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.

[JinxRemoving]

The dealer I am ATTEMPTING to get my car from has 18 or so on the lot. They had 11 last week. They have sold 3 this weekend (if they can get Ally to approve me - see my thread in buying/selling). I have also started to see new Volts around Atlanta just in the past week and keep getting texts from friends "volt in front of me driving!". March is going to be a good month.

[bonaire]

Well, they built about 2500 Volts in Feb. and 1500 Amperas. But since early March, the # of Volts nationally on cars.com is just about the same. So, they could possibly sell 2,000 in March. I know the one shop I'm going to visit tomorrow in Buffalo sold 7 in February, just bumped from 3 to 9 on their inventory list.

Interesting thing about them. Most are the base-models and not the feature-rich versions at another dealer in the area who also has 9. The base-model shop is moving them quickly while the other one isn't selling the high-option models. $39,995 looks a lot "better" to someone wanting to get into a lower-priced lease or purchase than $45,600+ for a loaded one. That's about $50/month more on a lease.

[stuart22]

I've said March sales will be good - 1300 is the number I said although I'm thinking it might be low - and April sales will set a new record. As long as GM doesn't get cold feet and screw up, something as good as the Volt can't be held back by bad press. The time is right for Volt sales to take off - the economy is stabilizing and gas prices are going through the roof, just watch - California buyers will force GM to restart production sooner than planned once the HOV Volts show up and fly out of dealer showrooms.

[strangeengine]

W
Interesting thing about them. Most are the base-models and not the feature-rich versions at another dealer in the area who also has 9. The base-model shop is moving them quickly while the other one isn't selling the high-option models.

That's what's happening in CA too. People apparently want the minimum cost to get into the HOV lane.

Me, I wanted all the toys.

- Mark