Friday, January 6, 2012

The Shock And Blah Of The Chevy Volt

I think General Motors (GM) can be very thankful that the Chevy Volt was such such a flop in the marketplace. After all, having to recall an entire run of a particular line of vehicles could have been quite expensive. But, thanks to the intelligence of the American consumer, a little less than 8,000 of these firetraps have been sold to date -- well short of the 10,000 vehicles that GM had predicted they would sell by this point in time.

Then there was the news that GM may move its production of the Volt to China. If there ever was an admission by a company that it was losing money on making a product, this is it. I don't know if anyone remembers but, GM originally announced that the price of the Volt would be around $47,000. But, after Obama took over the company, the Volt hit the showrooms with a much lower price tag of $41,000; making me think that the real cost to produce this car is somewhat higher than the selling price. You think, maybe, that Obama's Car Czar had something to do with the lousy pricing? It's obvious that GM is losing money on these eco-nut vehicles. Enough of a loss, that it makes sense to replicate the current Volt production facilities in China; train new workers; and, then, ship the vehicles back to the U.S for distribution to the dealers. Of course, China's biggest cost saver is the fact that they don't have a United Auto Workers union.

This is just another example of Obama trying to force feed America with "green" technology. Like Solyndra, the Volt is a loser. And, like Solyndra, the American taxpayer is on the hook for keeping this pig alive with a $7,000 tax rebate for anyone buying one. A tax break that only benefits the wealthy who can afford to buy a $41,000 glorified golf cart. Now, it looks like those tax breaks will, at sometime, subsidize jobs in China. Thank you, Mr. Obama!

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