If the Volt is really going to be such a great car, then why this? "One of GM's touted new automobiles sat on display in the center of the automaker's airport gift shop. It was not the coming electric car, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt..."
It's what they actually sell that counts. How many Volt or Camaro is what matters. Where does the money come from to sustain business? .
There's your answer. GM has to sell what it has developed, get some return on it's investment including cars like the Camaro that seemed like a good bet when developed started. Ford's timing on the retro Mustang seems to have paid off, Camaro & Challenger not so much. The only way to know where GM's head is at, would be to know exactly where there current development efforts are at, which we can't know exactly. While the crowd here wants fuel efficient cars (me included), I am not convinced the mainstream audience is (yet), and carmakers have to make what they can sell. Automakers can't switch (model) gears on dime just because consumers do. Second guessing business has become a great American sport, hindsight is a wonderful thing...
<AHEM>GM is in bankruptcy. The old management has been removed and the board of directors turned into a peanut gallery. The company is being taken apart and hopefully transplanted into new entities that can survive. I have no idea what the former GM parts will pursue in the future. I'm hoping they will address the growing shortage of fossil fuel and start making products that I might consider. About two weeks ago, I voted my confidence with $24,250 on a ZVW30. I did it because there was nothing, absolutely nothing, in the GM, Chrysler, VW, BMW, or other car lots that even came close. There are other interesting hybrids that don't meet our family needs that I would consider. So I'm hoping that freed of the legacy management, the surviving GM and Chrysler parts may 'get a clue.' But I had to vote and maybe seeing our $24,250 go to the ZVW30 might tempt them to 'get a clue.' Maybe not, it is their free will. Bob Wilson
GM is in transition. You could say Camaro is the old GM, Volt is the new GM. The government now owns about 60% of GM. That means the Volt and other fuel and carbon efficient vehicles will probably figure much more in GM's future than the Camaro.
Yup. If both vehicles are just for show and very few are actually sold, it truly is just about image. If Camaro becomes a dominant vehicle, they've basically learned nothing and simply shifted from one type of guzzler to another. If Volt (the $40,000 configuration) becomes a dominant vehicle, I will be beside myself. Even some enthusiasts are now begging for a choice of one that's affordable. Prius nailed the price/efficiency balance. For GM to also achieve a high-volume product like that, they need to rethink Volt configuration. Even the task-force is saying too little, too slowly. The negative cashflow it will require for a number of years still simply doesn't make sense. The goal should be to reach millions with the new technology. .
Corporate cultures run deep. Changing the CEO and the board of directors changes just the veneer. As strange as it may sound, the best action may be the partitioning of GM into seperate companies. Just like the breakup of Ma Bell into the Baby Bells allowed competing phones services.
As quoted in this article, GM's Lutz does not seem to think much of "price/efficiency balance" as a selling point to the American car buyer. Instead, he focuses on what I would call the "coolness factor" of the Camaro and Corvette. It does not seem to me that the Volt contains $40,000 worth of cool.
On the internet there are websites where people place real money at odds, on the outcome of future events. Due to my current geographical location, there are many 'betting sites' that I cannot access If anybody feels like it, find out what odds are now being bought/sold on GM offering Volt to the public in 2010, 2011, etc. I'd like to know...
