Only 125 Chevy Volts sold in July

As reported here, the Volt just isn’t selling.  Quoting from Mark Modica at the National Legal and Policy Center:

The Chevy Volt will not be a big seller for GM; the car just doesn’t offer enough value to get a large part of the population to purchase one. The few consumers that choose to purchase seem to be satisfied with their decision, that’s great. That doesn’t mean that sales are going to take off just because GM will build them at a faster pace. I have to believe that GM knows this. I just can’t figure out why they continue to play out the hoax that the Volt is going to be a blockbuster for the company. Perhaps they will sell a bunch to the Obama Administration (at a cost to taxpayers) and to GE (headed by Obama crony Jeff Immelt), but beyond that there will not be huge demand.

Remember, the Volt is the one that makes sense, if any of these do.  The Volt has an engine and doesn’t need to be charged every 40 or 80 miles.  It has tremendous range. The Leaf, from Nissan, is the one that will need those charging stations. The Leaf sold 931 in July. Most probably, because it is fully electric and the draw for this type of vehicle is just that. There are people who want a fully electric car for just because it is. If you want good mileage and still want size why not buy a hybrid and get on with it.  Paying an additional, what, $7000 for a Volt makes no sense.  I’m told the Volt is a great car and has a lot of neat features, but that extra price tag, particularly at a time of economic stress, makes the decision to buy one difficult.

The article points out that GM is ramping up production to meet demand, but the author actually called dealers in a 75 mile radius of his home and found Volts available for sale on every lot. So to say that the reason they weren’t selling was that they weren’t available might be a stretch.

Strange, Nissan is surviving and selling without the US government’s help, however GM cannot.

JVH