Volt 2.0: Ruess "It will leap-frog... the competition"

Insideevs scorecard for March:

Volt -1865
Plug In Prius - 7

It looks like Toyota took your advice instead of GM.

 

Why did you intentionally post such misleading information?

Price (sticker without tax-credit) still hasn't reached the "nicely under $30,000" target. It seemed quite unrealistic back in 2007, but there was intense support for that being achievable by 2010.

The problem was people expected REAL-WORLD delivery of 40 miles, not an estimated value. GM worked hard from 2010 to 2015 to fulfill that goal. They did too. Taking into account the impact of HEATER use (not including that was the problem), the 53 miles of capacity now delivers around 40 in the winter.

I hadn't heard. It seemed absurd not including them, since the new Corolla did standard 1.5 years ago. Prius has them standard now too, though bi-level. I use the high-beams here in the suburbs pretty much every time I'm out at night. The tree areas have lots of animals to watch out for.

Cool.

I didn't say it was. Why is it always assumed "better" is the point of a discussion?

0.2 inch is slight. What's bizarre is the 0.2 inch decrease in head room, especially since people asked for more. Now it's 1.6 inch less than Prius.

I listed what could possibly be next. We're talking about gen-2. What could be possible for Volt mid-cycle? For that matter, GM with anything high-efficiency? CT6 is grossly over-powered and very expensive, but it will demonstrate the potential Malibu hybrid has for a plug.

That definition of "leading" is terrible. Delivering more EV capacity for a plug-in hybrid isn't what changes the market. It's sales to ordinary consumers. Toyota has been working hard at targeting the mainstream market, not giving into the "more is better" belief. They have an obvious plan for how to reach those buyers. I'm intrigued how things will playout for the ones with larger battery-packs, like Volt.

Again, it's not a contest... and it should be obvious... Toyota rolled out mid-cycle, rather than having to wait an entire product-cycle like GM. That allowed Toyota to make changes sooner. Toyota also isolated rollout to only a few states, rather than having to commit to older technology in a rapidly changing market.

 

Who is the market?

 

Here is the link:

March 2016 Plug-In Electric Vehicle Sales Report Card

Please provide the correct numbers if these are incorrect.

 

They are correct, but highly misleading... to the point of being greenwash material.

Prius PHV was only available in 15 states, inventory was tiny, and none have been produced since last June.

Portraying the count as if all was equal with Volt is in no way constructive.

 

Every single one of those points are explicit Toyota decisions. Every one was planned and intentional. This is the result of those decisions. No other result is actually possible.

 

What does that have to do with demand?

 

That's pretty simple. If a car maker does not make a car folks demand, some other maker will.

 

Hold on, now you are switching to demand?
I thought you were focused on "sales".

While it is true that low demand leads to low sales, you still can't get high sales even with high demand if you don't produce the cars.

Toyota's choice was to sell in limited areas.
Toyota's choice waas to stop producing the PiP well over a year before the Prime comes out.

Hopefully they will actually get behind their product this time, they could help expand the market quite a bit.
Toyota has a great reputation (among most people). Most people trust Toyota more than Ford or GM, which makes it easier for that group to transition to plugs.









Merged.

Nice, short and perfect way to describe why I no longer drive a Prius.

 

The point was that GM didn't, as the numbers clearly confirm.

Remember, the target is 5,000 per month. Without hitting that minimum, production cost challenges the ability to make profit. It also totally misses the goal of replacing traditional vehicles.

 

Well then the PiP failed by an even greater margin.

 

SALES of gen-2 Volt, since it is available.

DEMAND of Prime, since it isn't available yet.

PiP never had that goal.

The Prius platform was shared and already profitable.

 

I remember a lawyer joke (maybe from Hill?) that goes something like this: When defending a case, argue the facts. When the facts don't help, argue the law. When the law does not help, just argue.

 

A way to avoid the spin is to just choose a single question, one that provides a clear understanding of purpose, then keep asking it. Varying responses is a dead giveaway of trouble.

In this case, it has been: WHO IS THE MARKET FOR VOLT?

Notice how many different ways that has been answered? No clear massage...

 

Sorry fan boy....as much as i like the Prius the prime have a nice LCD display and a nice LED but for me it is not enought at same price I will pick a Volt in a heart beat. The Volt so far have proven hight reliability, look way better, way faster way more fun to drive, more electric range more confortable and made in America. The volt is one of the only car mass could daily drive 100% electric without any range anxiety....if one could only have my v cargo space it would be mine

I think what the volt suffer the most is so much bad information and need better marketing so people know how good it really is.

 

i have not heard anything bad about the bolt. i think they have sold one to every interested customer. the rest wanted something else for varied reasons.

 

Nothing bad about the car itself, but it did get bad political press from those not happy with the GM bail out or for other, unrelated reasons.

 

The specific deals & incentives one can take advantage of now are opportunities that can really work out in a person's favor. So, go for it. There's no reason to miss out.

Individual purchases are an entirely different topic though, not what we've been discussing here. The posts in this thread have been about the automaker's approach and how that plays out with several years of sales. That's related to production & profit, not ownership.

 

Stephane, aren't you Canadian (Quebec)? Since when did that become the 51st State?