Finally, A Journalist with His Noggin on Straight

To be fair, we are putting people into Volts, Leafs, and Cordless Prii, as fast as they are coming off the line. Whipping up some interest in upcoming new cars is the currently only viable way of getting more people (who might not otherwise be considering one) into a green car.

 

I've been under the impression the low sales of the Volt weren't because people don't want them, but because they're still ramping up production.

Chevrolet keeps increasing the production numbers, and there quite a waiting list - 53,000 according to Wait List Data



Sure it's expensive, but so was the Prius when it was first introduced. If cost were the only issue, it would make more sense for people to get a conventional similarly sized car, as it still takes a few years for the hybrid to "pay for itself" in gas costs.

For me, a big reason I wanted a Prius was to reduce fossil fuel use, for environmental and political reasons. And because the car is neat.

 

You can not still ramping up production when you close the plant for 2 months to prepare for the 2012 model year after delivering only 2184 Volts for 2011.

I admit the list is impressive, but are you sure these are not people who initially expressed interest in the vehicle, but did not ordered for 2011?

It does not add up!

 

According to this source, the 2000 Prius sold for $20K:
The Birth of the Prius - March 6, 2006

"Japan wanted the Prius to sell for more than $20,000, putting it in Camry territory. But the Americans saw a car about the size of the smaller Corolla and produced research showing that buyers would balk at paying that much. A compromise was reached when TMS cut the dealer margin on the car from 14% to 10% so that it could pay Japan more and still make a decent profit. Since the Prius was expected to account for less than 1% of their total sales, dealers didn't complain. The car went on sale with a base price of $19,995. Japan lost money on the first batch--not unusual for a small car."[/QUOTE]

 

. . . . . or if they favor the higher mpg of the phev Prius in (the equivalent of) CS mode ... or the cheaper gas of the Prius ... or the (likely) lower cost of the phev Prius, or the cleaner emissions rating of the phev Prius ... etc etc etc.

The thing is, you're quoting a GM based web page as fact. GM ... the folks that said no one wants an EV1 ... though there was a wait list of thousands, as they promoted hummers and crushed their EV ... GM ... the folks who after bankruptcy said, "we're now profitable!" ... yet they owe billions to tax payers who are forced to own their unwanted stock and polluted/toxic abandoned manufacturing acerage .... GM, whose U.S. flag waiving commercials toute "american built" ... even as they outsource engine and body parts to other companies. But I digress.
But I'd be delighted to entertain a legitimate source of data. C'mon now ... do you really believe there's a shortage of Volts? ... considering the dealers are selling them back & forth to each other? That doesn't make you take a double take? Honesty ... it's just a thought.

.

 

yeah, so GM has capacity to build 1400 per month... and they sell how many? 500 per month?

do the numbers yourself.