The 1st Volt: Off the Assembly Line Today

Well ... it's finally here:

Chevrolet’s first Volt leaves the assembly line

I never thought I'd see the day. And GM actually beat the others. Well, even if they only make another 999 of 'em, then kill it, at least they made some. After the exec's ... then media mogals, we may get to form a line.

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I hope the car does well, and GM realizes this is the future and they keep it up.

I hope the car does well too. As I remember, I ["we" in the good old us] already own most of the company...

Ok GM, how much?

One BILLION dollars.

While the Volt and the Leaf are not direct competitors the pressure is now on GM to keep the price under $37500 and the post tax credit price down to $29,000. I am not saying the Volt will fail above that, but Nissan has made the Leaf a pretty good deal.

Apparently GM is going to make a few hundred Volts on the production line in the next few months. They have around sixty driving around now (they have made eighty but are using twenty for crash testing).

I don't get why GM needs to keep the price below 40k at first? Why? Do you really think these things will be just sitting on the lots and not selling? In a year or two I can see the need to bring the price down some. They need to make a profit on everyone they sell, and i'm willing to bet they well sell everyone for full sticker price for a while too.

I don't believe there is much selling at MSRP now and unless an economic miracle happens I don't see that changing much in the next year. I was going to say, "Well, I'll be damned" but since retail production hasn't begun I'll hold off.

Can we agree that a Corvette is a relatively low production vehicle?

The AAA price tonight for a ZR1 is $113245. MSRP is $119130 and invoice is $112795. The cheapest Corvette has a MSRP of $49880, invoice of $46210 and sells for $44640.

If Chevy can't sell a 'vette at sticker to their loyal passionate customer base how are they going to sell Volts at anything close to MSRP unless it is very close to invoice?

It won't be safe until Lutz is finally out the door.

GM has a long way to go before the Volt is seen as anything but 'green wash.'

Bob Wilson

Cuz one can get $25k Leaf and $10k Versa for less than $40k Volt.

WHY oh why is bob klutz still there? i thought they had put him out to pasture. in jurassic park. with the other dinosaurs.

But can a Leaf go farther than 100 miles? I really think alot of people will the the volt because it doesn't have a limited range.

No, but you can choose to take Versa if you are going more than 100 miles. This way you put less miles in each car. The right tool for the right job.

I have always viewed a car like the Leaf as a second car. Sure, you could be a city dweller and use it as your only car or rent a car when you need to go further.

The Volt is a car that makes it so you do not need a second car. No extra insurance, parking etc.

What makes the Leaf a surprise is the price. After credit pricing being as low as $21000 for some makes it a real winner. i was not expecting it quite that low especially considering its high tech features. Nissan is pricing the car to appeal to more then just die hard core electric car enthusiasts

I am looking forward to hearing the price of the Volt and its true specifications!

emphasis added...

As a citizen-stockholder, I see this as good news. :rockon:
Although the announcement is not really about the car itself,
it is about the manufacturing process for the car.
From the article:

“The first manufacturing-validation vehicle … came down the
assembly line on Monday,” said GM’s vice chairman, Bob Lutz, in
an interview with the Detroit News at the New York Auto Show.

Lutz went on to explain that the current Volts being produced on
the assembly line are only intended to “ferret out any areas that
are difficult to assemble.” Lutz added, “This is eight months before
production launch. It shows that the program is in extremely good
shape.”
Good on GM. :cheer2:
One of these days, perhaps sooner than later, the Volt will be part
of GM's getting on it's feet, repaying the loans, and claiming a
forward looking and customer responsive leadership role a la Ford.

Right. I still believe most americans wont even consider test driving a car that has a limited range less than 400 miles. The only car i think the volt will be inferior to will be the plug in Prius, at least for the next few years anyways.

Gm can be a great company again, and i hope they can.

I, for one, hope the EV initiatives of car manufcturers are successful.

Competition is good! It drives technological advancement and drives up value for the consumer.

premature. call me when i can go down to the dealer and buy one.
the hype never ends with this company.

I agree. I would personally like to see GM regain its status in the world. I would like nothing better to have a US-based manufacturer meet my needs for my next car purchase in the near future. I think our country really needs for this to happen.