A week after the Environmental Protection Agency came out with new job killing fuel efficiency standards, we have learned that sales of the electric Chevy Volt, are still dismally bad. The big sales number for July? Government General Motors sold 125 Chevy Volts....total....throughout the entire country.
The July sales numbers are out and the Chevy Volt continues to electrify (get it?) the country. GM sold … 125 Volts last month!
Way back in March I made fun of the Volt for selling 281 units in February. Turns out, February was a good month. But wait, there’s more! GM says they’re going to increase production to 5,000 Volts per month in order to keep up with demand. You see, they claim that the reason the Volt isn’t selling is that they can’t keep enough cars on the lot.
A GM spokeswoman recently claimed that they are “virtually sold out.” Which is virtually true. Mark Modica called around his local Chevy dealers and found plenty of Volts waiting for an environmentally conscious driver to bring them home. All told, GM has sold close to 2,700 Volts.
And the worst part? GM has been misleading about Volts being "sold out":
Sales of the much-hyped Chevy Volt fell to new lows as did GM share price as July auto sales figures came in. Only 125 Volts were sold during the month of July.
Recent reports attributed the slump to supply constraints as GM spokeswoman, Michelle Bunker, was quoted as saying that the Volt was "virtually sold out" and only a "few" were available nationwide. I have confirmed that this statement is not entirely truthful and have gotten clarification from GM through Director of Communications, Greg Martin.
And if you're wondering, the new EPA fuel efficiency standards and regulations will force consumers to sacrifice safety for fuel efficiency, will cost more and will limit consumer choice:
Stringent fuel economy requirements like those set for 2025 will be impossible to meet without sacrificing the safety of the vehicles we'll drive in the future.
That's the prevailing opinion of most automotive engineers surveyed by the industry publication Wards Automotive.
About 75% of auto engineers who responded to the survey felt that a 2025 fuel economy requirement of 56.2 mpg -- slightly higher than the final proposal announced last week -- would jeopardize the safety of future cars and trucks.
Most also felt cars will have to be smaller, more expensive and less varied than they are today with about 90% doubting the goals can be met without sacrifices in vehicle cost, size, safety and choice.
The market isn't demanding Chevy Volt style cars, yet the government is shoving regulations down the throat of consumers, businesses and manufacturers anyway. Fuel efficient cars are great, however they should come as the market demands them, not at the hand of the government. Not to mention the new fuel efficiency regulations are heavily influenced by green lobbying groups in the name of climate change. These groups have no economic stake in how the new regulations will affect business and will not suffer the economic consequences of the new policies either.
The deal was less than what environmentalists and public health advocates wanted, but more than the Detroit Three automakers desired. In a letter to the president last week, Michigan lawmakers called the higher proposal "overly aggressive," after automakers had said they would work to get vehicles averaging 42.6 mpg (18.1 kpl) to 46.7 mpg(19.85 kpl). Green groups, meanwhile, had pushed for a 62 mpg(26.4kpl) target by 2025.
For Obama, who watched his campaign promise on this issue die when Republicans retook control of the House of Representatives in 2010, the compromise provides a way around political roadblocks and offers an opportunity to affect climate change.
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