300 sales: Kinks in Chevy Volt production?
Cruze all about sales, Volt all about marketing?
Why isn’t Volt production back on track?
Back in June GM shut down Chevy Volt production to upgrade manufacturing capabilities, enabling GM to produce more Volts, as well as some Opel Ampera’s – Europe’s version of the Volt. By mid July, everything was supposed to be back online, and GM was aiming to produce up to 16,000 Volts by the end of 2011, although only about 10,000 were intended for consumers.
Yet, GM only delivered 300 Volts in August.
According to GM, 3,172 Volts have been delivered so far in 2011. That’s almost 7,000 vehicles short of very conservative 2011 goals.
Early last month I called August a benchmark month for Volt sales. Good thing that was my call, not GM’s. Otherwise, some real questions about the Chevy Volt would have to be asked.
Inevitably, it’s obvious there are still some kinks in the Volt production system. Fortunately, that’s not necessarily surprising, as the Volt is a new technology. Moreover, since the earthquake in Japan, there have been many supply chain disruptions throughout the auto industry.
Still, I was expecting at least 1000 Volt sales in August.
While I’m confident GM will eventually work out the kinks in the Volt’s production system, these continued sluggish sales do suggest that the Volt wasn’t really ready for its launch late last year. Again, considering the technology involved that’s not necessarily surprising, nor a major corporate sin, but it does renew the argument that the Volt is much more about marketing than it is about sales, or actual change, at least for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, for GM at least, Chevy Cruze sales have bailed the General out.
To be sure, GM might still hit its 10,000 vehicle Volt benchmark, and if they do, this will all be water under the dam. However, considering the hype that preceded the Volt into the market, and the hype at its launch, sales thus far can only be described as disappointing.
Source: GM
Thank god for the low sales. We save $7,500.00
for each car we don’t sell which is the largest spending cut we have!
Thanky Thanky for all this good infomrtaoin!
I called my dealer back.
What had happened, was that the allocation # for someone ahead of me on the list came up but that person was unreachable, so they were calling others on the list to see if they were ready.
Unfortunately I was travelling and did not get back to them fast enough, so that allocation went to someone below me on the list.
My dealer says that he expects my allocation number to come up in the next week or two.
Once my allocation number comes up, I pick my options and the order is placed with GM to manufacture the vehicle. My dealer estimates that it will take about 6-8 weeks to fill the order, so if my allocation number comes up in the next week or two, I could see the Volt at the end of Nov or early December.
I got a good explanation of how the leasing price works as well….
In a lease, GM takes the $7500 tax break themselves, then leases you a $32,500 vehicle instead of a $40,000 vehicle. That is how GM is able to offer a $350 per month lease rate.
I will probably go with the lease option. In 2015, at the end of the lease, if no better alternatives are out there at reasonable prices, I’ll simply buy out the Volt. The buy out price at the end of the lease is about $17,000.
keep good notes and share here!
I got called by my Chevy dealer today.
Its time for me to come in pick out my options for my Volt.
I’ll let you know how it goes……
Dahc,
I told you August would not be a benchmark month.
There is no kink in production. GM had no plans to deliver a lot of Volts to customers in August, no matter how may they made.
GM is in its build-up phase to deliver the Volt nation-wide. Very few of the Volts being made the next couple months will actualy make it into customer hands.
According to Ward Auto……
“Stocks of the Volt have now hit 1,361 units, up considerably from 226 at the end of July.
Off these, 700 to 800 will be used for demonstration purposes, as dealers across the nation need a way to get the green point across to their customers. As a consequence, the stockpiles can still be considered to be low, so sales can’t be expected to skyrocket any time soon.
“It will affect retail stock. It’s going to take us a month or two to really fill up the retail inventory for those dealers,” Don Johnson, GM’s U.S. sales chief reportedly said, according to the aforementioned source.
The company top executive says that adequate stocks will only be reached at the end around the second quarter of 2012.
***WHAT DOES IT MEAN???*****
It means we have at least 9 more months of abuse from Fox News…….
The only customers buy Volts are Federal/State government fleet procurement managers. The Volt has got to be one of the worst hybrids to come down the pike. It can’t climb hills after the 38th mile driven, it gets lousy gas mileage after the 38th mile. Tall people can’t fit in the back seat. It’s overpriced (spectacularly overpriced). And it’s got a built-in welfare check for the wealthy ($7,500) paid for by the working stiffs who could never afford a $41k car.
GM’s official response on August Volt sales numbers?
“Wait ’til next month…”