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February Sales... 952 Bolt EV, 1,820 Volt

6K views 43 replies 24 participants last post by  Sheldon 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 
#2 ·
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.
 
#3 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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.
 
#7 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
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.
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#10 ·
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...
 
#13 ·
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.
 
#16 ·
Maybe we'll some new Bolt lease plans come Monday 3/5/17
 
#21 ·
I think the question to ask is not "Why are Bolt sales flailing??" but rather "What is causing Volt sales to spike?".

What has changed since November? It is true worries of the new administration killing the EV tax credit may have led to an increase in Volt purchases in December, but that would affect all EV sales, not just Volt sales.

We've seen 3 straight months of Volt sales shattering previous monthly records. Has there been a huge increase in incentives offered on Volts? I think the discounts being offered now have been more or less the same compared to previous months...possibly a slight increase, but nothing earth shattering.

The introduction of the Prius Prime also has not had any negative effects on Volt sales. Is it that Prius owners wanting a PHEV were soured by the Prime and decided to pick up Volts? Possible, but not in any significant volume most likely.

The only thing that seems to make sense is that people are being drawn into the showroom by the Bolt, but eventually a good chunk of them end up walking away with a Volt instead. I think the whole Bolt/Volt naming fiasco that caused controversy last year is actually aiding VOLT sales currently.
 
#23 ·
I think what we are learning is that Bolt sales will not take away from Volt sales as many have theorized.

People still want a vehicle that uses no gas on daily commutes, charges at home, and allows total freedom to take even the longest of road trips.

Who knew?
 
#22 ·
GM is teaching me to wait, wait, wait as I am in Illinois. They had an opportunity to get me eager to order in May, but alas, no test drives at the auto-show. For me, no test drive = no buy.

So that means I'll need to wait even longer, until dealers in IL actually have Premier trim Bolt's on the lot to test drive. By that time I'll have waited 6-7 months since the initial rollout and we will be closing in on the second half of 2017. Now that I have been taught to wait, wait, wait, maybe I should wait a few months more and see what end of the year brings.

I don't HAVE to have a new car, the one the Bolt EV would replace still has years left. So even though my initial plan was order one as soon as possible, I have been trained to wait, wait, wait. So why not wait a few more months and maybe save some money and or see what else the market brings? :)
 
#32 · (Edited)
So even though my initial plan was order one as soon as possible, I have been trained to wait, wait, wait. So why not wait a few more months and maybe save some money and or see what else the market brings? :)
I'm in the same boat. Wife needs a replacement in the next year or less, but having some patience may have its benefits.

Bolts at $3K off!. It looks like Chevrolet has authorized dealer incentives of $3000 in some CA markets to help sell the Bolt. GM knows that California is the largest market for EVs by far. It's great that GM has started offering the Bolt in other states but if they don't build a base and a following among California car buyers then the Bolt will never be more than a blip.
14 months after G2 volts started landing on lots in CA, I starting seeing newspaper ads for G2 Volts for $8k off MSRP and another $10k off for tax credit/state & local rebates, you could get a volt nowadays for easily under $20k not including tax and license.

I'm hoping I can get $8k off near the end of the year on a Bolt and in my area and another $11k off with tax credit/state & local rebates (for my area) which would put me at a little less than $20k not including tax and license. Now that would be a nice Xmas gift for the wife (and me). ;)
 
#25 ·
Bolts will sell Volts. The Bolt is a huge halo car for Chevy. There has been a tremendous amount of press about how Chevy beat Tesla to the punch by a year on the first affordable 200 mile BEV car. The reviews have been universally great because the Bolt so out classed all of the shipping competition, it's 2X the range of any Japanese or Korean EV (3X in the case of the Honda Clarity) and it's half the price of the shipping Teslas. The Volt had good press also but it wasn't the same because it's part of a class of cars, plug in hybrids, which aside from the Volt aren't very good. The first generation Prius Plugin had enough battery range to get to the end of the block, the new Prius Prime can get to the grocery store and back and it's 0-60 times are clocked with a calendar. The BMW iREX got it's gas tank from a lawn mower which enables it to limp from gas station to gas station. So as a class plugin hybrids haven't been very exciting. The Volt is really in a separate class because it has a practical EV range and it seamlessly transitions to it's ICE which gives it a further 400 miles of range. However unless you walk into a Chevy showroom you won't know that a Volt is different from all of the other plugins. The Bolt gets people into the showroom. When they walk in looking for an EV they will find out that Chevy has two EVs, the Bolt which is has more than enough range for any local driving but isn't good as a road trip car, or the Volt which can do most commuting and shopping on battery alone, but is also road trip capable.
 
#27 ·
Bolts will sell Volts. The Bolt is a huge halo car for Chevy.
The Bolt gets people into the showroom. When they walk in looking for an EV they will find out that Chevy has two EVs, the Bolt which is has more than enough range for any local driving but isn't good as a road trip car, or the Volt which can do most commuting and shopping on battery alone, but is also road trip capable.

I agree. And the Volt has a more luxury feel than the Bolt EV. Besides the narrower cabin and seats, the Bolt is a bit downmarket from the Volt in that respect.
 
#26 ·
#29 ·
There are a couple issues here and there must certainly be some Volt poaching happening in showrooms (a good thing IMO). At least to me, the Volt feels two steps more premium than the Bolt EV does. I could see hopping from a $43,000 MSRP Bolt with the weird seats and hard plastics into a $37,000 Volt next to it and feeling like I got the stickers mixed up.

Inventory doesn't seem to be a problem in California (200 in stock at Rydell according to their emails) and prices are coming down. At some point the transaction prices on Bolt EVs will need to approach the perception points with showroom visitors. If the Model 3 shows up in any measurable quantity in 2017 (big if!) then there may need to be a dramatic realignment of features and prices to move Bolts as the car simply doesn't feel like a "premium" automobile. Nothing wrong with that, but it's certainly stickered like one.

I suspect we'll see a $2,500 haircut on the Bolt EV MSRP and standard DCFC for the 2018 model year, in addition to revised seats. These cars should be completely sold out in the markets in which they're available 90 days into the launch.
 
#30 ·
Bolt is quite an expensive car for the lack of looks and uncomfortable front seats. Other than that it is a very well made vehicle.
Volt is one fine vehicle - good looking, comfortable, and much cheaper.
I also have a feeling that Volt costs more to produce than Bolt - so there may be price wiggle room in Bolt.
Close to me Chevy dealer has 40 Bolts in stock. When 2016 Volt came out, for the first two months they were moving like cup-cakes. I do not see that happening with Bolt.
I can have LT Bolt for $35k right now. I foresee at the end of the year 2017 Bolts selling $5k under msrp for $32k or so.
What surprises me is leaf owners not jumping on the Bolt in masses. The leaf is much uglier, much slower, less reliable, with twice less of range that was sold for the same price. It could be that leaf owners are waiting for Model 3...
I hope Bolt sales pick up.
 
#42 ·
Leaf sales are up big due to the huge $10,000 Nissan discount right now in certain markets. With dealer negotiation, $10k and $7.5 tax credit, I can get a 30kWh Leaf S for roughly $13k.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Bolts at $3K off!. It looks like GM has authorized Chevrolet dealer incentives of $3000 in some CA markets to help sell the Bolt. GM knows that California is the largest market for EVs by far. It's great that GM has started offering the Bolt in other states but if they don't build a base and a following among California car buyers then the Bolt will never be more than a blip.
 
#35 · (Edited)
How often do you burn dyno juice on your gen2 Volt?

We are seeing some would be Bolt buyer's spilling over into Volt and Leaf sales. Volt sales are obvious; they're at a Chevy dealer, and the Volt's 53 mile EV range mean's no range anxiety and pure EV except for road trips. Then factor in the price difference ...

The Leaf is much less expensive then the Bolt, and been upgraded to 106 miles of EV range. How often do you burn dyno juice on your Volt, and how many of those trips could be handled with a 106 mile EV range supplemented with the local L2/DCFC infrastructure? Assume a 2nd car for road trips.
 
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