About 42% of Volts sold through Feb have gone into California
09 March 2011
As of 28 February, GM had sold 982 Volts, with 410 of those (41.8%) being sold in California, according to GM figures. California sales through February include:
- 227 in LA;
- 131 in the San Francisco Bay Area; and
- 52 in San Diego.
The average daily inventory turn for the Chevrolet Volt is the lowest in the GM fleet. GM anticipates making some 10,000 Volts this year with a ramp-up in production in subsequent years. Allocation of the vehicle is currently low due to limited production and in the past two months, many Volts have gone to dealers to be used exclusively as customer test vehicles.
AS OF February 982 Volts may have been sold. What is even more disturbing is that FOR THE MONTH of February, ONLY 281 were sold nationwide.
GM sells just 281 Chevy Volts in February, Nissan only moves 67 Leafs
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/03/01/gm-sells-281-chevy-volts-february-nissan-67-leafs/
Posted by: ejj | 09 March 2011 at 06:44 AM
Very slow start for both. Is it a supply or demand problem?
Posted by: HarveyD | 09 March 2011 at 07:55 AM
I stopped by a local chevy dealer in louiville and they had no idea when they would have a Volt, maybe not even in 2011, they suggested.
So, they appear to be trickling out.
Disappointing numbers anyway. Would think the record high gas prices would be creating interest.
Posted by: danm | 09 March 2011 at 09:45 AM
Nissan is first establishing the EV market in Japan. Better Place is first establishing the EV market in Israel and Denmark.
There are particularly significant Japanese EV incentives in effect only until April 2011. Japan has the high fuel costs, in-place charging stations, and urban densities/ranges to immediately make EVs permanent. All else is token quantities meeting PR commitments until later in 2011.
Remember, the Japanese have witnessed the America people and US big business.
The Japanese have seen US CARB zero emissions laws sued, gutted, and violated. They have seen thousands of EV's on US roads for seven years from 1996 to 2003 being crushed. They have seen their EV-95 battery assembly lines in Japan closed down by US patent rulings. They have paid Chevron Oil $32 million for EV battery patent settlements. They have seen US auto and oil companies collude to bury auto/EV battery technology for decades.
Maybe the Japanese have also seen the US government give $70 billion bailouts to THE inefficient, bankrupt firms that crushed EVs and auto innovation.
Maybe the Japanese have also seen a people that allow such things to happen and even believe leopards change their spots - no matter how many 'Car of the Year' awards are issued for a, at the time, unmarketed vehicle. The same people have allowed 38 years to pass since the 1973 Oil Embargo without a coherent US energy policy, so what's the rush?
America earned it's EV credit rating and EVs seem to arrive accordingly.
Posted by: kelly | 09 March 2011 at 10:43 AM
Low sales numbers so far are a result of low production.
GM appears to only be producing about 300 Volts a month right now.
Nissan shifted nearly all production to their domestic market when it became evident that the Japanese EV credit wasn't going to be extended - hence the low US sales numbers. But Japan has received a large number of them. Nissan is ramping up production and should be hitting a production rate of 4,000 / month by the end of March - at which point Nissan is expecting to have manufactured 10,000 Leafs.
Posted by: Dave R | 09 March 2011 at 12:35 PM
ejj, HarveyD-
Reread the last sentence of the article.
Posted by: Patrick | 09 March 2011 at 03:49 PM
"Allocation of the vehicle is currently low due to limited production and in the past two months, many Volts have gone to dealers to be used exclusively as customer test vehicles."
Ten years after PNGV and the Prius, five years after the Escape hybrid and now they have this. Better late than never.
Posted by: SJC | 12 March 2011 at 11:30 AM