In the wake of the Chevy Volt fire investigations, sales are down, and General Motors' CEO Dan Akerson is blaming the downturn on a spate of bad publicity.
Akerson told Congressional investigators recently that the Volt has become "a political punching bag," and said that the car has suffered "collateral damage" because of two months of relentless questions about safety, according to the Detroit News.
Judging by the sales numbers for January, there may be truth to Akerson's allegations. In January, the Volt's sales dropped to just 603 units, after reaching 1,529 in December.
GM's Chevy Volt: Safety isn't an issue, but cost still is. (Source: General Motors)
But the Volt's bigger problem is cost, not fires. When we reviewed a Volt for a week in October, the sticker price of our vehicle was $44,680. Typically, it should be closer to $40,000, with a $7,500 federal tax rebate, but even on a Volt, extra features can add up.
Those numbers place the Volt close to low-end luxury vehicles. As we've said before, the Volt is a car for those with an untraditional sense of luxury -- well-to-do people who are willing to spend the extra money to clean up the environment. GM as much as admitted that when vice chairman Steve Girsky reportedly said that the median income of Volt owners is $175,000 a year, according to AutoWeek.com. Girsky also reportedly said that the car "is bringing more BMW customers to GM than Cadillac is."
Our online readers have echoed such sentiments. One online commenter, who calls himself "averagejoe72677," noted that "unless you're raking in over $100K a year, the Volt is far too expensive to buy, and long-term ownership cost is unknown." Another reader, named "jmiller," added that "even at $40K, when you start to look at the payments and how much money one really spends on gas, it's tough to make the numbers work out."
That's probably why, before the fire investigations affected sales, the Volt was still running below its projected sales levels for 2011. Even with a big December, it fell about 2,300 units short of its year-end sales goal of 10,000. So it's a stretch to blame everything on bad publicity.
Is anyone aware of any "Dirt to Dirt" studies of the actual impact of hybrid vehicles?
By that, I mean the true total cost, both monetarily and environmentally of engineering, building, selling, purchasing, operating, maintaining, and recycling/destroying/landfilling the final remains when it's no longer feasible to keep a hybrid running?
Why do I suspect that the total bill will be far higher for something like the Volt, vs. a gasoline powered version of the same thing - such as a Cruze? (the standard platform the Volt is built on)
I think that the whole hybid 'solution' is merely more marketing hype. It in no way improves our 'footprint' on the planet.
And since that seems to be the only rationelle for building the things in the first place, I think that common sense should prevail when contemplating the purchase of one of these engineering/marketing exercises.
It's a great car, even without talking about the fact that it is a hybrid. Adding that to the mix, it's fantastic!
No, it's not going to be a break-even proposition. It's not going save us money unless you discount the lease cost as the price of admission and only look at the cost of electricity Vs. gasoline. In our case, my wife and I commute together 4 days a week. I drive her to her office and continue to mine for a 29 mile commute. I typically have 8 miles left, all from the overnight charge. I charge at work for 9 hours and then pick her up and we drive home down 101 in the HOV lane, again all-electric miles. We don't use any gas unless we do something on the week-end.
After 4 weeks, I still have a smile on my face every time I drive the car. It's exhilarating and makes the everyday commute something to enjoy again. Backing out of the driveway in the morning and then moving down our very quiet street in the dark is like driving a starship; It's really something!
Oddly, I don't like driving any of our ICE cars anymore, unless it has something to do with the unique nature of the vehicle-our big van for the hauling and towing capability, our '95 Saab convertible for the wind in the face experience. As a result, I can't imagine buying a new non-hybrid electric vehicle ever again!
Even if you are not in the market for a new car, go drive a Volt. The experience is well worth it!
I think it's a kind habit to denegrate government regulation. Without government regulation in auto safety, annual traffic fatalities would probably be 60,000 to 70,000 per year -- which is simply taking the annual fatalities of the pre-seatbelt rate and adjusting for a larger population and greater miles per year.
That's a good point, Rob. Many of us like to complain about government intervention, but automotive safety is an area where we have to give due credit to government agencies, DOT and NHTSA.
Yes, it's good to see the fatalities go down, Chuck. From all the stories on auto safety you've covered recently, it looks like fatalities will continue on a downward trajectory. This is one area where government intervention seems to have worked.
Good point, Rob. For years, this country's annual highway fatality count continously came in at 40,000. But in 2010, I noticed that it dropped to 32,000. So the fatality numbers are declining, while the number of cars on the road is increasing. The use of seatbelts probably has a lot to do with it. Other safety features, such as electronic stability control and airbags, are probably having an effect, too.
Yes, that logic was more than just false. Now it's hard to imagine being in a car without a seatbelt. Safety measures such as seatbelts, airbags, even braking systems have collectively driven down traffic fatalities significantly as compared to miles driven annually.
That's funny. The decades-long period before seatbelts was also deadly. I remember as a kid standing up on the front passanger seat. I remember my dad saying he didn't need a seatbelt because he had the steering wheel to protect him.
Tesla Motors plans to roll out a “compelling, affordable electric car” that will sell for about half the price of its high-profile Model S by the end of 2016, company chairman Elon Musk said last week.
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