Chevrolet Announces Pricing of Volt; Edmunds Comments

ANTA MONICA, Calif.--Today, during the Plug-In 2010 Conference in San Jose, Calif., General Motors announced the pricing for the Chevy Volt, the extended-range electric vehicle which is expected to be released by year-end. It will be initially sold in California, Michigan, Washington, D.C. along with Austin, Texas and New York City. The pricing of the vehicle was announced at $41,000, before a $7,500 tax credit. "GM's pricing strategy is a bold one that will reward the company if it works because it means the Volt likely will be sold for something close to what it costs to build and won't be straining GM's red-ink supply," reported John O'Dell, Senior Editor at Edmunds' GreenCarAdvisor.com in a story titled "Volt to List at $41,000: GM Says Unrealistic to Compare It With $32,780 Nissan Leaf.. "If consumers reject the idea of a $41,000 Chevrolet four-seater - even one with stellar fuel efficiency and next-generation powertrain technology - GM will have spent more than $750 million on a losing bet. The failure would damage its reputation and endanger its financial future by putting it years behind the competition in coming up with a marketable fuel-efficiency play." Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor for Edmunds' InsideLine.com, had this to say after the 2011 Chevrolet Volt first drive. "Aside from the charging process, the Volt functions usefully as a normal car. It doesn't force you to live with the limitations of a pure electric car, while providing a large chunk of the benefit. The overall, overriding impression the 2011 Chevrolet Volt gives you is one of normalcy. There are no bad habits or overtly obvious telltales of what's going on behind the curtain - you just get in and drive." In November 2009, Edmunds.com submitted a proposal on changing the window sticker on new car vehicles to highlight usage costs versus miles per gallon numbers to help provide a better comparison of vehicles and technologies. Source : http://www.theautochannel.com    (7/27/2010)