I've seen a few Chevy Volts on the road and only once did I take a second look - I didn't know what it was when it first entered the market. It wasn't love at first sight. It doesn't have the sexy lines, cute butt or pretty halogen lights. The interior is bland at best. But overall, it isn't a bad looking vehicle.
What the Volt does have is the ability to help save the environment, room for a family of four and stellar fuel economy. It received rave reviews on handling and its' high-tech power train. According to Consumer Reports, the Chevy Volt tops the list in customer satisfaction. So what the heck happened?
In 2011 only 7,700 units were sold. That's 2,300 units shy of GM's targeted goal for that year. So far for this year only 1,626 units have been sold. That's not nearly enough to keep pace with the targeted goal of 45,000 units for 2012.
Sluggish sales have caused GM to temporarily suspend the production of the Volt for 5 weeks starting March 19th, laying off 1,300 workers. This is the 2nd production halt in 3 months. GM claims the lagging sales is caused by the negative publicity (an isolated post-crash battery fire in a test vehicle). Although no actual Volts purchased by consumers have set fire, the media did some major collateral damage.
Another major concern, albeit an important one, is the pricing (base price $40k): not very attractive to the average consumer. And how about the fact that it only goes 35 miles before it taps into the gasoline engine? Perhaps GM needs to take a look inward and stop pointing fingers.
In the television commercial, Tim Allen insisted the Chevy Volt is the car "America had to build". Obviously it's not the car Americans want to buy.
Chevy Volt Commercial with Tim Allen
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