say OMG, then dealers would sell them a Chevy Cruze.