Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[LTLFTcomposite]

Weatherman they had one maybe two red ones yesterday.

dm33 everything you said is consistent with what a friend of mine was saying, he suggested I wait a month or two for the real fire sale but we kind of needed to do something now. I think they had 15 in stock at this dealer. There was another customer there new to evs pulling the trigger same time as me. They could probably sharpen their pencils a little more and get rid of those cars pretty quickly.

My friend did say he expects them to "decontent" the 2014 (he used that same word).

 

[Deleted member 9549]

My friend did say he expects them to "decontent" the 2014 (he used that same word).

The changes for 2014 have already been announced. The only thing not announced is pricing.

The changes for 2014 are very minimal.
Leather wrapped steering wheel becomes standard.
The plug in cover becomes push to open.
A couple of colors discontinued and a couple of colors added. I don't remember exactly but a blue was discontinued and a brown added.

 

[scottf200]

[Volt] Dealers in my area [NC] have been surprisingly unwilling to deal. Meanwhile Nissan is practically giving away Leafs.

Lowering the prices of the LEAF seems to have helped. And Nissan dealers willing to 'give' them away is great for the consumer.

There are various Chevrolet dealers willing to deal. Several on the gm-volt site in the http://gm-volt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?24-Buying-Leasing-amp-Selling-Chevy-Volt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; section with various numbers for comparisons.

General Motors Now Offering $4,000 (Or More) Off Chevrolet Volt To Increase Sales - 1 hour ago by Jay Cole
http://insideevs.com/general-motors-now-offering-4000-or-more-off-chevrolet-volt-to-increase-sales/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[edatoakrun]

...All in all it seems that GM is going to have to get serious about unloading Volts this summer. I can only imagine they will have some huge incentives going on to clear the 2013s and especially 2012s.

I would wait to see what GM comes up with. Those 9200 cars aren't going anywhere soon. Dealers in my area have been surprisingly unwilling to deal. Meanwhile Nissan is practically giving away Leafs.

I think Nissan will actually make a small profit on each LEAF sold, over (present or near-future, whenever most parts are US-sourced) production costs.

And GM is losing an ever-increasing amount, on every Volt sold.

The simple fact is that the Volt, requiring an entire ICEV drivetrain, using outsourced batteries requiring complicated and expensive ATM, and produced in far smaller numbers over the model cycle, can never be sold profitably at prices competitive with a mass-market BEV like the LEAF.

 

[MrIanB]

I expect GM to offer 10k on all pre 2014 models in the next month to move them all and bring the 2014 afterwards at about 10k lower base starting price. Whats another 92 million in discounts at this point when you have aout 350 million dollars of inventory sitting on the lots. That would be a great fire sale to move all the old models and start clean w 2014 pricing. Are you listening GM?

 

[evnow]

I expect GM to offer 10k on all pre 2014 models in the next month to move them all and bring the 2014 afterwards at about 10k lower base starting price.

$10k cut ? No way.

 

[DaveEV]

I expect GM to offer 10k on all pre 2014 models in the next month to move them all and bring the 2014 afterwards at about 10k lower base starting price.

$10k cut ? No way.

They're already giving $4k cash back - I would not be surprised if you can get to $10k off MSRP... They have a ton of inventory and have to move the cars before the '14s come out..

 

[MrIanB]

I expect GM to offer 10k on all pre 2014 models in the next month to move them all and bring the 2014 afterwards at about 10k lower base starting price.

$10k cut ? No way.

They're already giving $4k cash back - I would not be surprised if you can get to $10k off MSRP... They have a ton of inventory and have to move the cars before the '14s come out..

Exactly my point, who is gonna buy a 2011/2012/2013 when they can get a 2014 for 10k less.

Ian B

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Nobody is buying them anyway they are leasing them. I didn't even pay attention to the price, residual or money factor, negotiated solely on down payment amount and payment amount.

 

[MrIanB]

Nobody is buying them anyway they are leasing them. I didn't even pay attention to the price, residual or money factor, negotiated solely on down payment amount and payment amount.

Either way, they need to move all those 2011/2012/2013 out of the dealers before they can see how we'll the 2014 are selling. Just saying...

Ian B

 

[DrInnovation]

I expect GM to offer 10k on all pre 2014 models in the next month to move them all and bring the 2014 afterwards at about 10k lower base starting price.

$10k cut ? No way.

They're already giving $4k cash back - I would not be surprised if you can get to $10k off MSRP... They have a ton of inventory and have to move the cars before the '14s come out..

Exactly my point, who is gonna buy a 2011/2012/2013 when they can get a 2014 for 10k less.

Ian B

Don't expect the 2014's to be 10K less. Akerson said that about the next generation (see
http://insideevs.com/gm-ceo-chevrolet-volt-price-to-drop-by-7000-to-10000-for-next-gen/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
which won't be until 2015 (at the earliest)

I would guess the 9K unit build up is so they can simply stop production on the line for a while and switch it to something else like Malibu or impala. Summer sales are often better so it may only be 3-4 months of supply, using last summers numbers (which is how one makes predictions on productions, generally 2-3 months in advance if not longer). It is probably more cost efficient to run a big batch then switch than to keep doing 3-4K and wondering about supply vs demand. 9K is still just an average of about 3 per volt dealer so while it may seem like a lot its not that much if dealers have a few colors to offer.

 

[Volusiano]

^^^ Exactly! And how are you going to find any 2004 model year to buy anyway if they decide to stop production and not resume until they clear out their built-up inventory first? You're just assuming that they must make room for their 2004 model year but you're forgetting that they can just delay their 2004 model year roll-out until their current inventory is cleared out first.

 

[Deleted member 9549]

9K is still just an average of about 3 per volt dealer so while it may seem like a lot its not that much if dealers have a few colors to offer.

3 per dealer is made to sound like its not that many.
But by the same token, that means a dealership on average is selling only 1 volt every 2 months. In that context, having 3 of them seems like a lot.
In practice there are probably larger dealerships in urban areas with many more than 3, while other dealers don't sell them at all.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

3 per dealer is made to sound like its not that many.
But by the same token, that means a dealership on average is selling only 1 volt every 2 months. In that context, having 3 of them seems like a lot.
In practice there are probably larger dealerships in urban areas with many more than 3, while other dealers don't sell them at all.

IIRC there were about 15 on the lot at my local dealer. Admittedly it was a saturday, but there was another customer there same time as me taking the plunge. I don't know anything about the car business, but would have thought before suddenly jumping to a $10k giveaway, they'd first try $5k, 6, 7, 8, and 9. I think the deal I got yesterday was comparable to or better than the Leaf deals I'm hearing about, $2500 down and 35 payments of $250 including tax. And that was with leather and some other options.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11947283/1/the-dramatically-improved-chevrolet-volt-20.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Big things in store for the Volt.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11947283/1/the-dramatically-improved-chevrolet-volt-20.html

Big things in store for the Volt.

battery almost as big as the LEAFs and price drop? we shall see but that is more than a year off. guessing by then LEAF will have multiple battery options as well

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Going to a "smaller yet" engine size is interesting too, if they can get to prius-like gas mileage.

 

[TomT]

Since a pure BEV will not work for our second vehicle, I'd always said that I'd consider this if it came out in late 2014. It appears it will indeed be on the short list. I'd go for the 4 seat 20Kwh version...

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11947283/1/the-dramatically-improved-chevrolet-volt-20.html
Big things in store for the Volt.

 

[GRA]

Since a pure BEV will not work for our second vehicle, I'd always said that I'd consider this if it came out in late 2014. It appears it will indeed be on the short list. I'd go for the 4 seat 20Kwh version...

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11947283/1/the-dramatically-improved-chevrolet-volt-20.html
Big things in store for the Volt.

Assuming this is more than just idle speculation, it depends on the pricing. I'd be fine with four seats, but it can't be priced at $40k. I want to see a $30k MSRP Volt (I'd prefer a small AWD CUV, though). Considering that I use a car almost exclusively for road trips, the weight of the extra batteries just detracts from the mileage on gas, especially on long climbs into the Sierra. The current AER is more than adequate for my minimal urban, non-freeway and short freeway drive needs - in fact, the battery could easily be halved in capacity, bringing it closer to the C-Max Energi, as long as it has enough oomph combined with the gas engine to get me over Donner summit or Tioga Pass in Mountain mode without having to slow below the traffic flow. I'm definitely in favor of improved, less tech-oriented controls, though.

 

[GRA]

Going to a "smaller yet" engine size is interesting too, if they can get to prius-like gas mileage.

Depends whether it's a 'real' mpg improvement, or just an EPA improvement. In the real world, very small engines often get worse mileage than larger ones, because the small engines have to be thrashed in anything other than ideal conditions while the larger ones don't break a sweat. I think CR or maybe it was GCR had an article on this, which was in line with my own and others' experience.