Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragoneye
It is true...but the initial plan for production was only something like 10,000 cars...maybe 12,000. I've read they're trying to increase that, but battery supply is tight this first year. I'm sure allocation plans reflect that.
And besides...most buyers still think they HAVE to bring their vehicle into the dealer they bought it from to get repaired...how many do you think realize they can order from out of town? Let alone out of state.....
How do you know who's flocking to test drive them? Over 250,000 have expressed a serious interest in the vehicles, I wouldn't exactly call that a "lack of"...so I'd hope half of them at least want to actually go see/drive the car now that it's out. The buying part, as we're aware...is a little more difficult given the slow, methodical release schedule.
As for price...with the tax incentive...the cost is around $32,500, and a similarly equipped mid-sized sedan from any manufacturer is going to be darn close to that (the Volt is "loaded"!) Then factor in the fuel savings (or total elimination), and the cost becomes equivalent very shortly into its lifespan. Again, if we're comparing similarly-equipped cars. If that's not convincing enough, consider it has a lease rate of $350 a month. The same as a seriously inferior Leaf, and not very much higher than a typical rate nowadays....I understand though, that not everyone likes to lease.
The Volt suffers from a severe case of sticker shock, that's about it.
You can expect price to drop respectably in coming years. Like all consumer electronics. The cost of the battery itself could get you into a brand new Cruze...that will come down once as the technology matures.
|
If the price drops by $10,000, and the tax incentive is still in place, it will sell a lot of vehicles without a doubt in the current economy with gas at $4 a gallon.
Perhaps the demand would outpace the supply of 10,000 vehicles per year if the price was $22,000 after incentives and we would see ridiculous dealer markups and so forth bringing it back up to $30,000 if demand was that high. I think having dealer markups are better than having the MSRP initially be so high. At least it could be advertised at the lower price point and more would have the incentive to go and test drive it. Currently I do not even want to go and test drive it since it is too high a price in comparison for what you are getting in my opinion. Also, I was one of those 250,000 who was interested and put my e-mail on the GM website as well as letting Eric Hall know to give me info on the Volt's price before it was announced.