General Motors plans to shut down the Michigan plant that builds the Chevy Volt for four weeks from mid-September to mid-October.
"We are continuing to match supply and demand of the Volt," Randy Fox, a spokesman for the automaker, told us. "But at the same time, we are gearing up for production of the 2014 Chevy Impala" at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant. Fox said the Volt and the new Impala will share the same production line, which needs to be retooled.
The shutdown will be the second for the Volt this year. The first occurred six months ago, after GM executives lowered their forecast (originally 45,000) for Volt sales for 2012.
GM will stop production of the Volt at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant from mid-September to mid-October. (Source: GM)
Industry experts said the latest shutdown reflects the fact that GM executives are still learning the business side of today's plug-in cars. "It is a terrific technology but the costs are too high," David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research, told us in an email this week. "They've taken about $5,000 out of the cost but still have $15,000 or so to go. They are learning about other ways to reduce cost, but it takes time."
Mike Holman, research director for Lux Research, told us the shutdown signals that "the demand for electric vehicles is not meeting the expectations that the more aggressive automakers and electric vehicle proponents have looked for."
Lux projects that global annual sales of "heavy plug-ins," such as the Volt, will reach 150,000 by 2020. By that time, sales of conventional hybrids, such as the Prius, will reach 2.7 million per year, and sales of "light plug-ins," such as the Prius PHV, will be around 600,000. In the first seven months of this year, GM sold 10,666 Volts -- an increase of more than 40 percent over the entire year of 2011, according to plugincars.com.
Sales of pure electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, have been weaker. Only 395 Leafs were sold in July, bringing the 2012 total to 4,806. Lux projects that sales of pure electric cars will hit only about 60,000 units per year globally by 2020. "We may have seen an initial surge of sales" of purely battery-powered cars "to people who are enthusiastic early adopters," Holman said. "But once the early adopters already have one, it's not surprising to see the demand tail off."
You have made the best comments of all and there is a part of me that resents that the heading was chosen which may indeed warp perceptions and distort conclusions as we have seen already.
You sound like an Auto Industry guy who knows what is going on rather than comming up with wild assumptions and assertions.
And you actually know how wonderful the Volt is and are not afraid to say it.
And I used to be a Republican, grew up on Grosse Ile... 99.5% Republican, two Jews and 2 Democrats. But I realized what the Dixicrats did to the party when they decided to move in and take over. It's 180deg from where it was when you and I were young.
And I realize that few Republicans have much of a Social Conscience... not in the curriculum... no discussions about the plight of man at all.
@Architect: disrespect crossed with ignorance; you have revealed yourself to be a frequent drinker of leftist flavorade. And no, I am not a Republican. I happen to be a fiscally conservative, socially liberal American, thanks for asking. Parties are blinders; I suggest you take yours off and start being honest with yourself. (i.e. think for yourself!)
As I mentioned from down here in Australia (not really), the factory has three platforms and every year, at model change time, the factory is stopped and started for various reasons. In this case inventory balance and Impala remodeling. The headlines give the impression the Volt is faltering, but in fact, it is the top seller among all EVs and is increasing as a trend. I also mentioned this past month was the best sales month ever. By the way, I am a life long Republican. Go figure that one out!
Agree - Although I would tweak the comment by saying that there will eventually be a demand, but not at the current vehicle price. We can still buy a lot of gas for the extra cost of one of these machines. Some leap in technology to bring the cost down is still required for the average stooge like me to buy one of these.
Also agree that GM will be back once again begging at the public trough in time to come. Not because of a project like the Volt, but because the bailout was really a union bailout and the long term issues were never properly addressed as they could have been through bankruptcy.
By the way - you can always tell when you've successfully touched a nerve when someone accuses you of being a "republican" or "conservative". However, you really haven't come full circle until they take a shot at "God" or "religion".... So keep trying. LOL...
Yes, I do love driving BY gas stations, especially at $4.25 / gallon, Diesel almost $4.50 / gallon.
Everyone who rides in the Volt remarks how smooth and quiet it is, gre3at accelleration, wonderfuil handling. For reference, when not driving the Volt I ride a Hayabusa.
So folks money talks and mine is not filling a gas tank. I actually had to put fuel stabilizer on the shelf for this car because I use so litle gas, 0.4 gal so far in 2 months.
If I behave the battery range can be as high as 45 Battery miles indicated about 37 street miles.
Oh, and if you by a Volt get the 240V chaging station, worth the money, full charge in 3.5-4 hrs.
By the way, why is it that during GWB administration the media gave us DAILY stories about gas higher than $2 per gallon, but during the reign of King Barry have remained virtually silent on the issue??
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