GM Stops Chevy Volt Production to Trim Inventory
By Mike Colias, Automotive News
General Motors will idle the Detroit-area assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt for more than a month to curb rising inventories of the plug-in hybrid.
On March 1, GM told 1,300 workers at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan that it will shut down production for five weeks, starting the week of March 19.
GM plans to resume production on April 23, spokesman Chris Lee said.
"We need to maintain the right inventory levels and continue to meet demand," Lee said.
At the end of February, GM's Volt inventory stood at 6,300 units, enough to last 154 days at current sales rates.
Volt sales rebounded in February to 1,023 units. January's sales of 603 units marked a five-month low following a federal investigation into battery fires in the Volt.
Federal regulators closed the probe in January after determining the Volt was safe.
The plan to suspend Volt output was reported Friday by The Detroit Free Press.
Production of the redesigned Chevy Malibu is slated to start at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant later this year, once new engines become available. For now, the Volt and its sister car, the Opel Ampera, are the only vehicles assembled there.
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Another answer to a question that nobody asked! More "Green" (Read that ultra expensive) nonsense for a totally convoluted world of liberals and free thinkers. Think the 15 Trillion national debt scheduled to go to 20 in a year or so, and they don't even blink their eyes. And the music goes on and on and on........
Another tangible and useless example of government gone mad. Tangible so you libs should be able to get a hold on it and know that it truly exists.
When Corollas, Civics, Cruze, Fiesta, etc. all now show MPG's of over 40, who can justify this piece of ultra engineering that costs more than twice as much and in the real world shows an MPG of 37???????? I could go on, but why?????
What a damn shame in such a fine (sometime ago) country of free people.
The Volt fire issue raised by NHTSA was bogus, but the unintended acceleration issue at Toyota WASN'T. Slight difference, wouldn't you say?
The Toyota pedal issue wasn't bogus, but it most certainly was blown way out of proportion. In many ways, it really did resemble the Audi acceleration issue in the 1980s.
The problem though, TXMX-5EE, is that you are comparing old GM to old Honda/Toyota. I don't doubt for a second that the cars you owned in the PAST held up well. But I don't have enough confidence to gamble the type of money they are asking for their CURRENT products. Do a quick google search for the Honda forums. Some of the most die hard Honda fans who own the new models have nothing but negative things to say about them. The new six speed auto in the Odyssey is already starting to look a lot like the old 5 speed (as in replace once a year or every 30k miles whichever comes first). I know Honda is working on re-fresh already for the Civic. Maybe they will fix it. But I will let everyone else be the guinea pig on that one. The CEOs of both Honda and Toyota have admitted that their quality has slipped, and, according to frostyross, that is more then enough reason to avoid any auto company.
When either company gets back to their roots and starts producing quality, sporty, and attractive automobiles again, I will be happy to consider one for my next purchase. Until then I will stick with what works best for me.
The opposite happened and everybody wonders if Chevy will ever built a quality car again. I hope one day they do.
The failure of the Volt has NOTHING to do with its quality. In fact, the Volt has been nearly universally listed as a very high quality vehicle. The failure is actually the result of the high price tag and poor marketing (most people don't understand it). The fact that several people here have ignorantly compared it to the Prius is proof of that. Their ignorance is really GM's fault for not educating them properly
As far as Chevy (as a company) building a quality car, they have been doing that for some time now. Compare a Cruz to the NEW GENERATION Civic and you will know what I am talking about. The fit and finish of the newer GM models has improved leaps and bounds over previous models while Honda has significantly lowered their budgets on their newer products to save on costs. Unfortunately, the Civic is not the only example of this. For Honda, it's a short term gain (cost savings) for a long term loss. I hope it doesn't bite them too hard.
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