Lutz: Volt will cost $40,000, first-gen will lose money

Bob Lutz revealed to the Seattle Times that the price point for his company's Chevy Volt series hybrid electric vehicle will be $40,000, or around $10,000 more than originally estimated. Lutz also told the paper that the first-generation of the Volt would generate no profit for General Motors. There's still hope for buyers who were hoping to snag a Volt closer to $30,000, as potential tax incentives on state and federal levels could trim the price substantially. Congress is currently considering proposed legislation for plug-in hybrid tax credits on the order of around $7,000. Still, there's no telling what demand there will be for the Volt, and if it's higher than the supply, we could see markups on GM's high-tech hybrid from dealers who are trying to survive this transition from a market dominated by profitable trucks and SUVs to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles. According to Lutz, however, cars like the Volt are the way of the future, and GM's car czar expects that between 2020 and 2025 a quarter to a half of all vehicles sold will be either electric- or hydrogen-powered. We'd put our money on electric, as this country has not gotten serious yet about building a distribution network for hydrogen.

[Source: Seattle Times via AutoblogGreen, Photo by STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty ]