hyperv6

The first year they projected 24K and sold something like 10K

The second year they were at K in Nov and expected to better 25K by Jan.

The comments were how they sold more than twice the number of Volts vs Corvettes and the Vette only sold 12K last year.

I just looked it up and here are the numbers http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/03/auto...les/index.html

Volt 2011 7,671

Volt 2012 23,461

Leaf 2012 9,800

The first other story I saw must have counted January sales. The reality is they have been at a steady pace and have shown growth. It even out sold the Vette nearly 2 to 1 with only a little over 12K units sold there in 2012.

The key mistake was when GM said out of the box they would sell 50K. I think they knew what they had but underestimated the public understanding the car right out of the box. New technology takes time to grow. Even the Prius was slow out of the box the first year or two.

DreamHHR

I currently have a credit just shy of $3000 GM points (from the now defunct GM card) that I have to use, I believe, before Dec 2017. The Volt is appealing to me, because of the type of commute that I have. It wouldn't be the perfect car, but it's the only one appealing to me in the current GM lineup. I am in the market for a new car in the next 12 months. Yet, the only car that they won't let me use those points on is on the purchase of a Volt. This is frustrating. So I'm looking at getting either a Toyota Camry hybrid or the new RAV4.

Talk about turning buyers away....

Yves

dr_fosg8

I like the volt and the technology involved, however at the price of entry we are going to have to rely on those with disposable income to fund the investment.

It may use less gas but in the long run saves no money for the consumer at all, at least on my figures. For example a cruze automatic starts at 18,225 and I would estimate it to get a combined 28/29 mpg. So, if gas is an average of 4.00 per gallon I could put 151,000 miles on the cruze for the price of just buying the volt at 39,145.

I know that there are incentives to offset the cost of the volt, I didn't use them just to keep it simple. Even with the incentives it will still be cheaper transportation in the long run to drive something along the lines of the cruze, sonic, corolla, civic, etc.

I really hope the technology advances to make it affordable but at current prices I won't be buying in.

hyperv6

The fact is we have to look at the big picture here. Too many look at the Volt and many more expensive hybrids and think in terms of saving money. They forget to look at a growing green segment globally.

While it may only be strong in areas like California here it is a growing segment where people are looking at being green. Now you can argue the battery is not green but they do not see it that way.

As the price drops on the Volt it will be more in line with a Cruze Eco at some point and the savings will also come back into play. This is not a over night deal and it takes time to develop the market.

Look back to the early days of the gas cars. Few were sold and most were very expensive but they established a market and fueling system. This paved the way for the Model T and other affordable cars as time went on.

The gas automobile was not a over night thing and may kept with the horse till later when the cheaper came into play.

When looking at the Volt you have to take in all the facts to really understand where this is going. This is not just a new model it is a new way of driving and has to have the time on the market to develop.

Also factor in Europe and other places where the green market is very strong. In Germany it is even a major political party and has to be taken seriously by MFG.

You can debate global warming true or false but with MFG they need to address the market to those who buy into it as they green money is money on the table that someone will take if GM does not.

Many tree huggers bought Prius not because they wanted to save money and Toyota profited on each one.

finnhhr

we have green as one of major parties here in finland like in many other european countries, currently they are at the goverment and also in EU´s comission that rules the countries. And it seems like whatever green act is under work, it gets forward.
BUT
we have had prius´s, leafs, and amperas (volts badged opel-marketed model), and there is now about 200 amperas registered last year, of total 15000 new cars sold last year. so people are also here in skyhigh-priced gas land reaaaallly careful with new technic. of course our northern climate limits effectively the usage of electric batteries, their charge drops a lot in -10F that we have continously in winter. (currently moderate 20F or so).

definately hybrids and electrics are the future of every day commuting, but there are alternatives, like the gas, that can easily be converted to OLD cars also, easily done, needs only injectors to manifold and the gas tanks somewhere. but those are also used by small % of individuals who want to make a statement. we dont have so big CNG-gas network.

hyperv6

Yes electric cars are not much for cold here yet. I would expect sales are not much in Alaska here either.

Tough we can go months here under freezing and many here are still driving along. At least the Volt will still run if the cold drains the electric. I also drove one last year in the snow and the weight made it move right along.

Too many here in the states have no clue of the influence of the Green parties in Europe. They also have no idea of how their influence is on the public in what they buy too in not just only cars.

It is sad many Americans here can not name who our Vice President is let alone know what is really going on in Europe that can and will effect them. They really have no clue here either and the media is not always accurate anymore.

The other extreme her is the Leaf was having failures in Arizona. The high temps were taking the batteries and shortening their lives.

AceMan

Maybe they could throw a panel in the linup