Article here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebuss/2012/06/27/volt-recharges-chevy-s ales-in-california-will-cruze-stall/
Quotes: ...Many Chevy dealers in the Golden State are absolutely panting to get Volts into their showrooms because a recent change in California law means that the driver of any EV can use the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) highway lanes even if they’re alone in the car...Volt clearly has created the most significant spike in demand for any GM vehicle in California in a long time...Now, dealers across the state — and in particular in commute-weary metro areas of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego — say they can’t get enough Volts. “I’ve had more people talk to me in the last couple months about the Volt than I have in the last year,” Bill Cumming, general manager of Ron Baker Chevrolet in National City, Calif., a San Diego suburb, told the Detroit Free Press recently. “Currently, I have none in stock.”
Good new in Europe as well. Quotes below from an article titled: "Opel Ampera Europe's Number One Selling EV in May"
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/opel-ampera-europes-number-one-selling- ev-may-47571.html
...This week Opel announced that the Ampera – its sibling to the Chevy Volt – was Europe’s best-selling electric passenger vehicle with a continent-wide market share of over 20 percent...From end of February to May 2012, around 2,300 Opel/Vauxhall Amperas have been registered in total Europe,” said Rux, “which makes us the clear #1 selling electric passenger car in Europe and the numbers are continuously increasing
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bbagnall
12 years ago
The *real* reason for the sales bump is the price decrease:
So it seemed like a good thing in August when sales of the $40,000 car set a monthly record of 2,800. But a closer look shows that things aren’t what they seem for the cutting-edge car.
Sales rose mostly because of discounts of almost $10,000, or 25 percent of the Volt’s sticker price, according to figures from TrueCar.com, an auto-pricing website. Other pricing services gave similar numbers, and dealers confirmed that steeply discounted Volts are selling better than a few months ago.
GM’s discounts on the Volt are more than four times the industry’s per-vehicle average, according to TrueCar estimates.
FYI Chevy is losing about $30,000 for every Volt sold.
Furthermore, of those 2800, 2/3rds of them were leases, meaning actual sales was something like 925.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/23/chevrolets-volt-sellin g-but-not-at-sticker-price/?page=all
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apeweek
12 years ago
...Sales rose mostly because of discounts
Translation: Oh, crap! Volt is selling! Somebody must be cheating!
Every automaker in history, ever - has used every sales gimmick ever - to sell every car ever.
There's not a new set of "rules" that applies only to battery-powered cars. Sales are sales.
Complainers whined when the price was too high. And complainers whine again that the price is too low.
Boo-hoo. Get over it. If Volts are selling, I don't care why. It's GMs decision to build market share any way they see fit.
...FYI Chevy is losing about $30,000 for every Volt sold.
FYI Chevy does not lose $30k for every Volt sold, this is the same kind of ignorant accounting that led to the "$250,000 per Volt sold" nonsense several months ago. See debunking here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/boblutz/2012/09/10/the-real-story-on-gms-v olt-costs/
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bbagnall
12 years ago
There's not a new set of "rules" that applies only to battery-powered cars.
Apparently you didn't see this in my post:
GM’s discounts on the Volt are more than four times the industry’s per-vehicle average, according to TrueCar estimates.
FOUR TIMES the industry average. Yes, apparently there is a new set of rules. This price slashing seems sort of conveniently timed. I suspect this sudden mania to artificially improve Volt sales might have to do with the November elections.
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