Upon taking the helm, GM CEO and Chairman Ed Whitacre recognized the tremendous value and importance of the Chevrolet Volt.
He has admitted he wanted the Volts to roll out prior to the planned launch date of November 2010, even in small numbers. In an exclusive one to one interview with him, Mr. Whitacre told GM-Volt “I did ask them (the Volt team) ‘If I gave you another billion dollars could you get it out sooner? They said no because its all about testing.”
Even though full scale rollout couldn’t be done, Whitacre still wanted at least a few cars to get in the hands of the public early on. “We’re going to have a few out early,” he said
However, the Detroit Press has just learned that the company is becoming fearful about even letting a few cars into the public early.
Though some executives still want it to happen there are apparently obstacles. The plan has “a number of problems, and the car isn’t one of them” one source told the Free Press.
The Volt team is concerned the cars will still need routine “tweaks and changes” that go on right until rollout, that early cars won’t have in place. The could result in creating public misunderstandings that could lead to a public relations problem. The Volt is after all GM’s most important public relation move in decades.
Some executives therefore don’t want to chance any potential for a flawed launch and are strongly considering sandbagging the early Volt plan.
“There’s a lot of hard work that needs to be done between now and November, but the team remains on target to deliver,” GM spokesman Rob Peterson told the Free Press.
Source (Detroit Free Press)




