Jump to content
Create New...
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    GM Allowing Their Dealers To Sell Volt Demos

    post-10485-0-64011400-1319498567.png

    Today, General Motors told it's dealers that they are free to sell their Chevrolet Volt demonstration models. The move will increase the number of Volts on sale from 1,800 to 4,100.

    GM launched the Volt back in December in seven markets and since July has been rolling out the Volt nationwide to, and is nearing its target of 2,600 dealers in all 50 states. The problem is dealers have been given a Volt to use a demo only.

    “Multiple dealers have requested to sell their demo to satisfy customer demand,” GM said in a memo to dealers.

    GM spokesman Tom Henderson told Automotive News that GM is “giving them the choice to satisfy their customers and the flexibility to meet pent-up demand.” To compensate for depreciation and for the cost of removing some decals from the demo models, GM will reimburse dealers $1,500. But to get the reimbursement, dealers will need to sell the demo by January 3rd. Then dealers will need to get a new Volt demo by the end of January.

    General Motors is hoping with this move they will be able to meet their lofty goal of selling 10,000 Volts by the end of year. Through October, GM only 5,003 Volts.

    Source: Automotive News

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    We just got out first ones here and they were only the Demo's.

    While this was never going to be a high volume car it would have sold much better if more were available. I know they would have sold a number of them here in Ohio if you could get one.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Anything that frees up inventory is a good thing. I've seen several and really like it, and the way Drew sings its praises I'm thinking it'll actually be a popular car once more people can check it out.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The only downside to the Volt is cost. It is a perfectly normal every day car that can get 100s of miles to the gallon in every day use. There are people out there getting 3,000 miles to a tank!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The leaf while being plentiful in Seattle is a joke. Talk about a way over priced as they all are advertised starting at $34K, but on the lot, with the 2nd sticker they are all over $40K. I see a number of them for private sale with a few hundred miles and still priced at over $40K. If you have money to burn I guess you can have a toy, but not worth the time or money in a state where you have to travel due to a very poor mass transit system.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Interesting to see there were more demos than non-demos on the lots. I've only seen 3 Volts here--two in front of a Chevy dealer showroom a few months ago (replaced by Camaro convertibles and Cruzes there since then) and one wrecked one on a flatbed. I do see a few Leafs on the streets..

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I really think the car woluld sell better if there were more of them around the country. The truth is most markets outside those near an ocean hace not seent hese or have seen very few.

    You are looking at a car that will just be a small part of the auto market and it is in so few markets. I have seen more Ferrari 458's because there are more of them built than the Volt.

    The electric car thing is not a cheap start up for anymone. Those who condem the Volt for price need to condem any electric car. As more are sold and a segment is established the segment will get a little more cheaper as time goes on. MFG will invest their own money and not GM's to make parts that will be cheaper and more competitive. It will take time as this segment will see slow growth in witht he high prices and public acceptance.

    I have only seen 2 volts here and that was just a week or so ago and I have yet to see a Leaf. The only other electric car I see around here is a Tesla or two and they are more novelty toys for the rich than a real daily driver.

    As for the Leaf and any other full electric car. I really don't expect to see many here in the cold midwest as they are presented today. They just lack the cold weather range and our drives to work are not short.

    For the most part here with the lack of any Volts being sent here many people really have little clue of them. They have heard of them but could not really tell you much about them other than they are electric. Not everyone keep up on automotive news.

    One thing that may has made this car more a challange is the Cruze Eco. This car alone is selling in great numbers at a not so cheap price and is doing better MPG than the EPA numbers. I have several buddies with them and they love this car as it takes nothing specail to buy run or deal with. They only care about MPG and that is what they get.

    The Volt will remain and the price will shrink as well as the range will grow. It will always be a little more expensive but will still be acceptable. GM has long ago understood this car was a slow growth car and if you build it you need to build the market. If they did not build it there would never be a market.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The leaf while being plentiful in Seattle is a joke. Talk about a way over priced as they all are advertised starting at $34K, but on the lot, with the 2nd sticker they are all over $40K. I see a number of them for private sale with a few hundred miles and still priced at over $40K. If you have money to burn I guess you can have a toy, but not worth the time or money in a state where you have to travel due to a very poor mass transit system.

    That's just the thing that worries me about the electric Sonic, we will see them for sale with less than 1000 mi on them. That will be epic fail!
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    I guess the only model really equivalent to the Volt as far the configuration is the Prius Plug In, but it's only about $32k.

    I would still take the Volt over the Prius. It is a way over rated auto. Not to mention that while GM might not have hit it with their original electric car in the 90's, the Prius does show that if you have the right product at the right time it will sell.

    Edited by dfelt
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Why would anyone buy a Nissan Leaf ?? Here's one that run out of juice and couldn't make it in driveway. Look at long extention cord. At least the Volt has gas back up. Buy a Volt.....save a few gallons.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Posts

    • As long as they bundle bags, seating, etc., it's fine.  Frontier is still prominently seen at Denver, with big hangars and stuff like that.  They and Spirit have these "clubs" you belong to to access lower fares and add-ons ... more clutter than I want for my inbox and my mind.
    • Yes, I could see her in Austin. I guess that place has always been mecca for creative types ... sort of like a low cost, inland, flagship university town version of Berkeley. But it's not low cost anymore.  Either way, I've never been a fan of it.  Went to look at as one of the places I'd apply for grad school and left running, not walking.  Just kidding, but ...
    • I remember reading she lived in Austin, Tx for a while in the 70s, knew Stevie Ray Vaughan when he was an up and coming guitarist in the local music scene there...a lot of great blues musicians came out of Texas. 
    • I remember Allegiant used to fly in and out of Mesa Gateway Airport instead of Sky Harbor in the Phoenix area.   Never flown them.  I flew Frontier a lot when I lived in Colorado (they were Denver based 20 years ago), flew Southwest a lot then and when I lived in Arizona.  I've flown very little since moving back to Ohio in 2017, doing more road trips than flying.  I like Delta and American.   
    • Allegiant is out of Las Vegas as a headquarters.  They have a weird route system that is good for people who can use those point to point routes.  They also use secondary airports, like Clearwater-St. Pete instead of Tampa.  I've never flown on them nor on Frontier.  I flew on Spirit once and it was fine. My Big 3 rankings are: 1 United 2 Delta - American (tie) American has been coming up with decent domestic one-way fare numbers, so they're up from 3.  I was on MIA-LAX on their big 777-300.  It was a good flight and full.  The cabin crew was all middle-aged guys.  I've never seen that before, especially on a big plane. They gave out those delicious Biscoff cookies.  One of the attendants was a super sassy Black guy.  I later asked him for some more of those cookies.  He told me they didn't have anymore.  Later, I went to the back galley and another Miami-based flight attendant - he seemed like a Cuban guy - looked in a few bins and gave me a couple of those cookies.  The Black guy was showy and hilarious, but obviously not the best he should be for that job.  Whenever I have asked for an extra snack pack or two on ANY airline, they always give them to me!
  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search