Production of the second-generation Chevrolet Volt is set to commence this summer, with the first cars going to customers sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. But before Chevrolet can concentrate on selling the all-new version of the plug-in hybrid EV, it needs to find a way to move the overstock of first-gen models currently sitting on dealer lots.
According to The Detroit Free Press, Chevy dealers had about 6,000 2015 Volts on their lots at the end of April, more than twice the amount of Volts the automaker sold in the first four months of 2015. An enticing 39-month lease at $299 per month and $1,649 due at signing is currently being offered on 2015 Volts, but the majority of owners would still rather wait for the new model to arrive.
The 2016 Volt will travel 50 miles under electric power alone before its 1.5-liter four-cylinder EcoTec engine kicks in to help charge the car’s lithium ion batteries. By comparison, the outgoing model will travel just 37 miles on electric power and uses a less efficient 1.4-liter engine. Chevy has also confirmed the 2016 model will start at $33,995 before a $7,500 tax credit, which is more than the first Volt’s current average transaction price of $30,607, but probably not enough to turn customers away and buy the cheaper first-gen car.
Cheaper gasoline prices have curbed interest in all electric and hybrid cars, with sales of plug-in hybrids like the Volt falling 33% year-over-year. Combined that with the impending arrival of a much better replacement, and the first-gen Volt has become an understandably hard sell for Chevy.
Comments
It’s a great deal and worth it. If I were looking for a new compact this would be it. I am not saying this to help sales for GM, this would be the car and yes I recently considered it. Look at the competition and look at this and with the Volt you get so much more.
I can’t see at this point in my life dropping 35k on a car. I picked up a 14′ Impala Limited with the 300 HP V6 for under 15k; it is what I can afford and it’s fast. Maybe in 7 years I will look at the next-next-gen Volt.
I’d guess that 7 years from now, these Volts will still be there, waiting for you.
In the meantime, I’ll keep my eye out for that 14-foot Impala Limited you referenced.
Hmmmm… On one hand, I want to down-vote you for the comment about these not selling. But on the other hand, the 14 foot Impala bit was pretty funny…. We’ll call it a draw!
Maybe in seven years you can go for the 17-foot 2016 Cadillac CT6 with the Voltec system (plug-in hybrid), and have a longer luxury vehicle with the same Volt characteristics and save plenty on gas.
me too.
This is only because of poor marketing and consumer ignorance. The Volt is a fantastic car that will divorce you from the gas station.
Consumer ignorance as a result of piss- poor marketing? Sounds about right. All those photo-shopped images of upgraded dealerships should have lots full of Volt lease returns, unsold ERVs, and service bays replaJcing cheap fog lamps and headlights that seem to plague every GM model.
I can always spot a late model GM-anything coming at me – always with a light out after 18 mos. Even the Escalades. What’s up with that?
the biggest cost in owning a car is deprecation and these cars deprecate a lot more than ICE car.
Depreciation is subjective to the buyer. I have a 1995 Buick Regal and its value is more than any “depreciation” may do. So I keep it and continue to enjoy it , while saving money by not buying another.
There has been a lot of DEPRECATING going on with the v.1 Volt. LOL – What is it with this post today?
Anyway, I got a good laugh out of it. I think motorman meant depreciation. Both would be good points
as the Volt has depreciated a whole lot – and a lot has to do with the press, especially on the right –
DEPRECATING the Volt with misinformation, false claims ( fires, “it’s an EV that runs out of charge in
40 miles”; “Obamamobile”, etc etc ). Deprecation does do damage at the dealership – add the facts
some dealers don’t want to sell it, some don’t train their sales staff about the car enough or at all
and/or use Volt as a halo to bring in folks whom they then steer towards a Cruze. On top of all that,
the replacement parts industry, auto service industry and Big Oil all want Volt to go away.
Seldom has a car been so divisive, controversial, slammed and slandered. If only GM spent money
on marketing it…Well, they did – for two years or so. They tried everything from Aliens in a guy’s
garage to dorks at a convenience store; robotic deer and Tim Allen saying, “It’s more car than
electric”…All to a mass public who thought: “WTF?!” – and walked away when the MSRP was set
above $40,000. How can you leapfrog a Prius when your weapon costs as much as a luxury car?!
To end – I’ll point out Volt has sold much better since GM lopped off $5,000, and the car has had
more word-of-mouth testimonials from it’s passionate owners. Nobody else makes a car that
does what Volt can – not even Tesla. Volt gives you 90% gas-free living with no anxieties about
finding an EV charging station.
Kudos to GM for sticking with Volt. The new drivetrain is scaleable to CT-6 and Malibu Hybrid. I’m
predicting a Cruze Hybrid sold alongside the diesel, which will put a dent into v.2 Volt’s sales due
to price and a slightly larger back seat.
To add to my commentary about Volt’s initial MSRP –
In 2010-11, $40,000 seemed like a big price to pay. Yes, there is the $7500 tax refund, but 3 things
made that less of an issue. First, people hate “rebates”. When it came out how the tax refund worked,
it was a real downer. Not a point-of-sale discount, but something you had to apply to the IRS for using
a special form – and wait to get back….and only if you paid $7500 or more in income taxes. How many
times have you been turned off by that sales pitch: “Pay full price today, and mail in the coupon for
a $10.00 rebate? Stats show most of us, including me, just forget about the rebate, and later think
about it as a rip-off way to sell me something.
Today, $40,000 seems like nothing to pay for a new car. Pony cars are coming out with 4 cylinder
engines with prices in the high $30,000s, many midsized CUVs drive out the door for over $50,000
once the infotainment, driving aids, heated seats and all the bells and whistles are added up. Full-
sized pickup trucks used to sell in the low $50,000s for the highest trim level with 4WD, Super Cab
and many accessories. Today, a mid-level full-size pickup can easily reach $50,000 with infotainment
and nav! Even though news outlets love to say the average price paid for a new car today is $30,000,
remember that they are including the massive amounts of economy compacts and stripper
models to average out to that number.
Everything is more expensive these days. Obamacare and $15/hr. minimum wage is bound to
keep food and housing costs rising. $33,000 before tax credit is a screamin’ deal for a
technological marvel like the 2016 Volt. Even better – those in-the-know will make legendary
deals on the remaining Volts – today a California dealer was advertising $3400 down and
$159/mo for a 3 year Volt lease! WOW! One drive of a current Volt is all it takes for most. Prius
owners who stop listening to false news reports often test drive a Volt and trade in their
Toyota. I’m about half in the new Volt’s corner with it’s sleek styling, and half in the v.1’s –
because it’s so classy and unique next to all other cars out there.
I really think Volt v.2 has a great chance of robust sales. I hope GM doesn’t botch up the
marketing this time, like they did before.
Meanwhile, every Tesla is sold months in advance of production and a significant waiting list is in place for the X Suv.
This is called destruction of capital and a waste of ressources.
I was following one on the way to work a few weeks ago. It’s BAD ASS!
Dude, I think you’re mistaking this for the Kardashian website.
If (some?) dealers weren’t so greedy with their inflated “market-adjusted-value”-price-hikes, perhaps the Volt would have sold somewhat better?
Fuel prices are quickly rising again!
The Chevy “Bolt” is coming!
maybe GM has a secret plan for having 6000 volts. They knew sales were low all spring yet kept producing.. (my volt is the best car i have ever had)
A poorly written article. Several web outlets including Sam Mceachern here at GMA have picked up one paragraph
from a Detroit Free Press article about good deals to be had on first-gen Volt, and sensationalized the title to
make it sound as if 6,000 Chevy Volts are just sitting around rusting away on dealer lots! Sheesh! Notice the wording:
” – Still Sitting On Dealer Lots”. This crap gets picked up by every dork trying to make a living winging out fifty articles
a day for pennies – who knows a little twist of words makes it sound ……interesting ( “news”? )
Google this title now and you’ll find several outlets have picked up the exact same lame one. Who had it first? Not
Detroit Free Press! Noooo – say they’re sitting around on lots and make it sound like GM really made a lemon
that nobody wants — yeah, yeah – dat’s it! Fact: GM has to retool the Hamtramck plant for the totally new cars
to be distributed to dealers starting in October. GM hasn’t even advertised the car nationally in over a year! Profit
margins for Volt are slim to non-existent and production costs for v.2 have been substantially reduced. This
isn’t great incentive for GM to spend hundreds of millions to advertise the car, then pump out as many as they
can. The public PR for 2016 Volt has been pretty high, including Tomorrowland advertisements during major
TV spots for a couple weeks now. It’s questionable positioning for a car that isn’t due in dealerships nationwide
until late November! This obviously shows Volts will be literally given away at the dealer level. Truthfully, you
can make the most screamin’ deal of your life on a v.1 Volt. Any car nut worth his while has read enough about
the Volt to know GM overbuilt and overengineered it to the max. The battery pack had such a large buffer on
both ends as to allow parking lot cruising ’til the end of time after the drive battery was depleted, as recognized
by it’s onboard computer. With at least one Volt out there running around with 208,000 miles on it with 85%+ of
it’s battery capacity still good and lots of it’s 10 year, 85,000 mile battery warranty in tact – it’s safe to say the
car does not have to be leased to be “safe” from battery degradation devaluation.
In short, – It’s a helluva car! How many of us would revel in using nearly zero gas – for our commute and much
more? Most who criticize the car never have driven one. It’s seriously one of the most memorable driving
experiences you’ll ever have – and that goes for Jay Leno buying one for his commuter and being amazed
at it’s technology. Prius owners who stop knocking Volt long enough to drive one are converted. Prius are
tinny, lightweight econocars with zero driving fun. Volt is quick – it’s not fast…Volt is smoother than a
Cadillac – it’s silent – it is very planted to the road. So the bargain is for those in the know. Those who
believed the negative crap about the car can move on. While gen2 Volt will be nice, the design is a bit more
mainstream. The first Volts are sure eye-catchers and rare on the roads. Since the price drop and eventual
deals now – I see many more around than I used to.
Sam and all the others need to rethink this “pile-on” mentality with Volt. It’s seriously the Rodney Dangerfield
of cars.” It doesn’t get no respect” ! – As it adjusts it’s necktie.
One of the founders of this website bought a Volt. I would like to hear his impressions after a couple of years’
ownership.
The last v.1 Volt has rolled off the production line over a week ago and enough had to be built to fill in the gap until the 2016, all-new Volt was arriving at dealerships. Is this “news”? I think not. If you count how many have sold so far this year – the number quoted above of 6,000 units sounds just about right to fill that need. When gas prices traditionally rise in spring, so do the sales of cars like Volt and Prius.
Move along. Move along. No “story” here.
I have a 2014, If you don’t drive too fast over 50 mph and don’t use hvac (lower the windows an inch or two jnstead ) and it is warmer than 60 degrees I get 52 miles per charge. I don’t jackrabbit start nor do i use sport .mode. I go straight to hold mode if I am driving over 60 to 80 mph as the wind resistance will drain the battery in 30 to 35 miles. I save the battery for city or stop and go traffic and i save a lot of gasoline that way. I have about 44000 miles on the car and my electric miles account for 76% of the miles driven and a lifetime mileage of 167 MPG, When I drive long distances over 90 miles I drive my Prius which normally goes about 500 miles on 10 gallons of regular before I need to refuel.