RIP Volt

[JyChevyVolt]

My estimate of 10,000 was generous. The Volt is number 3 behind the Prime and Clarity. Next month will see the Volt drop to number 4 or worse.

Running prediction 2/1/2018
1. Prime
2. Clarity
3. Outlander
4. Volt
5. FFE
6. Pacifica
7. Niro (compliance)
8. Ioniq (compliance)

 

[WadeTyhon]

My estimate of 10,000 was generous.

Prime will outsell the Volt this year. No question. Clarity PHEV I doubt. Maybe if you combine the BEV and PHEV.

But either way, the Volt will not sell less than 10,000. In January of 2016, the Volt sold 996 units. IT then went on to have the best year the Volt has ever had. Whereas the worst year the Volt has ever had was 15,000. (not counting 2011.) And that was right before the Gen 2 launch.

You're gonna feel pretty silly by the time fall rolls around, GM hits 200,000 units, dealers and GM drop the price to move product while the full rebate is available, the re-freshed 2019 model comes out, and anyone sitting on the fence finally pulls the trigger.

 

[JyChevyVolt]

Prime will outsell the Volt this year. No question. Clarity PHEV I doubt. Maybe if you combine the BEV and PHEV.

But either way, the Volt will not sell less than 10,000. In January of 2016, the Volt sold 996 units. IT then went on to have the best year the Volt has ever had. Whereas the worst year the Volt has ever had was 15,000. (not counting 2011.) And that was right before the Gen 2 launch.

You're gonna feel pretty silly by the time fall rolls around, GM hits 200,000 units, dealers and GM drop the price to move product while the full rebate is available, the re-freshed 2019 model comes out, and anyone sitting on the fence finally pulls the trigger.

 

[WadeTyhon]

When you ready your $1 bill to present to me, be sure to get a clean, crisp, freshly minted one directly from the bank. I don't want any scribbles or tape or wrinkles in that dollar bill. I intend to celebrate my triumph over a coke, so it needs to feed cleanly into the vending machine.

 

[JyChevyVolt]

Why is Gen 2 volt so unreliable? Its got poor rating from CR and truedelta. The reliability of Gen 1 has been pretty good for a GM car but the Gen 2 has regress back to old GM.

Is this why the volt sales have gone downhill? My less than 10,000 sales seems like a good bet.

 

[WadeTyhon]

Why is Gen 2 volt so unreliable? Its got poor rating from CR and truedelta. The reliability of Gen 1 has been pretty good for a GM car but the Gen 2 has regress back to old GM.

Is this why the volt sales have gone downhill? My less than 10,000 sales seems like a good bet.

2016 Volt had issues. Most of them small, but the worst one I recall involving loss of power steering. It was a very short model year with a run of about ten thousand units I believe. But it was the first year of the new Volt. Unfortunately, this is also the year that sites such as Consumer reports used to create their "prediction" of reliability.

CR rated the 2016 Volt reliability a 2/5. With the small sample size of 2016s and the known issues with 2016s that's harsh but not unreasonable. As far as I can tell, they haven't changed this rating for 2017 or 2018. I haven't seen nearly as many major complaints about the 2017 and 2018 Volts.

Of course actual owner reviews on Consumer Reports, Edmonds, and elsewhere are all universally positive. Probably why CR also rate the 2016 Volt's "predicted" customer satisfaction as 5/5.

As far as why Volt sales are down:
1) Sedans are unpopular now
2) Small cars are unpopular now
3) Several new PHEVs launched last year
4) The Bolt has a range that exceeds many people's "range anxiety" and it has a form factor that is more popular at the moment
5) A large portion of Volt buyers were former Prius/Toyota owners. Now they have the Prime. If the Prime went away like the Prius Plug-In then you could expect Volt and Clarity sales to rise a few hundred units each!

 

[JyChevyVolt]

2016 Volt had issues. Most of them small, but the worst one I recall involving loss of power steering. It was a very short model year with a run of about ten thousand units I believe. But it was the first year of the new Volt. Unfortunately, this is also the year that sites such as Consumer reports used to create their "prediction" of reliability.

CR rated the 2016 Volt reliability a 2/5. With the small sample size of 2016s and the known issues with 2016s that's harsh but not unreasonable. As far as I can tell, they haven't changed this rating for 2017 or 2018. I haven't seen nearly as many major complaints about the 2017 and 2018 Volts.

Of course actual owner reviews on Consumer Reports, Edmonds, and elsewhere are all universally positive. Probably why CR also rate the 2016 Volt's "predicted" customer satisfaction as 5/5.

As far as why Volt sales are down:
1) Sedans are unpopular now
2) Small cars are unpopular now
3) Several new PHEVs launched last year
4) The Bolt has a range that exceeds many people's "range anxiety" and it has a form factor that is more popular at the moment
5) A large portion of Volt buyers were former Prius/Toyota owners. Now they have the Prime. If the Prime went away like the Prius Plug-In then you could expect Volt and Clarity sales to rise a few hundred units each!

Have you looked at truedelta? Brutal! Told my coworker to stay away from 2016 Volt. GM did too much cost cutting. Toyota will improve every generate. Why can't GM learn from the best?

 

[WadeTyhon]

Have you looked at truedelta? Brutal! Told my coworker to stay away from 2016 Volt. GM did too much cost cutting. Toyota will improve every generate. Why can't GM learn from the best?

I hadn’t before, but I have checked out TrueDelta now!

It basically confirms what I said before. Get a 2017 or 2018 not a 2016.

 

[WadeTyhon]

Mid-March update:

The Volt has been selling at a rate faster this month than it has been lately. It seems to have already passed 1,000 sales for this month with 10 days remaining. My guess is continued delays of the Model 3, mixed with the Bolt flying off the lot and limiting availability as a result, have improved Volt sales. Plus the usual tax refund boost to the car industry in general.

The Clarity PHEV is selling at a very steady 35-40 sales a day. Should finish around or just under 1,000 for the month if this continues.

Prius Prime continues to blow them both out of the water, of course.

 

[altfuelcarguy]

So if I'm planning to replace our leased 2015 Spark EV with a leased Volt, would toward the end of the year be better, or Spring 2019?

 

[Scramjett]

Prius Prime continues to blow them both out of the water, of course.

Quite an amazing accomplishment for such a fugly car. Personally, I tend to count both Volt and Bolt sales together since I’m pretty sure that the Bolt has cannibalized Volt sales. Also helps that Prime is the only Toyota Plug-in on the market.

 

[Scramjett]

So if I'm planning to replace our leased 2015 Spark EV with a leased Volt, would toward the end of the year be better, or Spring 2019?

If you were to buy, then I’d say get one in the Fall since dealers are trying to clear their inventory so you can usually get a good deal on the current MY. With leases, I can’t say for sure but I would imagine that holds true.

 

[jeff10236]

Quite an amazing accomplishment for such a fugly car.

You know, with the slight tweaks to the exterior of the Prime v. regular Prius, I think the Prius Prime looks decent. I agree that the regular Prius is ugly. The slightly longer OAL of the Prime and the slightly modified LED front and tail lights make a big difference IMO.

 

[Scramjett]

You know, with the slight tweaks to the exterior of the Prime v. regular Prius, I think the Prius Prime looks decent. I agree that the regular Prius is ugly. The slightly longer OAL of the Prime and the slightly modified LED front and tail lights make a big difference IMO.

True that the Prime is considerably better looking than the regular Prius, however, it’s still ugly when compared to the 2nd gen Volt. Of course, I’m biased since I own a 2nd gen Volt!