GM denies report of Chevy Volts rolling away with $49,000 loss on each

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by matt55

Sarcasm ....
yes iam pissed very much that WE (the tax payer) are getting the big root on this.

Wait....................what? The company you claim the taxpayer is getting the big root on here is making money like a mint.

But please keep in mind, as I understand it, the Japanese government essentially grants companies their R&D budgets. The companies then pay back any money used if a certain project goes into production. A differnt methodology. So the creation of the Prius was at very little risk to Toyota.

And lastly, keep in mind the Opel Ampera has 6,000 order so far and growing. So it's a bit more than the Volt sales to spread that investme across.

[C5RocksC5]

woman here at work has one...she said she spent over $43k and regretted it 3 weeks later..too late.

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wyndham

I'm not sure he did...and I'm unclear why people still think it could be?

Cuz money is fungible.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by pdari

woman here at work has one...she said she spent over $43k and regretted it 3 weeks later..too late.

Really? That genuinely shocks me, and now I'm curious if she ever detailed why...two people I know with Volts both love them to death...Outside of the Camaro, and maybe the Mustang, I've never seen such pride in car ownership these days.

Originally Posted by Captain Awesome

Cuz money is fungible.

heh...

[Renegade]

Originally Posted by pdari

woman here at work has one...she said she spent over $43k and regretted it 3 weeks later..too late.

Tell her sell it on Craigslist

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by Number 3

Wait....................what? The company you claim the taxpayer is getting the big root on here is making money like a mint.

Literally. Easy to make the balance sheet look better when you get an injection of tens of billions of dollars you never have to pay back....money which literally did come from a printing press.

Originally Posted by Mr. Wyndham

...two people I know with Volts both love them to death...Outside of the Camaro, and maybe the Mustang, I've never seen such pride in car ownership these days.

Here's the 1.2 billion dollar question, though.....are they really in love with the cars, or are they in love with themselves for buying them? Ever see the "smug alert" South Park episode?

[pgustavson]

^^^ One of my favorite episodes...

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

Literally. Easy to make the balance sheet look better when you get an injection of tens of billions of dollars you never have to pay back....money which literally did come from a printing press.



Here's the 1.2 billion dollar question, though.....are they really in love with the cars, or are they in love with themselves for buying them? Ever see the "smug alert" South Park episode?

That is a classic.

The Toyota "Pious" and the Honda "Hindsight" hybrids.

ROTFL!

[jimmy5]

I could have bought a volt, but, when they cost close to 50 grand, you aren't going to appeal to a wide market, and people that can afford 50 grand cars, can typically afford to put gas in them.
Had they made it an economy car at around 20 grand, it would have been much better. But they priced themselves out of the market.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by jimmy5

I could have bought a volt, but, when they cost close to 50 grand, you aren't going to appeal to a wide market, and people that can afford 50 grand cars, can typically afford to put gas in them.
Had they made it an economy car at around 20 grand, it would have been much better. But they priced themselves out of the market.

But you are missing the simple fact that the Volt technology can't be put in a car for 20,000. You post this like it was simply a matter of choice for GM to price it where they did. It wasn't.

[2SS45th]

I think the Volt is an awesome car, and no matter whether they make money or not, they are an engineering marvel. It's not often anymore that an American company is the first to market with new technology. Second point, this car is saving the Camaro and Corvette. The EPA requires mileage avg. goals for the model lineup, which the Camaro and Vette don't meet. In the end, these electric cars will save the V8s.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

Here's the 1.2 billion dollar question, though.....are they really in love with the cars, or are they in love with themselves for buying them? Ever see the "smug alert" South Park episode?

You could almost say the same thing about anyone with pride of ownership in any product. The justification for fanboyism frequently boils down to their product or company being superior for one reason or another, and the thought of getting anything else is wrong. For Volt owners, the feeling is that they are buying a car that runs on a unique drivetrain that does not require gas for most daily commuters. Is it wrong to feel good about that? How much would you pay to drive something that makes you feel proud? Would you pay tens of thousands?

Almost all of us on Camaro5 have committed to the purchase of something expensive to avoid the criticism inherent from our peers that our purchases could have been better. There's a lot of peer pressure out there to get a "real" muscle car, so anyone with less than 8 cylinders and an automatic transmission can feel smug about driving a "real" muscle car. Is it wrong to have pride in a big V8 and to have that man-on-machine control of how the transmission works? It's ironic how so many of us are eager to judge someone else for feeling pride in their product when we similarly feel a pride in ours.

That is why we have car enthusiasts. We all have an enthusiasm for an automotive product. I like GM products, but I can respect your Mustang as a competing product in my segment. These Volt guys aren't in our segment, but I can respect the pride they have in driving something different, just like my Firebird is different from roads and lots filled with family sedans. This sort of pride keeps car companies going.

[jimmy5]

Originally Posted by Number 3

But you are missing the simple fact that the Volt technology can't be put in a car for 20,000. You post this like it was simply a matter of choice for GM to price it where they did. It wasn't.

Well then the obvious answer should have been not to develop a $40,000+ economy car.
During all of this no one in their right mind should have realistically thought that this car would sell enough at the price they marked it at to turn a profit. I realize the government forced this since they are majority shareholders. But it's a clear example of good thought, terrible execution.

[AZCamaroFan]

i wonder if the Camaro had failed to sell if i'd see people posting here "The Government is wasting our money!"