Chevy-Dealing Congressman: “There Is No Market†For The Volt

I can sympathize with the fact that the car is to expensive for what it actually is. $39,000 is a steep price to pay. Hopefully through refinements in manufacturing the cost of the batteries will come down. Personally being a Volt owner (might make me slightly biased) I think it is a fantastic car and that it is worth the money I spent on it. A lot of people I am sure don't feel that way. I think anyone that goes and drives one though will most likely have a change of mind. All depends on what you are looking for in a car I guess. Cruze is definately a good value for the money. My father in law's 11' LTZ RS is a very nice vehicle.

As far as Volt's not selling it is because there are to many incentives to not buy the Volt.. I could of had any vehicle on the lot at massive discounts. Is amazing all the incentives available now on the trucks, SUV's, and other vehicles. Volt didn't even qualify for the military discount or anything else. Think personally GM did a pretty good job pricing the car since the PiP is coming in at $32,000, and for $7000 more I get an extra 25 mile range (at a minimum, I usually always get over 40 miles unless I use sport mode). We will see how things pan out over the winter months with more miles. First 1000 have been flawless though.

 

It's the one thing I have in common with all other Prius owners I've talked to. Put down the seats, go to Home Depot or IKEA, no worries.

Even a family with two kids in car seats, there's room for ALL the groceries of one week.

Not the case with the Nissan Rogue. Nor the Volt. Plus the Volt only seats four, not five with shoulders rubbing.

The Volt is good tech, in the wrong body. Most people I've talked to, proponents of the Volt, like the tech, the no-gas use even to get on the highway. Try putting 12 bags of groceries in it.

Or the hilarious 4 bales of HAY in a Prius video (or was that 5?). How many bales of hay would fit in a Volt?

 

Cry baby politician brags about firing a guy that didn't follow an order. Other car salespeople that work for him are afraid to even say the word volt. Its a 'spricy by that obamacare guy and GM that tried to take away my caddi dealership. I ran for congress to make sure the us defaulted on its debt (he was one of those voices never to raise the debt ceiling).

Nothing to see here. Move along folks. If you want to hold up this wonderful congressman's opinion on the volt he's trying to kill take a look at his speeches. There are other better rants for and against the volt.:welcome:

How often do you move around bales of hey? Do you need a truck or minivan for that?:welcome:

 

lol don't scroll down to the comments, it's a cesspool of arguments and crazy people.

also i think the volt would be doing better in other areas, right?

 

If you take "would have," " should have," "could have," and a dime, you can get a big steaming cup of jack squat! The only way to tell what the Volt will do/is doing, is to look at that stats. It doesn't seem to be doing too well, its prospects don't seem to have too many factors to change that - even more dealers carrying it.

What I don't like about it (and GM), is that it was sold as a pure electric with a range extending motor that would charge the batteries, but never drive the wheels. In fact, it is just a hybrid synergy drive turned inside out. It is the same thing as a PiP. This was not announced until orders had been taken and deliveries were on the way.

So, hmmmm, all that money, a smaller car, 20% less gas mileage; or less money, a larger car, and 50+ mpg. And THAT is comparing apples to apples.

I am getting the Prius v, myself. I can't believe all the room in my Gen III, but I want a smoother, quieter ride.

 

i like the Volt. it is a nice car. but its new technology and the technology is good but expensive so someone has to pay for it and that us. but they put too much bling on it.

they needed to "plasticize" it a bit more, put it into the high 20's after incentives. sell a bundle, get the word of mouth going. then put out a mid 30's version with an upscale nameplate. like it aint rocket science, its simple logistics.

the price alone dictates the size of the market. they shot themselves down before they had a chance. its sad. like i said, i like the car. but i also liked Tesla Sportsters, Ferraris and a bunch of other cars i will never be able to buy

 

Butler PA is north of Pittsburgh. I don't care who you are, you aren't going to sell a lot of cars in truck country. In western PA historically you worked in the mines, the mills, or on the railroad. The 1st day of buck season is a holiday. Plug in hybrids are expensive and you aren't going to sell them by the truckload in a relatively depressed area. Someone should have asked him how many $45000 Corvettes he sold.

The plug in Prius isn't going to be cheap. It'll probably outsell the Volt in the same market but I'll bet the Toyota dealer won't get many & they won't move quickly.

I do believe he has a couple of legitimite gripes. First, he's a captive customer of the manufacturer. Why should he have to buy something he doesn't want so he can get something else he does? Second, why should the manufacturer decide which stores to close? The market will handle that. If the market were allowed to function there wouldn't be any GM dealers left in business.

Badmouthing your own product must be a new marketing ploy. I don't understand how it will be successful.

 

that's what makes him such a good congressman!

 

I resemble that remark, as a native Pittsburgher (later transplanted into South Jersey). When I got my Prius in 2006, I felt like the only person in Western PA with a Prius (though I was only visiting).

 

But... but... what about that guy in the commercial that isn't at the gas station to buy gas and only wants to use the bathroom? He bought one, didn't he? No market. Pffffft.

 

Now that one made me chuckle. I love that commercial though. As corny as it is it still makes me laugh, and want to try it myself.

 

THAT commercial makes absolutely no sense. If the guy is on pure electric, then he is close to home. So go home and use the can. If he is away from home in gas mode, he is only getting 40 mpg, so he better fill up. Or maybe he likes to hang out in gas station bathrooms in his neighborhood.

 

Makes more sense than Toyota's recent Prius commercials.

 

No, it does not!
The same commercial using a Nissan Leaf would make sense, because it does not use gasoline, but the Volt does.

It's brilliant when you create a commercial, have people talk about it, tweet their friends and on the local news. The objective of a commercial is publicity.

 

Sure the guy is a whiny politica-creature, but he let out that GM is forcing the Volt on dealers. Between that tidbit and the fact that the car is already selling for $1000 under MSRP using the USAA service, the cat is out of the bag: there is no Volt demand of any consequence.

As usual, GM is full of sh1t.

 

I wish there was some aspect of the Volt GM had NOT lied about.

That said, I do see a difference between I can't/don't want to sell this kind of car, and 'there is no market' for this car.

For decades, Detroit claimed 'you can't sell safety', but near as I can tell 99% of SUVs are sold because they are perceived as safer.

 

If you read further down,

Rep Jackie Speier (D-CA) was next in line, and she jumped on Kelly’s Volt-bashing, telling him

First of all, to Mr Kelly, send that Volt to California! It doesn’t have to stay on your lot, because there is a waiting list in my district, at my Chevrolet dealership, of six months to get a Chevy Volt.
​

To which Kelly replied,

Give me the name of the dealer, and I’ll send it out there right away. If he’ll pick up the transportation cost, I’d love to do that.
​

The name was exchanged, and jokes were made about bipartisanship and “working together.†Then the partisan back-and-forth continued. You gotta love Congress.


Now I've just checked Kelly's dealership website, and he's still got the Volt. So he wouldn't ship the car to California even though he could have sold it because he didn't want to pay the transportation cost. Instead he's willing to let it sit on his lot and complain. What does this say about Congressman Kelly?

 

my daughter is a farmer. you'd be surprised at how much hay she moves around in her 04. no one at the farmers market can believe how many crates of veggies she pulls out compared to their pickup trucks. it's like the old clowns in a vw commercial!