U.S. Government: Chevy Volt Won't Save GM

Wow, the government is right for once. Hooray!

*Slap*

D'oh... for as much money as they throw into the R&D of these cars, you would think they'd have noticed far back that 40k isn't going to compete with the prius. 40k = luxury. Had they taken the stance of Tesla, they'd have updated the trim, and made this a real luxury car... with a higher price tag of course...

A 40k car isn't going to the masses. It's going to the upper middle class. The thing only goes 40 miles on electricity, so people will still be putting in at least some gas, so it isn't like they're saving money on not having to fill the thing up at all.

So what then is the benefit of having this?

I find it funny that there were truly some people that thought one electric car that cost 40 grand would save an entire company as if everyone that drives other cars were just going to drop everything and trade in their current car for a 40,000 dollar eletric car. GM and Chrysler are doomed, just let them go bankrupt already maybe they will learn greatly from it when they come out of it.

Whoa! I was out of the loop. I HAD thought that the volt would have saved GM. Who knew the thing would cost 40k!?! They don't have the money OR the time to drive costs down with this thing. What kind of man would have thought that this was a great idea?

@ Noya

Hey, I was just thinking the same thing! Haha

It is true tho, I mean, the Aveo and The Cobalt...

The Aveo is a cheap piece of _ _ _ _ that is a last resort to owning a new car, or a car that is going to be commercially, not privately owned. Heck i'de concider that a step down from KIA due to their growing reliability, and growing name.

As for the Cobalt, the SS is the only good thing there. Those 2 cars pose as no serious threat to Honda or Toyota, or heck, im even going to say Ford [minus the SS].

All this Volt talk Chevy did, and they slap a 40K starting price sticker on it?!? Heck, for that I can buy a Silverado 5.3 AND an Aveo. One for fuel, one for fun.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I only hope GM's management, both past and present, didn't actually believe this car would be their saviour. Perhaps a nice halo car, likely a springobard to future technologies.

Borrow a page or two from the other manufacturers - higher efficiency in smaller displacement, and bring a diesel or two stateside, while continuing to research new technologies.

40k. Are you kidding me? They think people will start buying this...lol

Interesting that Honda's approach with the new Insight goes in the opposite direction...they are trying to undercut the price of the Prius. Once again, the US companies are going to lose another market to Honda and Toyota because of faulty strategy. I still remember the statements from GM back when the second-gen Prius first came out. They thought that the commercial market for hybrids would never be viable, and all their efforts were going into hydrogen...

The only viable hope for US competition in the hybrid markets sounds like the 2010 Fusion, which I hear is a great car overall.

One of the reasons GM was researching hydrogen cars was that the research was being paid for by the government in part if not in whole.

I still would like to see this technology, hydrogen, pursued because even though I like the idea of electric vehicles I don't think they should be the end all be all.

GM = GREAT MISTAKE. Hummer should have been dismantled. Saturn terminated. Saab sold. Wagoner should have made Cheverolet his bargain basement division and had all entry level vehicles under $30,000.00 have option HYBRID vehicle options available to be presented for the NY AUTOSHOW.

Wasting time on one vehicle to kill two birds with one pebble instead of a STONE!!!!!

Nothing against GM, but I'll throw in an extra 10 Grand and get a Tesla S that's pure electric and gets 300 miles on a charge.

Maybe the government will offer up a $20K consumer bailout, oops I meant green incentive rebate, for every Volt purchased. If I could afford $40K for a car I'd sure as heck be able to afford gas for it. Only environmentalists and celebrities will buy this overpriced POS.

Does anyone see the irony in the US GOVERNMENT criticizing private companies' financial issues?

Anyway, the Volt will be a failure, but I've been saying that all along. People with $40k to to spend just don't care. There's nothing really wrong with much of GM business model. You can say they should have axed Hummer, but Hummer was a huge cash cow for them until gasoline prices spiked. You can say they need to build more fuel efficient cars, but they actually offer plenty of models for that. You can say that they need more hybrids, but if you look at sales of hybrids, it's not a huge market. Everyone acts like it, but it isn't.

Keep in mind: GM sold more full size trucks when gas was $4/gallon than ALL models of hybrids from all manufacturers COMBINED.

The fact if the matter is that many people don't want a small car/hybrid or it's not practical for them.

"Does anyone see the irony in the US GOVERNMENT criticizing private companies' financial issues?"

Nope. So far the government is still solvent. GM was not.

"The fact if the matter is that many people don't want a small car/hybrid or it's not practical for them."

Funny term "practical". Funny and very vague. Hybrids run the gambit from cars like the Honda Insight to the worlds largest construction vehicles ("normal sized" construction vehicles are normally hydraulic... which is still "hybrid" I suppose).

I'm not aware of a hybrid race-car (yet), but there are pure electrics like the Tesla.

In fact, nothing stops every car from becoming hybrid except the added cost. Any performance metric you would like could be met.

The only vehicles which would not be significantly more efficient as a hybrid are those that spend most of their time at highway speeds. A hybrid would still be practical then, but not as much more useful.

$40,000? Are you serious?

This is a huge mistake in a time of financial crisis. They need to update the Aveo and Cobalt and make them at least as nice inside as Nissan's base model, Versa. Seriously, the Aveo and Cobalt have such horrific interiors, and the Aveo's ride and handling are just third-world. The Cobalt actually drives quite nicely for it's price. It just looks like a last generation Kio Rio.

Experimental and expensive cars are not the way to go when you're begging governments all over the world for money. Save it for later if you ever manage to dig yourself out of the pit you put yourself in, GM.

You can almost buy 2 V6 Camaros for that price. Now that Obama is in control in a few years we will be driving smart car look alikes with tiny electric motors.

@JerryL:
Are fucking kidding me? "So far the government is still solvent." The US government is debt to the tune of $11,047,213,641,051.71 and goes deeper into debt by nearly 4 Billion a day. If we the people bailed out our "solvent" government it would cost $35,000+ from every person in the country.

Make more small cars that we don't buy. That not a business model for success. Hybrids that nobody is buying because they aren't economically useful unless gas tops $5 a gallon. Did you know that Toyota looses money of every Prius sold?

The top selling car in America for quite a while has been the Camry, a mid size car. So again how would the governments suggestion improved bottom line?

Unfortunately for GM and Chrysler, almost no cars are selling well now and there is almost nothing they could do to change that. They could be selling the "Prius Killer" today and it would not reverse their fortunes.

Too bad, they can't turn back the clock and start selling cars that people loved...Harley Earl you're our only hope!

Can you name an American car from the last 2 decades that will be an automotive icon other than the Pontiac Aztec? (Ah maybe some Z06, but you get my point)

"Nope. So far the government is still solvent. GM was not."

What the hell are you talking about? The government is running up a larger debt bill than probably all the corporations in the US combined!! The only reason that the government is still solvent is because they can literally print money to cover their bills! What in the world makes anyone think that a government representative could run these companies any better than the people that have worked there for a third of a decade? Oh wait, they HAVE been pushing these companies in different directions by forcing them to come out with technologies and/or to continiue to pay workers that cost more than they benefit.

Now let's be clear, I don't have a great love for the people that run these companies, couldn't really care less and I do feel that they have made big mistakes. And I would not pay more than 20k for any car, new or used, the depriciation on a car will kill your long term financial security. BUT, I have far less confidence in the leaders of this country to make the good decisions that will make these companies profitable. Let's face it, if a company is doing something that I disagree with, I will not buy their products and then they will not get my money, and if enough people feel that way, then they will have to change their behaviors or innovate to get that business. If my government is doing something that I disagree with they will continue to take more and more of my money and I have only 1/300,000,000th of a vote in what they do every two or four years.

GM is far from a victim of the economy. Every other car company competes in the same market, and while nobody is immune, GM (and Chrysler) are clearly hurting the most. GM seems to have rightly received a lot of criticism lately for making poor business decisions based in large part on the notion that cheap oil would always be around. They worked hard to keep the illusion alive and continue to do so. They stuck with a bad business model and continued to fight any and all things green that weren't directly required of them or heavily incentivised by the Feds. GM actually had a huge lead on Toyota in the EV market but decided to scrap the EV1 program in the 90's due to "lack of consumer interest". In reality, they successfully convinced California to drop their EV requirements and promptly abaondoned the program. It's a bit of poetic justice that the Volt seems poised to be the final nail in the coffin for GM.

"Let's face it, if a company is doing something that I disagree with, I will not buy their products and then they will not get my money, and if enough people feel that way, then they will have to change their behaviors or innovate to get that business."

Or maybe that company will ignore consumer trends and foreseeable market shifts and continue trying to impose their will on the market, arrogantly trying to dictate to people what they should buy based on what is most profitable for their company. And when someone comes along and offers to the consumer what they really want, you end up with a bankrupt company in need of a hand out.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a free market. But when it's this broken and we start seeing these yahoos running their companies into the ground with little or no personal repricussions, someone has to step in and say enough.

No way in hell would I buy something like that. GM is run by imbecils. Why have so many lines if it's the same car? GM needs to improve efficiency and make one thing really good, nice looking and cheap. Instead they have those old farts running the company who are out of touch with reality.
I believe it might be too late for GM.. might as well for all the crap they made they should go under. RIP