Oct
30
Chevy Volt Supply Chain Needs a Jolt
Posted by: konrad | October 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Image from egmcartech.com
General Motors’ “green” automobile is not bringing in much green.
Since before it was unveiled, industry experts questioned whether the plug-in electric Chevy could compete against popular hybrids with its $40,000 asking price. According to GM, the reception so far has been good. The Volt has managed to attract high income customers, 80% of whom are first-time Chevrolet customers.
So why is GM falling short of its goal of 10,000 sales in the first year?
One big reason is a slow supply chain. Hamtramck Assembly, the factory where Volts are assembled, only started to work at full capacity last month after being closed for four weeks for retooling. At the moment, over two thousand dealerships are still waiting for demo units to be able to begin selling the new car. With the one year anniversary of Volt sales just weeks away and sales at around 4500 units at the end of last month, GM will probably not reach its sales goal. The automaker is betting on the new technology however, and plans to produce 60,000 plug-ins in the next year when the Volt will be sold worldwide.