click above for more high-res images of the Chevy Volt Concept
Wired magazine got in the queue for some face time with Bob Lutz at the Detroit Auto Show, and came back with a quote that's raised a few brows. When asked what the target market for the car would be, Lutz said "I don't know. You'd like to have it at about $30,000 for the customer, but what I'm hearing from the team is we're not going to get there.... [I]f it costs closer to 40 than 30, well, that's too bad."
The issue is the timeline. His engineering team said that if they had more time they could cost-optimize the car, but Lutz doesn't want to wait for that. As for the recent go-round about when the Volt would appear, November 2010 is such a firm deadline in his mind that when it comes to the internal team, his only question is: "What is there about November 2010 that you don't understand?"
Lutz must know how important it will be to price this car competitively. A $40,000 Volt before you start checking options boxes will do a lot to keep people looking elsewhere for green options. For Lutz, though, the Volt -- like the moon landing -- is much about prestige, saying, "If it doesn't work, it's not fatal. But if it does work, it will be sensational." It is also just as much about a return to the kind of design and technological form that the marque hasn't seen in a long time. "GM's credibility is rapidly returning and it's beginning to be reflected in the marketplace.," Lutz said, "[b]ut there is no doubt you'd like to be able to leapfrog Toyota and come out with a car they aren't ready to do. There's nothing magic about the technology. Two or three years after the Volt is introduced, everybody will have something like it. We'd just like to be first for once."
[Source: Wired]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
TriShield @ Jan 27th 2008 11:35AM
If it ends up actually going 40 miles on electricity alone it will find an audience. If it doesn't quite make it they will probably still have a good seller on their hands, and I don't doubt they could do a more affordable model after it's initially released.
zamafir @ Jan 27th 2008 12:31PM
Yeah i think the issue here is that GM isn't Audi or Toyota, both of whom recently entered uncharted territory for their respective companies (Audi with the MK1 A8 and Toyota with the Prius) by selling said first models at a loss to make them more palatable to the consumer understanding the great payoff down the road. GM, I just don't see that kind of 6-10 year strategy in a lot of their planning, esp with notions of having customers lease the batteries in the Volt. It's a pity GM isn't flush with record years upon years of growth and profits like either of the aforementioned companies, esle they might actually be able to follow that tried and true business model and really have a slam dunk on their hands should this car ever actually move past vapor.
Reality_check @ Jan 27th 2008 2:08PM
HAHAHA,
40K is the price TO NOT pay for gas, talk about plain old stupidity, if you can't build the car, don't build it, i mean stop forcing this, stop the lameless excuses "oh is too expesive" "oh 2010 build, not built by 2010, wait yes we are going to build it by 2010,
By the way, somebody has to be out of their mind, i mean totally insane to choose the fugly volt over the Honda FCX CLARITY, i mean: http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/?from=fcx.honda.com
BOB LUTZ: HERE'S YOUR SIGN!
psarhjinian @ Jan 27th 2008 4:54PM
@zamafir,
If GM hadn't pissed away the last thirty years' worth of profits and customer goodwill, they could have afforded to make a loss-leader like the Prius. If they had decided to actually _make_ a mass-production EV/PZEV (and no, a 1-state special like the EV1 doesn't count) instead of gong-banging concepts (and crap the like Cavalier) ten or more years ago, perhaps they wouldn't look so desperate now.
GM's current position is largely their own doing. Good for them for trying to claw their way out, but it's not like they didn't dig themselves there in the first place.
Michael Ishigaki @ Jan 27th 2008 10:43PM
I don't know... At least slap a Cadillac logo on it.
The domestics just can't seem to get things right. It would be automobile paradise if they could.
Jeff @ Jan 28th 2008 11:14AM
Um, you realize the FCX Clarity isn't going to be a real production car, right? A few hundred randomly selected customers will be able to lease one. The lease is heavily subsidized by Honda. The point of releasing them is to test hydrogen tech for the future. Right now, they couldn't sell a hydrogen car like the FCX Clarity because it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce each car.
MemphisNET @ Jan 27th 2008 11:45AM
It's a shame that it may not meet its original projected price initially... I was really looking forward to a 30k Volt.
However, I don't think this will be the Volts downfall. It will find an audience (both Hollywood celebs and other well-to-do's) or even a single car family who wants a premium vehicle. Not necessarily in inside fit & finish and luxury, but in technology.
And if they can get a Malibu like interior in there, it will be still be a nice place to be.
geo.stewart @ Jan 27th 2008 3:37PM
3 yrs away. we'll just have to wait and see. Lutz is smart to have a firm date. when developing tech, its the go ugly early philosophy. for this technology, the ugly will be the price but it will be important for GM to deliver on time and more importantly first. price will come down as competition increases, as is typical with vehicles and any other technology (PC, electronics, phones,...)
mr @ Jan 27th 2008 11:55AM
Jesus. When is GM going to put a muzzle on this guy? Everything he says is PR damage.
DKB_SATX @ Jan 27th 2008 12:23PM
Muzzle, noose, SOMETHING.
Cornholio @ Jan 27th 2008 2:40PM
Better yet, get rid of him. More talk than action, it seems.
40K is WAY too much. That's well above the price point it needs for wide adoption. The typical Camry buyer won't pop for this - the price differential is too large.
You need to go back to the drawing board, Bob, and drive more cost out of this thing. Drop the "hell or high water" date and do it right.
Daniel @ Jan 30th 2008 12:43AM
Is this clown for real?
Kev @ Jan 27th 2008 11:58AM
This car will never be built.
Ani @ Jan 27th 2008 12:03PM
I see that you can see the future. Can you tell me what Google's stock price will be in 2010.
Polly Prissy Pants @ Jan 27th 2008 8:27PM
A few months ago I would have said you were crazy but now I'm starting to come around. GM says Volt production will start in 34 months yet they can't even get it together enough to get a crummy BAS Malibu on dealer lots. Where's the compact hybrid sedan? Where's the 'real' hybrid mid-size sedan? Where's the hybrid anything that isn't a frickin truck?
In the real world, GM has essentially no hybrid presence, yet we're supposed to believe they can go full electric in a little over 2.5 years? Whatever. And even if they do, they better not do it at the expense of real hybrid vehicles like a Malibu or Cobalt replacement.
Derek @ Jan 27th 2008 12:06PM
"I don't know. You'd like to have it at about $30,000 for the customer, but what I'm hearing from the team is we're not going to get there.... [I]f it costs closer to 40 than 30, well, that's too bad."
So he didn't actually say it would cost 40K, just more than 30K. Since when does a journalist talking to Bob at a car show amount to a price release?
I agree, I really wish Bob would wait longer to talk to the press about an issue. More than a few times now he has come out saying one thing only to change it later. Now, he may be giving us the honest truth at the time he says it and the changes are simply because all of management has not decided the issue for sure yet, but those are things that should stay in the boardroom, not on blogs, IMHO.
RamSport47 @ Jan 27th 2008 12:23PM
How much was the other GM electric vehicle...the one from the 1990s...Impact, I think it was called. Why is there so much hype about this, when they've done it before...albeit, not as attractively
Eric @ Jan 27th 2008 1:06PM
RamSport:
Do you mean the EV-1? GM never sold those, they only leased them, because the actual cost per vehicle was about $80,000.
Derek @ Jan 27th 2008 10:32PM
I thought the actual cost was projected closer to $1,000,000 for an EV-1?
Either way, it was a far more expensive vehicle than would have sold well.
DKB_SATX @ Jan 27th 2008 12:37PM
So let's see... I'll assume "between 30k and 40k" equates to 35k. Now, it's a super-techno car so perhaps that $35k will include lots of gee-whiz features along with the first-model-year-of-new-tech problems. What will it be competing against at $35k?
Greenies:
Prius: base $21k, figure $22k for some inflation.
Camry Hybrid: $25k, so call it $26k by '10
Passat TDI: who knows, let's say $30k.
Other relevant competition
Malibu: Base under $20k, tricked all the way out $28.5k
A4 FWD with nearly everything but nav: $35.5k
328 with leather and premium pkg: $35.7k
So, who's trying to kill the electric car? I like the Volt as an idea, if they can make it a practical car it has potential. At $35k it would have to save a HELL of a lot of gasoline to be worth $13k more than a Prius. Maximum Bob is trying to cause a miscarriage.