http://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-unplugs-first-generation-volt-1428536378 GM Unplugs First Generation Volt Production halt will help reduce unsold inventory and prepare for 2016 plug-in hybrid sedan By ANNE STEELE April 8, 2015
[image http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-HU444_VOLTjp_P_20150408185731.jpg General Motors aims to address shortcomings in marketing and sales with its second-generation Volt. ENLARGE ] General Motors Co. will halt production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car for the summer to whittle down about seven months of unsold inventory and smooth the way for the next generation of the plug-in hybrid sedan. The first Volt went on sale in 2010 with high expectations, but sales have been lackluster amid low gasoline prices and the release of more capable electric models from competitors. GM has sold about 70,000 Volts to date, far below initial company forecasts. Production of the current model, which costs $34,000 and up before federal tax credits, will halt early next month, the Detroit auto maker has said. It will be replaced by a 2016 model with a sleeker design and up to 50 miles range on an electric charge. That second generation Volt will go into production at the end of the summer. The production hiatus comes after a first quarter in which sales fell well behind Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf electric car in the U.S. GM sold 1,874 Volts during the three-month period, equivalent to the number of Silverado pickups sold in a day, and in contrast to Nissan’s 4,085 Leaf sales. Volt stocks are enough to last 210 days, or until November, at their March sales pace, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Car makers generally like to have about 60 days of inventory at dealers. Reinvigorating consumer interest in the Volt, a car that has a battery and a small gasoline motor, is a top priority for GM as it prepares to release its fully-electric Bolt sedan, say analysts. Volt development consumed more than a billion dollars but has failed to generate a fraction of the buzz that Tesla Motors Inc. has with its pricier Model S luxury electric car or Toyota Motor Corp. with its Prius family. Pam Fletcher, GM’s chief electric-vehicle engineer, says the auto maker wants its coming 2016 Volt to be viewed more as a normal car and less of a specialty vehicle. “In this case, ‘mainstream’ is not a bad word,” she said in a recent interview. Chevrolet executives have kept in close contact with initial Volt buyers, polling them on issues spanning quality to performance to design. One key thing it learned, “People said they didn’t want a science experiment,” Ms. Fletcher said. Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist who became a popular Volt advocate via his independent gm-volt.com blog, swapped his Volt (No. 8 off the assembly line) after a year for a Ford C-Max hybrid that could better accommodate his family of five. Mr. Dennis, in a recent interview, said he plans to buy a 2016 Volt, which has a larger interior. The marketing plan for the next generation Volt is still coming together said Chevrolet Car Marketing Director Steve Majoros. GM plans to address the confusion around a battery-powered car that has a gasoline engine. Dealers will get “significant marketing support” for the 2016 model. “We will be out publicly and big,” he added. ‘When someone thinks of an electric vehicle, they don’t think of Chevrolet; they think Toyota or Tesla.’ —Jamaal McCoy, Findlay Chevrolet general manager The strategy will include better educating consumers through social media and getting dealer sales staff more inspired to sell the car. With gasoline near $2 a gallon, most Chevrolet dealerships today are focusing on selling higher-margin trucks and sport-utility vehicles, he said. Less popular and profitable small cars have dropped to the bottom of dealers’ priority list. Brett Hedrick, owner of Hedrick’s Chevrolet in Clovis, Calif., said he is in favor of greater support from GM for Volt sales, but said electric cars won’t catch on until they make financial sense. When gas prices went down consumers weren’t “as conscious about conserving,” he said. Mr. Hedrick said his current challenge is selling the Volt inventory on his lot before the new model arrives—something he hopes GM will support. Chelsea Sexton, a Los Angeles-based electric car advocate, said while GM made a lot of waves when it first launched Volt, it lost soon ground to other auto makers who released fully electric vehicles. She said GM lately has reached out less often to enthusiasts, noting talks with herself and others “have largely fallen off…as those conversations fall off, it’s hard to tell where they stand in the long term.” Dealers say GM has to regain mind share in electric cars. “We just don’t have presence in the space currently,” said Jamaal McCoy, general manager of Findlay Chevrolet in Las Vegas. “When someone thinks of an electric vehicle they don’t think of Chevrolet; they think Toyota or Tesla.” [© 2015 Dow Jones] ... http://phys.org/news/2015-04-gm-volt-production-weeks-summer.html GM to suspend Volt production for four weeks this summer April 9, 2015 ... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/business/gm-to-suspend-making-chevy-volts-for-4-weeks.html G.M. to Suspend Making Chevy Volts for 4 Weeks By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS APRIL 9, 2015 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-09/another-electric-car-bites-dust-chevy-volt-go-way-aztek Another Electric Car Bites The Dust: Current Chevy Volt To Go The Way Of The Aztek Due To Plunging Sales by Tyler Durden 04/09/2015 [image http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2015/03/GM%20chevy%20volt_0.jpg (data table) ] Apple China Detroit Federal Tax Las Vegas Pontiac Pontiac Aztek Reuters Toyota A week ago when observing the latest GM deliveries, we noticed something troubling: [tweet https://twitter.com/zerohedge Chevy Volt deliveries -56.8% Y/Y — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 1, 2015 ] Here is the unpleasant detail for a car that five years ago was among the biggest hopes for the recently bankrupt auto maker: It was thus inevitable that the car which first went on sale in 2010 amid very high expectations, and whose lackluster sales of 70,000 to date, far below initial company forecasts amid low gasoline prices and the release of more capable electric models from competitors, was about to be mothballed. Today Reuters confirmed as much when it reported that GM will "halt production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car for the summer to whittle down about seven months of unsold inventory and smooth the way for the next generation of the plug-in hybrid sedan." Production of the current model, which costs $34,000 and up before federal tax credits, will halt early next month, the Detroit auto maker has said. It will be replaced by a 2016 model with a sleeker design and up to 50 miles range on an electric charge. That second generation Volt will go into production at the end of the summer. Alas, absent a surge in the price of gasoline back into the high $3 range, the prospects of this "upgrade" will hardly be any better. From Reuters: The production hiatus comes after a first quarter in which sales fell well behind Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf electric car in the U.S. GM sold 1,874 Volts during the three-month period, equivalent to the number of Silverado pickups sold in a day, and in contrast to Nissan’s 4,085 Leaf sales. Volt stocks are enough to last 210 days, or until November, at their March sales pace, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Car makers generally like to have about 60 days of inventory at dealers. Reinvigorating consumer interest in the Volt, a car that has a battery and a small gasoline motor, is a top priority for GM as it prepares to release its fully-electric Bolt sedan, say analysts. Volt development consumed more than a billion dollars but has failed to generate a fraction of the buzz that Tesla Motors Inc. has with its pricier Model S luxury electric car or Toyota Motor Corp. with its Prius family. According to Pam Fletcher, GM’s chief electric-vehicle engineer, Chevrolet executives have kept in close contact with initial Volt buyers, polling them on issues spanning quality to performance to design. One key thing it learned, “People said they didn’t want a science experiment,” Ms. Fletcher said. That's odd because the buyers of Tesla's own electric car have no problem with that particular science experiment. Then again, when it comes to electric cars, the Apple marketing scheme is far more applicable: the price should be higher, not lower, because a "science experiment" is acceptable as long as it also happens to be a status symbol, A very expensive one preferably, which is the primary reason why there is still any demand for Teslas around the globe. That, however, has not dawned on GM's marketing department just yet, although there is hope: according to Reuters, the marketing plan for the next generation Volt is still coming together said Chevrolet Car Marketing Director Steve Majoros. GM plans to address the confusion around a battery-powered car that has a gasoline engine. Dealers will get “significant marketing support” for the 2016 model. “We will be out publicly and big,” he added. Brett Hedrick, owner of Hedrick’s Chevrolet in Clovis, Calif., said he is in favor of greater support from GM for Volt sales, but said electric cars won’t catch on until they make financial sense. When gas prices went down consumers weren’t “as conscious about conserving,” he said. Mr. Hedrick said his current challenge is selling the Volt inventory on his lot before the new model arrives—something he hopes GM will support. Chelsea Sexton, a Los Angeles-based electric car advocate, said while GM made a lot of waves when it first launched Volt, it lost soon ground to other auto makers who released fully electric vehicles. She said GM lately has reached out less often to enthusiasts, noting talks with herself and others “have largely fallen off…as those conversations fall off, it’s hard to tell where they stand in the long term.” Dealers say GM has to regain mind share in electric cars. “We just don’t have presence in the space currently,” said Jamaal McCoy, general manager of Findlay Chevrolet in Las Vegas. “When someone thinks of an electric vehicle they don’t think of Chevrolet; they think Toyota or Tesla.” ... For now. Because Tesla's electric "supremacy" days may well be numbered with the arrival of the BMW i8 and other ultra high-end competition. Because when it comes to novelty electric cars which despite the best intentions and efforts of their makers simply refuse to become mainstream, one has to differentiate in other ways. For Tesla that something is appealing to the buyer's vanity and desire to show off their wallet. However, that success of such a strategy is limited as the recent drop in Tesla sales in China is confirming. As for the current iteration of Chevy Volt, it has finally met its fate on the recycling lot, which as many had predicted long ago, will be right next to that other GM "shock and awe" concept: the infamous Pontiac Aztek. [© zerohedge.com] http://gas2.org/2015/04/08/ceo-who-said-the-chevy-volt-was-for-idiots-kills-the-cadillac-elr/ CEO Who Said The Chevy Volt Was For Idiots Won’t Replace The Cadillac ELR Christopher DeMorro UPDATE: Cadillac has reached out to say that a 2016 Cadillac ELR with “upgrades” is in the works, so it’s not quite dead yet. If I find out more, I’ll let you know. Take a trip with me if you will back to September of 2009. I had graduated college, turned down a job in California, and started writing for GAS2, to put it succinctly. Meanwhile, Johan de Nysschen was still the President for Audi of America, and during an interview with a MSN writer, Mr. de Nysschen said the Chevy Volt would fail, and anybody who bought one is an idiot. Back to 2015, de Nysschen (after a brief stint at Infiniti) is now in charge of GM’s luxury brand, Cadillac, and he has just confirmed to AutoGuide that the Volt-based Cadillac ELR would not be replaced after its product cycle ends. That could mean no improved refresh as promised either, as the 2015 car show season has come to a close without any word or debut. Who’s the idiot now? The ELR won’t be going to the brand trash heap alone either, as the Cadillac ATS and CTS, the latter of which being the lynchpin of the brands revival the past decade, won’t be replaced either. The upcoming Cadillac CT6 debuts a new naming convention for GM’s luxury brand, which CTS and ATS just don’t fit. At least the ATS and CTS were generally well-received though, unlike the ELR, a tarted-up Chevy stuck with a $76,000 MSRP that put it up against the EV market leader, the Tesla Model S. You have to be seriously paranoid with range anxiety and/or a faithful Cadillac fan to want an ELR over a Model S. Either that, or you just had to have that coupe look, I guess? In fairness to de Nysschen, he later attempted to clear the air by saying he believes in vehicle electrification, but the Volt’s performance simply didn’t justify its price tag. The new Cadillac CEO also says that alternative-fuel powertrains will continue to be a part of the brand’s plan, with a plug-in hybrid version of the CT6 scheduled to debut in Shanghai. Truthfully, he has every reason to want to kill off the ELR, which was overpriced and underpowered from the get-go, which have led to massive price cuts that have done little to stimulate sales. Ending the ELR is a no-brainer from a business standpoint. Still, I have to imagine the former Audi CEO got a little twinge of delight when he made the decision to kill, in a way, the Chevy Volt he so obviously despised. [© gas2.org] % Another confused media outlet> a BOLT headline, yet about VOLT % http://www.rushtimes.com/poor-sales-forces-gm-to-suspend-chevy-bolt-production-for-one-month-in-summer/11314/tim Poor Sales Forces GM to Suspend Chevy Bolt Production for One Month in Summer April 9, 2015 By Tim Sinclaire Production on the Chevrolet Volt will cease for four weeks in the early summer, as General Motors deals with slow sales of the existing model and prepares to transition to the next iteration of Chevy’s [pih] ... ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/More-Bolt-Volt-confusion-tp4674892.html More Bolt/Volt confusion ... For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/04/03/bmw-will-make-plug-in-hybrid-versions-of-all-its-core-models/ BMW will make plug-in hybrid versions of all its core ice models ... http://insideevs.com/bmw-i3-rex-20-questions-answered-video/ BMW i3 REx – 20 Questions Answered – Video http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/competitions/win_a_car_for_charity_for_three_months_1_4000296 Win a pih for charity for three months http://jacksonville.com/sports/outdoorsoutside/2015-04-04/story/love-turkey-chase-try-hybrid-cart huntve.com SwitchbacK 4x4 e-stealth hE-hunting-cart e-r:15mi i-r:80mi http://www.newcarnet.co.uk/Citroen_news.html?id=14439 Citroen Aircross pih concept set for Shanghai.cn e-r:31mi http://www.dailyrepublic.com/projects/discover-solano-spring-2015/discover-solano-spring-2015-vacaville/ Voltageville/Vacaville CA proud of its large number of EVSE + EVLN: Soul EV's Electric-fun Turns Cynic into a Hipster Hamster Lover {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-The-GM-CEO-Who-Said-The-Chevy-Volt-pih-Was-For-Idiots-tp4674915.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
