GM to "officially" show production-ready Volt this month
Will the real Chevy Volt please stand upFinally, the real Chevy Volt is ready to be shown as part of GM's 100th Anniversary on September 16th according to sources in GM. No more fiberglass replicas sneaking out of the Tranformer's movie set. This is the real deal.
While many still don't buy into the Volt believing its all just hype, all just a distraction from today's harsh sale's reality and from an over-abundance of gas-guzzlers, I believe the Volt will be a game changer.
No, the Volt alone can't save GM. Yes, the hype goes a little over board, but that's OK. The more hype GM builds around the Volt, the more their survival depends on the Volt. And that's a good thing because America, the world, needs the Volt.
Labels: chevy volt
posted by Dahcredyns at
6:29 AM
9 Comments:
i read that bob lutz stated that the Volt won't make any money until at least the second generation. considering their financial situation, can they really wait that long if this their home run?
that's an important issue. if gas prices stay high and the end of the SUV is at hand, then how will GM make money?
GM has been making most of its money, at least in the North American market, solely on trucks and SUVs. Can they make money with a significantly reduced truck and SUV segment?
its not going to be easy.
i think that's why gm is pushing so hard on the volt - even though many think they are moving too slow - because they are trying to corner the market on ranged extended EVs, or series plug-in hybrids, so that other automakers will be forced to license some, or all, of their technology.
Regardless of whether the Volt is real or not, it will only mean something if GM stops selling the gas-guzzling junk it has been doing so for the past decade and more.
It's no good to sell a Volt when you are selling 20 Escalades to the Chinese. In that respect, it is a distraction...and a huge farce.
I'm not disagreeing, but you have to put some of that onus on consumers as well.
Certainly, GM needs to shift its focus away from guzzlers, and it appears to be doing so - not that it is going to stop selling guzzlers, just less of them.
Still, already Chinese companies are developing Hummer spin-offs. If GM stops selling guzzlers in China, other companies will step in. Is that solely GM's fault?
Actually I do. They were and have been the trend setters and market drivers of such vehicles. They are, in fact, the drug pushers of the auto industry.
I disagree with you there Dahc...what you are saying is akin to saying that a drug dealer goes out of business so what will the users do? Chances are they will grow their own..but who's fault is it now?
I blame the stupidity of consumers for falling for GM's substandard crap to begin with...yes...but I fully blame GM for producing such piles of crap and shoveling it on people with little to no choice...realistically.
And we all know who much advertising affects the brains of Americans...you can sell them shit in a cupcake if you give it a nice name.
i hear what you are saying, especially about advertising. still, i'm not sure that i would compare building and selling suvs to producing and selling drugs.
most small cars only achieve low twenties fuel economy, for instance, to me that's pretty pathetic as well. in reality, the first japanese cars were more efficient 20 years ago than today - cars that stole market share. is the fact that they are less efficient today solely the fault of GM?
likewise, i still put a lot of blame on consumers and politicians.
also, why does the government not add the cost of military and coast guard protection of oil tankers to the price of gas?
according to the book zoom, this is a significant cost every year. i think their conservative estimate was $10 billion per year in the 1990's, which means it has to be far more today.
that's non war costs.
that is an integral piece of the cost of gasoline, yet it isn't charged at the pump. it seems to me the government has been complicit in the gas guzzling craze.
in the last few decades the government has subsidized the cost of gasoline to the tune of 100's of billions of dollars.
why? that money could have easily revolutionized the auto industry. instead, it has revolutionized the military.
i'd say its good for the military - via the government - to subsidize gas, and that the government has done everything possible to keep gas prices low.
even obama and democrats want to lower gas prices. this isn't because they are controlled by GM, but because consumers demand cheap gas. if gm went out of business, consumers would still demand cheap gas.
i can't blame gm for all of that, even if they did help brainwash consumers with their advertising.
Well...it comes as no surprise that the money went to the military and nothing else.
We live in a militaristic, pseudo-fascist state. The largest and richest corporations make them money and owe their existence to energy, crude, etc...the auto industry is one of them. They have bought out every single senator and official you can name (perhaps one or two are not involved) with their lobbying, their money throwing, etc.
I do blame consumers too...I blame them for not being involved in their country's affairs. That's where I blame the general populous. People have become both too dumb and too lazy to want to get involved.
But I blame GM also for taking advantage of this.
The powers at be developed an infrastructure that no one would refuse but also no one had any say in. It was all done for us...and without us.
So in essence it is a drug. We're now at a point where we can't survive without it without feeling pain and withdrawal...I mean let's be real....dumb soccer moms in La Canada won't even consider walking to the local Trader Joes...even if it's a nice 10 minute walk. Instead, they have to haul their stupid asses in a 5000lb car to buy a 10 lb bag of groceries.
Does that make sense? Probably to Palin lovers it does.
its not just soccer moms. there are plenty of dumb asses near me that drive gas-guzzlers with monthly payments more than their rent just two blocks to pick up a 2 liter. that kind of complacent, apathetic ignorance is everywhere. and there are many that do the same in a more fuel efficient vehicle, but it's still just as ignorant.
No doubt...plenty abound around here where I am too!
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