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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 1023379" data-attributes="member: 12952">[h=1]Insight: GM&#039;s Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs[/h]&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; (Reuters)&nbsp; - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in&nbsp; August — but that probably isn&#039;t a good thing for the automaker&#039;s bottom&nbsp; line.&nbsp;Nearly two years after the&nbsp; introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as&nbsp; much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided&nbsp; to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.Cheap&nbsp; Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this&nbsp; summer may have pushed that loss even higher. There are some Americans&nbsp; paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost&nbsp; as much as $89,000 to produce.And&nbsp; while the loss per vehicle will shrink as more are built and sold, GM is&nbsp; still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face&nbsp; new competitors from Ford, Honda and others.GM&#039;s&nbsp; basic problem is that &quot;the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced,&quot;&nbsp; said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting&nbsp; Group.It currently costs GM &quot;at least&quot; $75,000 to build the Volt, including development costs .Other estimates range from $76,000 to $88,000,&nbsp; according to four industry consultants contacted by Reuters. The&nbsp; consultants&#039; companies all have performed work for GM and are familiar&nbsp; with the Volt&#039;s development and production.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 1023379, member: 12952"] [h=1]Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs[/h] (Reuters) - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line. Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts. Cheap Volt lease offers meant to drive more customers to Chevy showrooms this summer may have pushed that loss even higher. There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce. And while the loss per vehicle will shrink as more are built and sold, GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others. GM's basic problem is that "the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced," said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group. It currently costs GM "at least" $75,000 to build the Volt, including development costs . Other estimates range from $76,000 to $88,000, according to four industry consultants contacted by Reuters. The consultants' companies all have performed work for GM and are familiar with the Volt's development and production. [/QUOTE]

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