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

It will leap-frog... the competition. Not yet.

21,763 - Malibu

20,607 - Equinox

14,153 - Cruze

1,983 - Volt

With gen-1 offerings, the argument could be made that "competition" meant other plug-in vehicles. Not so with gen-2. They need to find a way to draw sales from the showroom floor during their product-cycle.

Looking at those results for April, much needs to be achieved in the next few years.

 

Chevy does a piss poor job of advertising the car. They are also poor at training their sales force.

We got the "back up" volt salesman and he was great, what he did not know he researched and answered as he learned.

I also found out that he sold 3 more after ours over the weekend, so 4 from him alone in 3 days.

It's probably their best kept secret and the only reason I would step foot on their lot.

 

Volt is the #2 selling plug-in vehicle in US in 2016.
Monthly Plug-In Sales Scorecard

Are some people assuming Prius Prime is going to come along and leapfrog the competition? That may not happen and Prime is also pretty late to the party.

 

i haven't heard much optimism. and number two, in a race to the bottom, is still number two.

 

Prime has one huge built in advantage and one easy advantage Toyota can leverage if they choose.
The built in advantage is they have a very large Prius customer base and a fantastic reliability history.
Those alone could propel the Prime past the Volt.

The advantage Toyota could have, if they choose, is marketing.
GM does a horrendously bad job with education about the Volt. The ads are non-existent, the dealers not only don't educate customers, most actively dissuade people from buying electric.
If Toyota does a better job of education and marketing, they can easily surpass the Volt.

 

I'm curious to see what kind of advertising they do for the Bolt.

 

i have seen a ton of tv ads for the i-3 lately. quite surprising.

 

Traditional vehicles are the competition.

Prime is right on time.

 

I think volt will top tesla this month or very soon, but really, it's less than a third of the price, it should top it anyway.

I looked at pip sales and they were not earth shattering either.

Traditional cars will never be reached until gas is 4 a gallon or traditional is heavily taxed.

 

As you say, due to the price difference, the Volt should easily outsell the Tesla.
The Tesla shows that EVs can compete very well against ICE vehicles in the same market (large luxury sedans and SUVs).
With the second gen electrics, I expect plugins to do quite well in the entry level luxury cars and $35-$45k cars.
That is regardless of gas prices. High gas prices will of course make the, do even better, but it isn't a requirement.

 

Apparently Volt did outsell Tesla in July (and Apr and May):

 

Crazy that there are still a few "new" Plug-in Prii being sold. There may still be 1 or 2 left on a dealer lot somewhere by the time the Prime rolls out.

 

In the USA the Volt outsold the Model S for a few months. Not Tesla though.
The Volt, in the USA hasn't outsold Tesla any month except April.

 

Good point, forgot about the x

 

I see that as a win-win situation.