March sales will be weak.....

[Jedi2155]

I believe March sales will be very weak.....why do I think this? Well I just stopped by my dealer again today, and they have ZERO volts remaining! They had 17 a month ago, and now they're all sold!

They told me they're expecting shipment for the CA HOV volts in 2 weeks, which brings the date to around March 24th, whereby they only have 1 week to make it into the March sales numbers. I predict we're going to see a lot of sales on April to make up for the limited supply of Volts in March.

Never fear, the Volt will return with a Vengeance with the CA HOV stickers...

[strangeengine]

I picked up my new HOV Volt at Fremont Chevrolet this morning and there were three other people taking delivery of Volts at the same time. They've sold all the cars they've got coming in the next couple of weeks.

- Mark

[DonC]

I think March will be a decent month for Volt sales, perhaps even the best month ever. April should be good as well. But we're not talking Cruze numbers here, though the Volt may be the best selling $40K compact in the history of the auto industry!

[Room_A113]

I've always thought the Volt could match BMW 3-series numbers, which MRSP's from $35K-$60K. BMW sells about 8,000 3's per month in the US, or about 100,000/year. IMHO, if GM had branded the Volt as a Cadillac they could have started it at $45K and sold more. Chevy buyers don't expect a $40K car unless it's a high-end Camaro or low-end Corvette.

[Jedi2155]

It's my opinion that the Volt should match or surpass BMW 3 series sales if the public properly understood the pro's and con's of the vehicle.

[Koz]

Disagree. As long as GM is shipping dealer's orders, I believe sales should exceed 2k. The anecdotal evidence of activity on this site with new owners and soon to be owners suggests good March sales as well.

[mustardman]

I think March will be a decent month for Volt sales, perhaps even the best month ever. April should be good as well. But we're not talking Cruze numbers here, though the Volt may be the best selling $40K compact in the history of the auto industry!

...and that is what we are talking about in a nutshell. At the end of the day it's a very expensive compact. This is the reality of aiming for the mass market.

A lot of you people around here seem to have quite unrealistic expectations. It's already a very successful electric car. Look at it that way if it makes you happy. It will never be a highly successful mass market car until the price comes down. That won't happen anytime soon. Hopefully GM understands that (sometimes I wonder) and sticks with it for the long term like they should have with the EV1