Lutz: Volt will cost $40,000, first-gen will lose money
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Lutz: Volt will cost $40,000, first-gen will lose money
Bob Lutz revealed to the Seattle Times that the price point for his company's Chevy Volt series hybrid electric vehicle will be $40,000, or around $10,000 more than originally estimated. Lutz also told the paper that the first-generation of the Volt would generate no profit for General Motors. There's still hope for buyers who were hoping to snag a Volt closer to $30,000, as potential tax incentives on state and federal levels could trim the price substantially. Congress is currently considering proposed legislation for plug-in hybrid tax credits on the order of around $7,000. Still, there's no telling what demand there will be for the Volt, and if it's higher than the supply, we could see markups on GM's high-tech hybrid from dealers who are trying to survive this transition from a market dominated by profitable trucks and SUVs to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles. According to Lutz, however, cars like the Volt are the way of the future, and GM's car czar expects that between 2020 and 2025 a quarter to a half of all vehicles sold will be either electric- or hydrogen-powered. We'd put our money on electric, as this country has not gotten serious yet about building a distribution network for hydrogen.
I'll guarantee the chevy dealers will mark this thing up all to hell and back. I'll guess $5-$10K over sticker will be the norm until initial demand has been satisfied, and that could take a long time if gas prices keep going up.
Lexus Champion
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From: The Woodlands, TX
$40K is too high....but with the $7000 tax credit its acceptable if the performance specs hold up.
the mark-ups will be a different story. I'm sure the crap dealerships will do this; hopefully not all of them + by that time the next gen Prius will be out anyway
the mark-ups will be a different story. I'm sure the crap dealerships will do this; hopefully not all of them + by that time the next gen Prius will be out anyway
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From: Massachusetts
All this time I thought it was going to be a car "real" people could own.
Now we hear it's going to be priced like a luxury car. Nice one GM!
If Toyota can build the super high tech Prius and sell it for $23K, then GM hasn't figured out manufacturing efficiency yet. I understand the Volt is different and is a plug in, but still. I had a mindset of high 20's for this car.
Lead Lap
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From: IL
All this time I thought it was going to be a car "real" people could own.
Now we hear it's going to be priced like a luxury car. Nice one GM!
If Toyota can build the super high tech Prius and sell it for $23K, then GM hasn't figured out manufacturing efficiency yet. I understand the Volt is different and is a plug in, but still. I had a mindset of high 20's for this car.
I thought this car is for the everyday Joe who's having trouble paying $4/gal for gas. If Joe cant afford gas at $4/gal then how is he supposed to afford a $40K+ car?
We don't know what the final specs will be but it seems a fair bet that the current Prius won't have the economy / electric-only-range that the Volt will have, so I don't think they're very comparable, but I could be wrong.
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Racer
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From: so. cal
When the Volt is released it will be competing with the 3rd Gen Prius, and right now we have no idea what the 3rd gen Prius is capable of, or what it will be packing, GM showed its hands way too early
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: The Woodlands, TX
GM just needs to keep the Bowling Green plant going and discontinue everything else
Last edited by bagwell; Jun 20, 2008 at 10:31 AM.
Lexus Fanatic
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From: Massachusetts
As far as I'm concerned, if you can afford a $40K car, you're in no place to complain that you can't afford gas.
Let's call the Volt a $15K premium over a comparable $25K car. That premium will buy you 3,750 gallons of $4 gas. At the 30 mpg you get with many cars, you could drive 112,500 miles with that extra money.
In other words, you could buy a $25k car and drive it for "free" for 112,500 miles which in many cases is as many miles as most people put on their cars before getting rid of it.Hahahahahahahaha............!
So again, this makes NO economic sense whatsoever.
Anybody who buys the Volt to "save money" will be an official idiot.