GM Dumps the Chevy Volt While Saying Cars Like the Volt are its Future

by
Steve MacDonald

If electric vehicles are the car of the future, then the Chevy Volt was GM’s walk before you crawl. Or something. It was too expensive, only sold “well” (at all) when you and I were subsidizing it, and it was too small*. With the free money driving off into the sunset Electric and hybrid car makers have had to rethink their costs and incentives. At GM this looks like ending production on the Volt and laying off 15,000 workers.

Related: With Every Purchase of a Chevy Volt….Free House in Detroit!

The layoffs are not all the fault of the Volt. GM is doing some restructuring that includes a leaner future filled with Electric and hybrid vehicles people may want to buy but still can’t truly afford. Don’t be sad. Until then you can still get GM’s Chevy Bolt (for just under $40,000) to transport yourself your gender-less cats and a reusable grocery bag filled with Kale, Swiss Chard, Daikon, and fair-trade vegan steak tartare.

Or, try Mercedes. Your Chard will turn a lot more heads in either a sedan or a crossover you can buy for less.

What Does GM’s Future Look Like?

Without government bailouts, GM looks like every other company that let its costs and overhead get out of hand. But with other auto-makers forging inroads on vehicles powered by coal and gas (mostly to meet the unrealistic CAFE standards so they can make money on other fossil -fuel powered cars people want) GM believes “low emissions” vehicles are the future.

“GM now intends to prioritize future vehicle investments in its next-generation battery-electric architectures,” states the announcement. “As the current vehicle portfolio is optimized, it is expected that more than 75 percent of GM’s global sales volume will come from five vehicle architectures by early next decade.”

GM did have to do something. And we can’t say what the five vehicle architectures will be, but we can guess. *At least one will be an electric/hybrid crossover or SUV. Americans are willing to finance a vehicle for more than 5-years if it gets good mileage, is roomy enough for people, things, and virtue signaling, and will last longer than six years. (See the above noted Mercedes Sedan and Crossover for under 35,000.00 as examples).

Foreign hybrids from companies like Toyota and Honda come with a promise (or at least a perception) of quality and longevity GM cars lack. We have four Honda’s at our house. The oldest is 14-years-old and still a reliable workhorse. Maintenance is typical, and there are no surprises. GM needs that to succeed no matter what they try to sell.

If they can rebuild that, they have a long happy future. If not, restructuring is just a step on a path to creative destruction. Someone else will buy up the pieces, and GM will become part of automotive history.

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

Share to...