MovieChat Forums > Revenge of the Electric Car (2012) Discussion > Volt setting new sales record for August

Volt setting new sales record for August

posted 12 years ago by apeweek
2 replies | jump to latest

August is not quite finished - but GM says that Chevy Volt sales will exceed 2,500 for the month, a new sales record. Article:

http://www.freep.com/article/20120829/BUSINESS0101/120829079/Chevy-Vol t-broke-monthly-sales-record-in-August?odyssey=nav|head

I'm posting this story because various misinformed pundits have proclaimed that Volt's Michigan assembly plant is about to be shut down for "poor Volt sales".

Writers making this claim rarely remember that the same plant produces another Chevrolet model as well, the Malibu.

In fact, the temporary shutdown has been planned for months, and is necessary to tool the plant to produce Impalas - the plant currently produces Malibus and Volts, along with the Ampera (rebadged Volt for Europe.)

If that sales number holds, Volt will be doing nearly quadruple the sales of its PHEV rival, the Toyota Plug-in Prius. The PIP sold just 688 cars last month.

[–] apeweek 12 years ago

Updated numbers today - 2,381 Volts sold in the US in August. Article below:

http://www.plugincars.com/chevy-volt-sales-soar-record-high-august-201 2-nissan-leaf-still-struggling-124210.html

Combined with international sales of around 1,000 per month (exact overseas numbers arrive much later) Volt is moving about 3,500 to 4,000 cars per month.

The media seemed to love the idea of a failing Volt, but stories about the steadily growing Volt sales aren't sparking much interest in the press.

But that's how it worked with the Prius, too. Arrows and rocks were hurled at Prius when it was new. But then it slowly worked its way in to the mainstream and became a best-selling car.

[–] mr-video-1 8 years ago

Volt sales are down this year (partly GM's fault for limiting the new 2016 model distribution), but more interesting is how well Tesla sales are doing, especially for such an expensive car.

The Tesla Model S took second place for sales in its category - large luxury cars - last year, in 2014.

This year, it looks like it might take first place in that category.