I agree with your comments. Although if gas hits $4 and remains there, I think we'll be shocked at the pick-up. This thing will sell, just give it a little more time.

 

Volt -34% ,

Yukon +119% , Tahoe +92%, Escalade +84%, Suburban +72%

Americans really cares about gas costs ... NOT

 

Regardless of inventory, the pathetic sales pitch by GM is primarily to blame - followed by lackadaisical dealerships who think selling an EV is too much trouble + they don't make much in maintenance anyway, so why care? Given all the negative publicity around the Volt, GM should be promoting it twice as hard. I think the price point of the Volt is at a spot where someone looking to own a car for 5+ years could be convinced. if only GM and the dealers would try.

 

It's still a hard car to explain. Just a few months (Mar2014) ago my neighbor said to me "You can't drive it to California."
After a ride & drive and an explanation of how it really works he now wants one.
A lot of people still think you get stuck after 40 miles and are put off by the price tag.

 

The Volt is not a money-maker for GM. Never has been; but, may become one. Until then, they are not that anxious to push more out the door, and they certainly do not want to lower the price, or spend more on promotion. We own a great car, and got it at a great price. Be patient; and in the meantime, be happy. Others will follow, in time.

 

I don't think that is a good strategy. The more Volts GM sells, the more profitable the Volt will become. This is true of any brand new model because you need to sell in large quantities to break even. So, GM should be doing more, not less, to sell Volts.

 

EV sales in Maryland should receive a pretty healthy bump starting this month. MD's new and improved EV tax credit takes effect today, where the max credit is bumped from $1k to $3k. The Volt should be eligible for a $2k tax credit, up from 1k. FYI, purchasers of a Leaf would receive a $3k tax credit, or $2k more than yesterday.

Also, MD's new EVSE installation tax credit also kicks in, with the cost of a EVSE AND installation qualifying for a 50% tax credit, up significantly from the 20% credit of the EVSE price only.

 

I think bad press has tainted the Volt. And Akerson stated that there will be a $7-10K price cut (much of which has already happened, but people don't know/realize it), and there is Volt 2.0 coming relatively soon. All of that will freeze buyers, so I don't expect sales to get much better until Gen 2.

 

Dealers and lack of marketing are the Volt's biggest drawbacks.
Heck, I see the Volt more often in Met Life commercials.

Word of mouth is the only thing maintaining sales at the levels they are at.

 

Probably a combination of all the above...

Remember the Prius wasn't a success until Gen 2.

Look on the bright side...June sale so were the highest since Dec. 2013, steadily increasing every month.

Leaf sales took a big drop.

 

“This car, on a technology scale, is off the charts vs. what you [have] seen,” said Akerson, who owns one personally. “We’ve sold about 26,500 of them,” he added, saying that the car is safe, and customers love them. There’s a catch, though: “We’re losing money on every one.” (http://fortune.com/2013/04/30/gms-akerson-next-chevy-volt-should-be-profitable/)

Akerson is a finance guy, and is talking about marginal cost, the cost to make and deliver the next one. The executives at GM are smart as hell, and certainly know better than to try "making it up on volume."
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php...ex.php/new_york_city/entry/we_lose_money_on_every_sale_but_make_it_up_on_volume)

 

“...Akerson is a finance guy, and is talking about marginal cost, the cost to make and deliver the next one. ...

Are you convinced he was talking about marginal costs? I'm not, I've never yet a finance person who was willing to discuss the incremental cost of producing the next unit without including the overhead and G&A percentages that pay THEIR salaries.....

 

I'm firmly in the camp that GM and it's dealers make less off the Volt than other models so therefore it isn't a priority to push it.

I have 10 years experience working in and with dealer channels (although not in the auto industry). I can say with absolute certainty that dealers will sell a combination of what is most profitable and easiest to sell. The Volt is neither IMO.

 

Well said. Add to that the lower service revenue and for now at least there isn't an incentive for dealers to push the car yet. I think that will change when/if consumer demand dictates it. Hopefully Gen II will help drive that.

 

GM/CHEVY does not even include the Volt in the 3 card folded mailer i keep receiving from dealers, nor did they have any literature to pass out at dealers that i visited before getting my 2nd volt when the lease expired on the first one!!!!!

maybe they want to preserve as many rebates as possible to strongly promote Gen II?

Don
leased 2011 turned in with lifetime average of 709 mpg and no maintenance expense in 23,000 miles
have a leased 2014 at less then 1/2 the monthly payment of the first
The best cars i have ever had

 

I'd like to suggest to the GM Volt Sales/Marketing/Advertising Executive(s). Please return your paychecks.

 

Um GM just released the best total sales since 2007, hardly indicating the Sales/Marketing/Advertising Executive(s) aren't doing a good Job

 

How patriotic (just one up from 1776) with July 4th coming up !

 

I am in no way a marketing expert, but my understanding of the trade is that you'll mostly see ads for products that are not meeting their expected sales-targeted numbers. With that in mind, one can but assume that the target for Volt sales target IS being met. Whether those numbers are too low is another matter entirely.

I also suspect that there are those among us that would like the numbers sold to be higher to validate our purchase choice. That'd be a whole other conversation involving a different profession.

 

I've been spending the last month pricing out volts at different dealerships, going to buy this month and I have to say, the dealers just don't know how to sell this car. Most of them simply list the MPG as 35/40
I get all my answers here on this forum...

 

The marginal cost of a Tesla S is 70-75% of the sales prices and going down. If GMs beancounters were in charge of Tesla they would have already declared bankruptcy.

The sad truth is that the majority of people are just not interested in EVs, at any price. Not one single person in my neighborhood would buy any type of EV, at any price, today. And all think I am either nuts or very brave for getting one, neither of which they are. They all say maybe in 10 years or so, but right now, they are just too different from the mainstream. Even an EV CUV/SUV is just too different.

People don't like change. Just like most voters vote for the politician they hate but they know, rather than the one they do not know.

 

I was with a group of guys today who started asking questions about my Volt after they saw it plugged in, they had no idea about how the car worked, zero, they just thought it was a short-range electric waste of money. A few of them heard some of what I said, for the others it went in one ear and out the other. Awareness is nil, a shame as this is a gem of a car.

 

I was at a bonfire with good friends and some of them still didn't know how the Volt works even though I've had it for 2.5 years. I guess I need to do a better job evangelizing. I just hate to be one of those people. It is taking a surprisingly long time for people to get it.

 

If you want them to know it's a not a BEV, just say: "It's a plug-in hybrid."
If you want them to know how it performs just say: "It's a plug-in hybrid, but drives like an electric car rather than a hybrid."

 

GM needs to focus on increasing the profit margin on the Volt and lowering the cost. These are the only things that will stimulate sales. Marketing will not happen unless the vehicle MAKES money...when they sell one. As long as GM looses money on each Volt sale they have no reason to market it.