The all electric Nissan Leaf is out selling the plug in hybrid Chevy Volt at a 2 to 1 ratio.
The Chevy Volt is not selling. The reasons are varied and could include the Volts’ high price tag, consumer worries over the Volts’ technology, a recent factory re-tooling, and the negative stigma that Chevy has incurred on itself since the government bailouts. Meanwhile, Nissan has sold 1,362 Leafs in the United States in the month of August.
This brings Nissan’s total sales since December to 6,187 Leafs. By comparison, Chevy sold 302 Volts in August, bringing Chevy’s total sales since December to 3,498 Volts in the United States.
Granted, Chevy did shutdown production of the Volt in its Detroit factory for retooling in July for three weeks. Yet, 302 Volt sales compared to 1,362 Leaf sales for the month of August is striking; and considering that Chevy’s sales target is 10,000 Volts by the year 2012, the numbers certainly paint a picture of the more-expensive Volt as the underdog.
Cars.com currently lists more than 1,200 Volts for sale across the country, while General Motors (GM) has said that the company had almost zero Volts in stock at the end of the month of July. Chevy has said that the sales figures for August do not take into account the 784 Volts delivered to car dealers as demo vehicles, which is part of the Volt’s long term marketing plan. If you add that in, then GM technically delivered 1,086 Volts to dealerships in August, though only a third of them were actually sold to customers.
This could be part of GM’s strategy, as there are numerous anecdotes of Volts bringing customers into Chevy dealerships from other brands. Chevy has also noted that not all of the Volts built in August have left the manufacturing plants. Corporate talk aside, and focusing solely on the numbers released, Chevy will have to sell 1,700 Volts a month starting today in order to reach the 10,000 units sold target by the New Year. Possible, but also unlikely at the current rate.
It is no secret that the American economy is dropping like a stone and the American people are falling deeper into destitution; as event by a new report stating that 15% of the American population is now on food stamps. Even for those loyal to Chevy, they may find the Volt with a sticker price of around $40,000 (about $33,000 after tax credits) too much to swallow. Meanwhile, the Nissan Leaf, despite a recent price bump, can be had for as little as $28,000 in certain markets, and that price advantage certainly seems to be working out for Nissan.
For all the early negative speculation surrounding the Nissan Leaf and its limited range, Nissan seems to have weathered the storm and come out on top by thus far through the first year. But don’t expect GM to give up on the Volt anytime soon. The Volt may find its second wind as government agencies and corporations alike move to green their fleets with large-scale purchases of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Source: jalopnik.com
Andrew Meggison was born in the state of Maine and educated in Massachusetts. Andrew earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and International Relations from Clark University and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Northeastern University. Being an Eagle Scout, Andrew has a passion for all things environmental. In his free time Andrew enjoys writing, exploring the great outdoors, a good film, and a creative cocktail.
PDF 
About Andrew Meggison
Using Cars.com as a source is a bit, ‘problematic’, shall we say. Every demo is in the Cars.com list of available cars, but you can’t buy them, I believe. Not sure how Cars.com works, though. But if you look at the numbers GM has published about the Volt, it looks kosher. They are not building many of them, but those they build are either on the lot as a demo or they are sold within a week or two. Using the last two months of low sales figures for the Volt is kind of lame, given that they have announced for over a year that they were going to close the line to re-tool for higher production numbers later this year.
Also, though they are upping the production numbers to 400+ a week, they are also shipping around 800 a month for August, September and October to dealers for use as demos. GM isn’t going to be able to sell more than 3000 or so Volts a month unless they get the price down, but by the time they get the price down the credit will be close to running out…
@ Harry
All valid points. However, the numbers are the numbers, the Volt has a lot of catching up to do in regards to sales.
I just checked CARS.COM for Volts available in my state and nearby states. It came up with 21 Volts for sale.
The problem is that NONE of these states are early release states, so they cannot be currently selling Volts in any of these dealerships who have ads running on cars.com.
In fact, of the 1479 ads for Volts on cars.com right now, the VAST majority (1191) don’t even have a single picture. I seriously doubt they have a car to sell if they don’t even have a photograph.
Of the 288 left with actual pictures, the majority I glanced at either had a huge “VOLT” written down the side (clearly demo vehicles, not actually for sale) or they had stock pictures.
How about instead of giving excuses, be responsible and either change this story to reflect that the cars.com meme is a false — Or better yet, write a whole new story that details exactly HOW the cars.com meme is bullsh!t.
Enough acting childish and pretending that the meme is true for whatever reason you guys all have. Is it just to increase web hits for your advertisers? I just don’t get why you guys here at gas2.org over and over repeat this stupid cars.com meme without questioning it. This is the sort of thing I would expect from ABG, not gas2.org…
@ Nixon
Fair enough. I’ll get in touch with my GM contacts and see what they have to say regarding this whole Cars.com deal, and I’ll put together a response piece.
That’s awesome. Thank you very much.
Here is another little factoid to keep in mind. Of the 1479 ads for Volts on cars.com, 1102 are listed as 2012 models. But the very first 2012 Volt didn’t roll off the production line until 6 weeks ago. And special order Volts are reportedly taking 3+ weeks to be delivered after production (just going to PA).
2012 Viridian Joule Volt #1767
6/23/2011 (1100) Order placed at dealership
7/20/2011 (3300) Order scheduled for production
8/16/2011 (3800) Order produced
8/22/2011 (4B00) Order is bayed and ready for transport
8/26/2011 (4200) Shipped
8/26/2011 (4300) Interm transfer
8/31/2011 (4200) Shipped
9/05/2011 (4800) rail ramp unloaded. Vehicle unload from train.
Taking into account:
1) production numbers of approx. 600/week
2) delivery time to dealership after production.
3) the ~874 Volts that are demos
4) the 302 already booked as sold in August
5) the number of units being built as Opals and for foreign markets
6) the number of pre-ordered vehicles going straight to customers
It is clearly impossible for there to be 1100 actual 2012 Volts for sale sitting on dealer lots today — much less COMPLAIN that these cars that can’t even be there aren’t already sold.
@ Nixon
Well done. I may not always agree with your comments, but you’ve obviously done your research. I’ve sent out an email to GM seeking some clarification and as soon as I get a response I will get to working on a response of my own. Props on sticking to your guns and getting me to move my ass, too.
Here is what I got from a nearby dealership who was advertising on cars.com:
System: We have alerted the online representatives that you are waiting. Someone should be with you momentarily.
System: A representative has joined the conversation. Compose your message below and then click Send.
Mike : Hi this is Mike XXXXX . With whom, may I ask, am I chatting?
You: Is Chevy Volt Stock #: XXXXX actually on your lot and something I could buy and drive home?
Mike : Let me check into that for you, It may have arrived. Onca again my name is Mike XXXXX . With whom, may I ask, am I chatting?
You: XXXX.
Mike : Alright XXXX. That particular Volt is not available for sale, per Chevy allocation rules, the 1st actual VOLT that we will have for retail sale will not be here until November. Apparently those are the rules that the manufacturer has given us
Mike : We cannot sell the first Volt for 6 months however the ensuing Volts we can.
You: Cool. Thank you very much.
Mike : you are welcome, I think you will find this across the state
Now to take the guys seriously who say the Volt isn’t selling because look at all the ads on cars.com, this car that doesn’t exist yet, isn’t on the dealer’s lot yet, and can’t be sold until sometime in 2012 — should have already been sold. Their claim is that since THIS car and hundreds like it on cars.com hasn’t sold, that proves that Volts aren’t selling well.
Bullsh!t.
When the Volt first came out, I expressed interest to a local dealer. Here was the response: “I wanted to let you know that I have received your request for information on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Right now, we are accepting orders. We are charging a $3000.00 premium. Each dealership gets a limited allocation of these vehicles, and we have a few spots left for orders. I don’t have a floor model for test drive, but would love for you to stop into our dealership.”
Perhaps greedy salespeople play a role???
GM has always had that problem with dealerships. They abuse their middle-man status. (I suspect that’s a problem with all car dealers). Nissan did the right thing by allowing customers to reserve their Leaf at the MSRP.
My dealer took my Volt order without charging a premium.
There is hope out there……
The Volt is inferior to the Leaf as it utilizes evil conventional gasoline. Perhaps Ford will bring this country back to a leadership level with the 2012 All Electric Focus?
Buzz, I was chuckling because your first sentence was so over-the-top stupid, then I read the second sentence and I realized, the first sentence might not have been meant in jest. Shaking my head…
Ward’s has confirmed the supply. Calls to dealers listing on cars.com will confirm that vehicles are out there. Time for Volt apologists to face some truths. Demand is not widespread and GM is using the Volt to sell Cruzes. That wouldn’t be so bad if taxpayer money wasn’t being used to produce Volts.
Criticisms aren’t always driven by right-wing agendas.
As someone who is on the Volt waiting list, I can confirm that there are not 1200 Volts for sale that are not on waiting lists.
GM is in the process of providing allocation numbers to all those on the waiting lists. The dealers are calling customers as their allocation number comes up, then the customers picks there options. At that point, GM begins making the car. It takes about 6 weeks for them to deliver after the allocation number is assigned.
Every Volt being sold right now is to folks who have been on waitings lists. Some folks getting Volts this month have been on the waiting list for 2 years or more.
The 1200 Volts on Cars.com? Try to buy one of those Volts and you will find that it has already been spoken for…… By someone on the waiting list…..
Right now the limitation is still delivery. We won’t have any clue about demand until GM gets through all the waiting list orders, which probably won’t occur until the middle of 2012
I own Volt #1496. Living in Massachusetts, I had to go to New Jersey to get one. It now has 6,500 miles on it using 44 gallons of gas.
The Volt is a great car! Unlike the Leaf, it will never flutter to the side of the road out of juice 10 miles from home. All I have to do is keep it in gas. My current average is 134 MPG. My electric bill is up by $45 a month.
Compared to the SUV I was driving before the Volt, I will save over $18,000 in six years. Subtract that and the $7,500 tax credit from the price tag and it is inexpensive indeed!
If this web site does not stop publishing utter garbage like this I will just remove it from my favorites. GM is selling EVERY Volt they offer for sale…saying, linking to anything otherwise is at best wrong, at worst fraud.
Stupid ignorant article.
GM made 3975 2011 Volts. All are sold or accounted for as demos. They are making the 2012s now. They sell all Volts they make.
Demand is way above supply. And that’s a good thing.
As every one has already pointed out, the article is shabby journalism, which this country is full of. GM is selling every Volt they make and I suspect September numbers to show a great improvement to account for increased production numbers.
I’m keeping my little 2000 Ford Focus running until I can get a second generation Volt hopefully in 2015!
The reasons why smart people do not buy Electric or Hybrid cars are: Batteries are expensive, short lived, efficiency isn’t 100 % and the electricity is not free. Going electric you won’t decrease Air Pollution because 50 % of the electricity is produced by burning COAL. By the way a Jetta Diesel, TDI for $23000 makes 40MPG. With a full tank of Chevy Volt, driving non-stop, you make 37MPG, plus $3 the price of electricity you charged the hefty 750-pound battery pack.
Seems like you had posted this elsewhere earlier? Oh well, I’ll copy/paste my response again HERE. Enjoy (below).
Sorry there, “champ”, plenty of really bright people buy electric cars. Follow the guys you see driving around in Teslas and Fiskers – guys like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk – and see if you can get a chance to talk to them. I assure, you’ll learn something … unless you think they all became successful through their illuminati connections or a freemason conspiracy, rather than wit, intelligence, and innovation. If that’s the case, have fun watching the bug-zapper with your Bud in one hand and a shotgun in the other, I suppose? (I really don’t know what smart guys like you do)