Could the Volt Jump-Start GM?

They seem to still believe that GM will actually build the Volt. ound:

 

and that there will be a GM to build it.

 

Yep.... 9 months ago I was convinced that GM would build the volt. Gas prices were really high and it was obvious GMs strategy of big trucks and SUVs had failed. GM needed a new image and something new to attract customers.

However, with GM's current financial predicament, I'm not sure it will happen. If GM had moved ahead with the EV program they started in the 1990's, they'd be doing really well now.

The sad part is, they need the volt for the long-term business strategy. But as they can't afford to build it now, it is sort of a chicken-and-egg problem.

Perhaps we would be better off if GM, Chrysler, and Ford all tanked. Then let some startups like Tesla Motors take over the domestic car market. Lets start the automobile business over from scratch. Unfortunately, it would be detrimental to our economy for a few years... but would't it be great to see all those auto workers going back to work in a few years building EVs and hybrids for companies like Tesla instead...

 

The Volt, if finished, will be a great image changer for GM which is a big part of what they need.
However, the Volt itself is slotted for low production levels. I don't see this being a jump start for them even if the car sells like hotcakes until they build in larger numbers.
That said, GM first needs to resolve their cost issues. Too much in legacy costs, too much bondholder debt and too many dealers. IF they can resolve those, they may survive to build the Volt.

 

I disagree. When I take my home-built EV to car-shows I find that tons and tons of everyday people look at that and go "wow.. I wish I could buy something like that." Of course, they can't... at least not affordably.

While it is true, that the people out there driving Hummers today aren't likely to trade their vehicles in for hybrids tomorrow, a good portion of the population would be very happy to drive a hybrid or a full-electric as long as the car fit them as an individual. The trouble is that the Prius and other current hybrid offerings don't fit everyone's taste.

I think if we could get some decent hybrids down in the lower price margins like $15,000 and then some decent SUV's down around $22,000 or so, I bet the majority of buyers would pick hybrid.

 

I'll bet that Ford's Fusion Hybrid will put Ford smack dab in the game with Honda and Toyota when it comes to Hybrids. Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford has its head in the game when gas prices started going up and quickly set out to make a car people would buy while still being a Hybrid. As for the Volt, I don't think it will come to fruition, If it had come out this year, and have a few on the streets as demos, then they might have been able to pull it off, but last I heard, they were calling it the 2011 Volt, and now recent news states it may not be produced at all. Considering how GM screwed up their last successful electric car, doesn't surprise me one bit.

BTW, recent posts on Edmunds RE: FFH, new owners who just took delivery are seeing Prius like numbers in fuel economy, if true that would be great to have a family size sedan getting high MPG. I myself am waiting on one that is due in to the dealer in a few weeks that they may be able to demo. I would really like to compare it to the Camry, and I really like the dash layout over the Camry, very informative, and actually makes the Prius look a bit primative, and the Prius has one of the coolest displays, er had, my bad.

 

I've been watching the Ford Fusion as well and I think it is a great car, but there is one significant problem: the $27,000 price tag for the hybrid version. This will be a car for the rich. And although it is good to have rich people driving hybrids too, the car that makes the most environmental impact will be the one most people can afford to drive.

Now, I could justify paying $27,000 for a Volt only because I would essentially not be using gas most of the time and that would save enough money to justify the extra $7,000 over a Honda Insight or Prius. But I can't see spending the kind of money that the Fusion Hybrid will cost on my budget..

Of course, we still don't know what the volt will cost, should it ever be released.

 

Have you priced a Camry Hybrid recently? Keep in mind the Ford Fusion is NOT competing against the Prius, its competing against the Camry Hybrid, they are very closely matched in price, the Camry fully loaded being a little more in cost.

Fusion Hybrid, mid size Sedan
Camry Hybrid, mid size Sedan
Prius, Barely midsized Hatchback

Apples to apples, FFH = TCH, FFH, TCH > Prius.

 

When you have a chance, sit down and observe cars driving by on a busy street or highway. Make a mental tally of how many vehicles drive by that are over $27,000.

It won't take long to realize that if $27,000 (or more) vehicles define the owners as rich, then a huge chunk of the driving population is rich.

 

...or took out a big car loan. With banks falling over themselves to offer big car loans, or mortgage equity withdrawal on your house (i.e. remortgaging for a higher amount), a lot of people bought cars they really couldn't afford.

 

Definitely a proven fact at this point. But the landscape may be changing. Buying an expensive vehicle for low gas (or no gas) consumption may be a more important factor than the pure status or ego that determined so many previous car purchases.

 

27k for a car = rich?... LOL

 

We also don't know what the real-world EV range will be. I don't believe they'll ever build the Volt, but if they do, I predict its EV range will be virtually useless: something around 7 or 8 miles. They will say that batteries are too expensive, and promise that "when batteries get cheaper" they'll offer a model with greater range.

Would you buy a Volt if it costs $40,000 and can go 7 miles in EV before the gas engine kicks in, and then gets 35 mpg?

 

No.

Would I buy a car from a company that fired it's overpaid, ineffective CEO, gave him a huge retirement bonus, then rehired him?

Would I buy a car from a company than may or may not last long enough to back up a five year warranty?

And 35 mpg? That's ridiculously low. My second-ever primary ICE vehicle got 80 mpg. In 1981.

 

Some people spend that much on car stereos, never mind the car. But by world standards, yes, $27k is more than most people can afford.

 

And I bet it didn't keep the rain off you, and you had to put your foot out to keep it from tipping over when stopped.

 

Here's my opinions and feelings about The Volt concept vs. car. I think going back, The Volt was primarily just a tool GM used to excite investors. It was primarily a show car, a concept, used to promote the idea that things were happening at GM. Then with difficult times and changing domestic and global attitudes suddenly The Volt became the Pinnochio that GM needed to become a REAL little boy.

Now GM is wrestling with the difficult prospect of making the Volt real and in some way viable. When sincerely, I don't think initially that was really even a concern. I'd like the Volt to become a succesful product for GM but when you are trying to turn a concept designed to make investors open their wallets, into a reality designed to make car buyers open their wallets you have a big gulf to cross. I have a feeling someday we will see something GM calls The Volt in dealerships. However, how mainstream, affordable or strongly marketed is still all up in the air.

 

I, too, think that GM might some day market a car it calls the Volt, but it will be nothing like the concept originally touted. They've already doubled its "likely" price, and halved its "likely" EV range since they first announced it. I would not put it past them to market a pure gasoline or non-PHEV gas-electric hybrid car as the "Volt" and promise to bring out a PHEV Volt "once batteries become affordable."