[ZL One]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

In order for them to admit they screwed up, they'd have to see the Volt as some sort of failure. There were 2 goals for the Volt. Reduce Americas dependance on foreign oil, an admittedly lofty (though noble) ambition. The 2nd, and ultimately more achievable, was to kick Toyota in the teeth. And regardless of the sales numbers, just about everyone in the industry will tell you that the Volt is a far more impressive car than the Prius. So I'd say they hit their secondary goal.

The higher ups at GM knew full well that the Volt would lose money at first. But to interpret that confirmation that the Volt was a mistake is missing 2 very important details. First, the project is part of a long term plan -something which is actually rather impressive considering how short sighted companies like GM tend to be. The 2nd generation Volt will cost far less to develop than the first, and the 3rd should cost less than the 2nd. On top of that the build cost per unit should also come down somewhat as formerly new processes become better refined. But none of that can happen until the first cars get built, its simply part of the learning curve when developing technology. And as expensive as it is to make that investment now, it costs the company a whole lot more down the road when they have to catch up to the industry.

The second is the role that the Volt plays as a halo car. People will come into Chevy showrooms to just to check out the Volt. Some will buy one, but chances are there will be more that balk at the price but get steered towards a Cruze or a Sonic instead. Those extra sales would at the very least reduce the loss incurred on the Volt, if not turn a net profit when looking at the big picture.

Well put.