Quote:
Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65
That's a very narrow minded point of view, but to each his own.
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It was more tongue-in-cheek, but since you're punching and running commenting on my personal opinion/views, could you please explain how it's narrow-minded? I'll start by providing some insight to the conclusion I made about my axiom #2...
Volts aren't flying off the lots and parked in many people's garage according to sales figures. Extrapolation makes > 99% general car buying public narrow-minded by those standards. Thus, I'd say it was a more normal view and Volt-lovers are the narrow-minded ones. I guess it depends on which side of the fence you're on.
There's a huge difference between the cost and the value. And a huge difference between supply and demand. The Volt, et al, are being forced on the buying public by- well, let's call them external forces. "Force feed it to the people and they'll develop a taste for it." Or more gently, "Build it, and they will come (once we get the government to give out huge tax breaks)."
Compared to the ZL1 or Camaro SS convertible on the other hand, I'm betting if you compare sales figures, the Camaros outsell the Volt by a wide margin, yet are priced significantly higher, if you count the price break. So it's definitely not a cost issue IMO. I think it's more of a perceived value issue than anything else. Even at $3.50 per gallon people aren't flocking to EVs.
Fire hazard potential aside, if the marketing research people did their homework, they may have figured out they'd sell <10,000 units and wouldn't have tossed the vehicle out to the buying public just yet. Highly innovative in design, from a marketing standpoint it isn't hitting any home runs (sports reference).
By no means am I anti-GM. In fact, there's no other car company on the planet that I'd want to buy my vehicles from. I simply believe in this case, the artificial demand placed on them to develop and market a vehicle that seemingly few people want is completely backwards business model than their tried/true consumer demand asking for more supply. There's not much of an argument that the Volt is a nice example of what a family EV should be. It's ahead of its time, I think.
And I wonder if these same external forces are going to artifically manipulate the fuel prices to create more artificial demand for EV's in general so the external forces can call it a "success". It's speculation, but the possibility is real as it's already been threatened.
I always reserve the right to change my mind, but so far, there isn't a thing out there at this time that makes me want to run down to the Chevy dealer and scope out the Volt. Sorry to dissapoint. But I wouldn't say it's narrow-minded. It's more of a carefully-considered conclusion for me and my family's vehicle needs.