evnow
Well-known member
John Voelcker is a reliable Volt supporter. But even he is forced to ask this question.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066882_electric-car-sales-does-gm-have-a-chevy-volt-sales-problem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Couple of importnat points to consider are
- GM had a planned 4 week shutdown of the plant to start MY12 production. But the production restarted in July.
- GM has said they will sell 10,000 Volts this year in the US
- GM is making 150 Volts a day (4 days a week - so 2,500 Volts/Amperas a month)
Given all this - August's low Volt sales were puzzling. But then some reasoned that we should wait another month since MY12 Volts were in transit. So, what happenned in September ?
From gm-volt.com
Are the low Volt sales because of mis-match between demand & supply ? GM allocates Volts based on general Chevy sales - so high volume Chevy dealers get to order more Volts. That can create weird situations. In Chevy's site you can check the Volt's that are with dealers. For eg. in Seattle metro, in upscale areas where you expect Volt's potential buyers are, I see just one or two Volts listed. But in south, I see 4 pages of Volts listed. Ofcourse, those who really want a Volt will go to south to get one - but this shows the kind of demand-supply mismatch that can happen.
Volt's fans seem to take it as an article of faith that supply is severely limited compared to demand - but that is just an assumption. But is there really any evidence that Volt's demand is more than the supply ? Remember, GM refuses to disclose # of orders for Volt, unlike Nissan for Leaf.
ps : There is one more interesting change of phrase in the way GM is now talking about 10K sales in 2011. They are now saying
So, essentially, GM will make and deliver to dealers, 10K Volts. They are no longer saying 10K sales/deliveries to retail customers.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066882_electric-car-sales-does-gm-have-a-chevy-volt-sales-problem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But we're left with the math: To hit 10,000 U.S. sales for 2011, GM must sell more than 2,000 Volts a month--on average--in October, November, and December.
There you have it, GM. Show us the sales. You have three months.
Couple of importnat points to consider are
- GM had a planned 4 week shutdown of the plant to start MY12 production. But the production restarted in July.
- GM has said they will sell 10,000 Volts this year in the US
- GM is making 150 Volts a day (4 days a week - so 2,500 Volts/Amperas a month)
Given all this - August's low Volt sales were puzzling. But then some reasoned that we should wait another month since MY12 Volts were in transit. So, what happenned in September ?
From gm-volt.com
“As of today there are approximately 700 Volts in dealer inventory at the nearly 2,100 Chevrolet dealers in 27 states currently selling the Volt,” Peterson said. “The number of dealers will grow to 2,600 by the end of the year.”
Additionally many more Volts are on the way, he said.
“There are also 1,700 Volts in transit (on average it takes about 14 days for a Volt to travel by truck and train to our launch market dealers which are primarily on the coasts),” he said.
Are the low Volt sales because of mis-match between demand & supply ? GM allocates Volts based on general Chevy sales - so high volume Chevy dealers get to order more Volts. That can create weird situations. In Chevy's site you can check the Volt's that are with dealers. For eg. in Seattle metro, in upscale areas where you expect Volt's potential buyers are, I see just one or two Volts listed. But in south, I see 4 pages of Volts listed. Ofcourse, those who really want a Volt will go to south to get one - but this shows the kind of demand-supply mismatch that can happen.
Volt's fans seem to take it as an article of faith that supply is severely limited compared to demand - but that is just an assumption. But is there really any evidence that Volt's demand is more than the supply ? Remember, GM refuses to disclose # of orders for Volt, unlike Nissan for Leaf.
ps : There is one more interesting change of phrase in the way GM is now talking about 10K sales in 2011. They are now saying
“We’re still on track to deliver 10,000 units to dealers for retail delivery (producing 16,000 in total for 2011),” Peterson said of North American and worldwide deliveries respectively. “The pipeline is filling up and becoming much more fluid.”
So, essentially, GM will make and deliver to dealers, 10K Volts. They are no longer saying 10K sales/deliveries to retail customers.