AutoblogGreen

"On the other hand, people complain about the prospect of the Volt costing $40,000, "

$40,000... which brings it above what most people can afford. Not exactly a savior (which GM needs to stay alive) when its priced out the range of what most customers can afford. They will be disappointed, walk to the next dealership, and buy a plug-in Pruis, which comes out a year early at about 10xs the production rate of the Volt.

"it will have the flexibility to run on gas when necessary (to get you to the next place to recharge), and will be built by a company that has been making vehicles for 100 years."

A company.... with a record of building underwhelming, poor quality cars over the last decade. A company with a business strategy so bad there are serious doubts about whether it will make it to the year 2010. People don't want two weak engines feeding off each other - they want one strong engine that can take where they need to go and back home at minimum cost, preferably without every having to buy gas.

"And in this case, people like Axiom above call it gimmick."

What do you call a high MRP with flat-line production numbers (10K units) and what will have been a 4 year PR stunt (if and when its released in 2011) detailing every bit of progress? A GIMMICK. The Toyota Prius will be producing over 100,000 units of their plugin in 2010. THAT, is what you call serious backing. GM meanwhile plans to keep production of the Volt very, very low, with no mention of expending the supposedly revolutionary tech to their other vehicles.

Telsa is a startup and has very legitimate reasons for initial limited production. However even their stated goal of producing 100K units annually is higher that what GM plans to eventually produce for the Volt (60K units annually). GM IS NOT serious about the Volt.

If it ever gets released, seeing a Volt will be like seeing a Hummer. Every once in a while you'll see some guy drive by in his Volt, you turn your head and look, and then get back to thinking about buying some other car that gets good mileage and is actually affordable. When Telsa releases its $30K Sedan in 4 years, THAT will be the new Prius.

UH2L, the reason why Tesla is the "darling" and GM is not is of course the history. Tesla Motors was born "out of nothing" to show that an electric can be made as a viable product. Facing tremendous odds they've delivered the Roadster and are well on their way to delivering a more main-stream product.

GM, of course, has a [negative] legacy of EV-1 to overcome. A 100 year old company should know something about planning for the next 100 years. Every passing day reveals how wrong they were about nipping EV-1 Program in the bud. Instead of leading as they should, GM is playing catchup to a start-up. I hope the lessons are learned and Volt is introduced on time or, by miracle or sheer will, sooner. Then we can talk about GM ...

GM is supposed to introduce the plug in two mode Saturn VUE very soon.

There is no reason why this drivetrain won't work in a Malibu or Cobalt/Cruze.

Unfortunately, GM has been wasting their R&D money on the Volt. So we'll have to wait for truly impressive parallel hybrids from GM.

Tesla is purposely delaying the delivery of cars to customers because their powertrain 1.5 is almost ready for production. It produces more torque and is more efficient than their powertrain 1.0. They have publicly stated that they will retrofit every Tesla roadster that has a powertrain 1.0 with the powertrain 1.5 once it is production ready. They released the cars with the powertrain 1.0 to a selected customers who are actually doing final quality assurance testing if you think about it.

Releasing cars with the powertrain 1.0 allows Tesla to beat the big automakers to market. They got so much press from it. The big automakers are no where close to production releases with their cars. Tesla has such a huge jump on the competition. We hear a lot about the Chevy Volt but it will be over a year before one rolls off the assembly line.

There will be more excitement when the powertrain 1.5 is production ready. They will then ramp up production because that really is the first final product that will not be retrofitted.

uhh...that would be Ford. They said they are 5 years
out. Will they last that long?

"In his own words Axiom describes Tesla. To him a half dozen $100K roadsters = production while 10K units of a $40K sedan is a gimmick. Axiom, your bias is showing. And Elon "mentions" a $30K sedan to follow the Model S introduction...now that sounds like a "plan" doesn't it?"

You are comparing two completely different cars, The Roadster is not intended to be a mass produced, affordable car - which the Volt is, or rather, WAS intended to be.


"A decade from now GM will be building and selling high volumes of economical cars of various designs and Tesla will be another foot note in automotive history."

If GM lives it will be because they beat Tesla at their own game (electric cars) which would mean GM would have converted the majority of its fleet to pure-electrics or plug-in hybrids by the middle of the next decade. If that happens, more power to 'em. But their ploy with the Volt shows they have ZERO intention of doing anything like that, and so it can be assumed the same idiots that almost brought complete bankruptcy to GM are still at the reigns. I expect bankruptcy shortly before or after the Volt - IF by some miracle they can survive for another 6 months.

"No chance GM will be going bankrupt, not with the jobs (and the votes) they represent. If necessary, they'll get their own line of credit with the Fed."


Good to know we've completely transitioned to a Fascist government, where corporations don't need to worry about petty things like market strategy or business practice. If you have enough people working for you the government will JUST BAIL YOU OUT! Or not. But then again I thought you people always preached the virtue of "free markets". Since we're so pro-annexing corporations for the benefit of voters, why don't we annex some of Exxon's profits. Oh thats right, "free market blah blah blaaah".

Too bad Obama is against the idea of a bailout, there will no free lunch for GM! They better hurry up and file chapter 11 while the chimp is still in office! Only a few months left!

"Nobody is talking Chapter 7 bankruptcy, i.e. liquidation."

Nobody who? you?

Merrill says GM bankruptcy possible
Wed Jul 2, 2008
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp will need to raise as much as $15 billion in cash to shore up liquidity and bankruptcy is "not impossible" if the U.S. auto market continues to slump, Merrill Lynch said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKN0244077620080702

And not even two weeks later...............

GM Hopes to Add $15 Billion in Liquidity; Cuts Dividend
By Reuters | 15 Jul 2008 |
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25685707/site/14081545

It looks like GM is just hanging by its coat tails. Its also interesting that the article says GM will soon begin borrowing money from the UAW. LOL!

Here is another interesting quote from that second article:

"Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson called the cost-cutting targets "relatively credible" but said the overall plan fell short of a vision for renewal. "The announcements offered little sense of a 'new' GM strategy or shift in the organizational culture that might set the stage for a more dramatic reinvention," he said in a note to clients. "

Hmmm. I have a major new strategy for GM. Bring back the EV1, make it half your fleet, and sell it at $12,000. It will be cheered as the "new model T" and GM will be saved!