GM to end production of current Chevy Volt
General Motors Co. will halt production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car for the summer to whittle down about seven months of unsold inventory and smooth the way for the next generation of the plug-in hybrid sedan.
The first Volt went on sale in 2010 with high expectations, but sales have been lackluster amid low gasoline prices and the release of more capable electric models from competitors. GM has sold about 70,000 Volts to date, far below initial company forecasts.
Production of the current model, which costs $34,000 and up before federal tax credits, will halt early next month, the Detroit auto maker has said. It will be replaced by a 2016 model with a sleeker design and up to 50 miles range on an electric charge. That second generation Volt will go into production at the end of the summer.
The production hiatus comes after a first quarter in which sales fell well behind Nissan Motor Co.'s Leaf electric car in the U.S. GM sold 1,874 Volts during the three-month period, equivalent to the number of Silverado pickups sold in a day, and in contrast to Nissan's 4,085 Leaf sales. Volt stocks are enough to last 210 days, or until November, at their March sales pace, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Car makers generally like to have about 60 days of inventory at dealers.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gm-to-end-production-of-current-chevy-volt-2015-04-08
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