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Originally Posted by truth411
 Also you menchion the plug in prius being cheaper but completely DISMISS the fact that the volt is outselling the plugin prius by a wwide margin. |
That's not necessarily a point in the Volt's favor. That even Toyota is struggling to sell a plug-in version of the Prius is an indication of just how small this market is.
And yes, I recognize that all cars take a period of time before the development costs are recouped, but that amount of time has to be small, and figured into the business plan. The Cruze has a short payback time as they sell in very high numbers. Problem with the Volt is the market and volumes are so low, the payback time is going to greatly exceed the actual production run.
So unless the Volt is going to go decades between changes, it's a money loser, and will be until they can figure out how to sell them in the hundreds of thousands. Given the availability of raw materials to make the batteries, and the very high cost of those batteries, I don't ever see that happening in any foreseeable time frame. Yes, cost will come down somewhat, but it will only be able to come down so much. Ultimately, the premium on this car is going to be too high to attract the volume of buyers they need, particularly when you factor in that the batteries will probably only last half to two-thirds as long as a conventional powertrain.
Now, if they can rebadge it as a Cadillac, and convince enough high end luxury buyers it is worth $70K or more, it might be a different story. But that in itself is a big if.