The Apr 2017 EV Sales Numbers are in (1292 Bolts)

[marshallinwa]

Sales of 1,292 for the month of April. Fix the seats Chevy!!!

http://insideevs.com/april-2017-plug-in-electric-vehicle-sales-report-card/

 

[SeanNelson]

Sales of 1,292 for the month of April. Fix the seats Chevy!!!

I don't know where that supposed 4,000 units of inventory is, but it sure as heck ain't here in Canada!

 

[oilerlord]

"For April, those inventories quadrupled, cresting the 4,000 unit mark by mid-month, but unfortunately sales only moved up by a few hundred units, to 1,292 deliveries in the month."

This is code for "dealer discounts coming soon". Most dealerships finance every car on their lot...so the longer they sit in unsold inventory, the more painful it becomes for them. Dealers start losing their minds after ~90 days. Wait for it.

 

[dandrewk]

"Fix those seats"?

Maybe. But my takeaway: The Bolt was the #1 selling EV in April, outselling Tesla.

Not bad for a first year model that is only available in a handful of states.

 

[SparkE]

"For April, those inventories quadrupled, cresting the 4,000 unit mark by mid-month, but unfortunately sales only moved up by a few hundred units, to 1,292 deliveries in the month."

This is code for "dealer discounts coming soon". Most dealerships finance every car on their lot...so the longer they sit in unsold inventory, the more painful it becomes for them. Dealers start losing their minds after ~90 days. Wait for it.

I think that's code for "stop shipping to CA (which is now saturated) and ship to the places that are begging for them (like Canada)".

 

[oilerlord]

The Bolt was the #1 selling EV in April, outselling Tesla. Not bad for a first year model that is only available in a handful of states.

While true, the Bolt is an all-new model and those "handful of states" are the heart of EV demand. Analysts had estimated between 30,000 - 80,000 Bolts sold in 2017. After four months of sales data, it's pretty clear that's probably not going to happen until GM decides to break out the cheap lease deals.

 

[Nagorak]

"Fix those seats"?

Maybe. But my takeaway: The Bolt was the #1 selling EV in April, outselling Tesla.

Not bad for a first year model that is only available in a handful of states.

It's also not being heavily discounted like the Nissan Leaf.

 

[SparkE]

The Bolt was the #1 selling EV in April, outselling Tesla. Not bad for a first year model that is only available in a handful of states.

While true, the Bolt is an all-new model and those "handful of states" are the heart of EV demand. Analysts had estimated between 30,000 - 80,000 Bolts sold in 2017. After four months of sales data, it's pretty clear that's probably not going to happen until GM decides to break out the cheap lease deals.

Analysts. Ha ha ha ha ha! As usual, 'analists' are talking out their anal cavity. I don't remember Chevy providing any numbers (in fact, I was rather surprised at how adamant they were about not giving any indication what-so-ever of what their sales goals were). So the 'professionals' were making up numbers. I remember a lot of people (especially on internet forums) speculating how many would be sold, that the number would depend a lot on how many batteries LG Chem could produce, that ramp-up would be slow to shake out any problems (speculation that started after they announced their multi-tier rollout across the U.S.) and that anything over 20,000 could be trumpeted as a major success.

The Bolt is available in only a few states, and just starting in Canada (where people are complaining about lack of availability). The reports of 'glut' seem to be centered on California, based on the 'inventory' numbers (numbers which seem to include cars that have shipped but not arrived, cars sold but not delivered, AND cars sitting on the lot). And that the cars ARE selling.

I don't know if anybody read the linked article, but there was a note : After posting a couple disappointing months of Bolt sales in both February and March (952, 978 respectively), GM came out and specifically said that issue was related to the amount of available inventory (averaging less than 14 days worth of stock in Q1).

 

[dandrewk]

The Bolt was the #1 selling EV in April, outselling Tesla. Not bad for a first year model that is only available in a handful of states.

While true, the Bolt is an all-new model and those "handful of states" are the heart of EV demand. Analysts had estimated between 30,000 - 80,000 Bolts sold in 2017. After four months of sales data, it's pretty clear that's probably not going to happen until GM decides to break out the cheap lease deals.

Not true, as it is still missing many core markets, e.g. Texas and Georgia (which was #2 in EV adoption).

The fact that it is new makes it a bigger hurdle to overcome a former market leader with a years head start. The majority of car buyers are very familiar with Tesla. The same cannot be said about the Bolt. That is why it is incumbent of GM to spend big bucks on advertising, which I expect will occur once the Bolt is available to order nationwide.

 

[Eastocean]

I am happy to be one of the April deliveries. However, I had to go out-of-state to get my Bolt. At least 3 Bolts in Delaware came from MD.

 

[oilerlord]

The fact that it is new makes it a bigger hurdle to overcome a former market leader with a years head start. The majority of car buyers are very familiar with Tesla. The same cannot be said about the Bolt. That is why it is incumbent of GM to spend big bucks on advertising, which I expect will occur once the Bolt is available to order nationwide.

I think the barrier to entry for most people is still the price, and that the public hasn't yet accepted EV's as a viable option to an ICEV. GM can spend big bucks on advertising however they would get a bigger bang for the buck if they simply offered lower cost leases on the Bolt. That might also tempt some of those 400,000+ people with pre-order deposits on Model 3's to take another look at the Bolt.

I don't read too much into the Bolt selling 167 more cars than the Model S last month. The Model 3 is clearly taking would-be sales away from both cars, along with several others down the list.

 

[marshallinwa]

Not true, as it is still missing many core markets, e.g. Texas and Georgia (which was #2 in EV adoption).

Is Georgia number 2 any more? I thought they got rid of that fat rebate and it killed the electric vehicle sales.

Interestingly, the number of used Leafs coming from Georgia are making up a large number of the used Leafs being sold here in Washington state.

I just did some checking and it appears the Georgia is second largest in plug-in vehicles registered, but in fourth position for plug-in vehicles per 100,000 in population.

 

[Anonymous]

Fix the seats Chevy!!!

As a "big guy" at 6 foot 1/2 inch with too much girth on my frame, I not only find nothing wrong with the seats, I actually find them lumbar supporting for my sore back!!!

I look forward to sitting in the car and sometimes, actually putting the seat back and taking a nap (Keep ignition ON, turn off lights, of course to save KWh, radio on for entertainment and fan as necessary)!

 

[marshallinwa]

Fix the seats Chevy!!!

As a "big guy" at 6 foot 1/2 inch with too much girth on my frame, I not only find nothing wrong with the seats, I actually find them lumbar supporting for my sore back!!!

I look forward to sitting in the car and sometimes, actually putting the seat back and taking a nap (Keep ignition ON, turn off lights, of course to save KWh, radio on for entertainment and fan as necessary)!

I was very, very interested in the car. But after driving the car, I didn't buy or lease due to the seats.

That's good news for you in that you find the seats acceptable. Unfortunately, I didn't.

When I read threads from those who bought or leased the car and are suffering from major back pain issues due to the seats, I feel sorry for them that they did buy or lease this car.

Frankly, I don't think the sales numbers are all that great so far. The forum thread here is showing about 60 cars owned or leased out of 987 registered members. Since Tesla and Nissan are bringing out new electric cars within a year, that can't be good news for a company with a car that has a seat issue.

 

[oilerlord]

Frankly, I don't think the sales numbers are all that great so far. The forum thread here is showing about 60 cars owned or leased out of 987 registered members. Since Tesla and Nissan are bringing out new electric cars within a year, that can't be good news for a company with a car that has a seat issue.

There's a theory that GM is selling as many Bolts as they want to sell...by limiting production and allocating most of the cars to CARB states. Bolt inventory is rising in California while buyers in other countries wait months to receive their order. While the Bolt may not technically be a compliance car, GM is treating it like one. No doubt the margin on these cars is pretty skinny without those CARB credits.

 

[sgt1372]

There's a theory that GM is selling as many Bolts as they want to sell...by limiting production and allocating most of the cars to CARB states. Bolt inventory is rising in California while buyers in other countries wait months to receive their order. While the Bolt may not technically be a compliance car, GM is treating it like one. No doubt the margin on these cars is pretty skinny without those CARB credits.

Lack of any apparent advertising for the Bolt by GM is also evidence of this.

I haven't seen or heard or read a single ad devoted specifically to the Bolt on TV, on the radio, on the Net or in any magazines or newspapers placed by GM. All I've seen are just teaser ads for Bolts printed in automotive ads by Chevy dealers in my local papers.

 

[phil0909]

There's a theory that GM is selling as many Bolts as they want to sell...by limiting production and allocating most of the cars to CARB states. Bolt inventory is rising in California while buyers in other countries wait months to receive their order. While the Bolt may not technically be a compliance car, GM is treating it like one. No doubt the margin on these cars is pretty skinny without those CARB credits.

Lack of any apparent advertising for the Bolt by GM is also evidence of this.

I haven't seen or heard or read a single ad devoted specifically to the Bolt on TV, on the radio, on the Net or in any magazines or newspapers placed by GM. All I've seen are just teaser ads for Bolts printed in automotive ads by Chevy dealers in my local papers.

Yes, I also agree with this. Either margin is too low (negative) or they feel QA is not yet ready for large volume sales. Bolt is a nice product
with multiple big-time awards. Inept as they may sometimes be, GM certainly could sell many tens of thousands if they really wanted to.

I would bet big money that the Tesla Model 3 has the same issues - negative margins and immature quality - for at least a couple of years. I wonder how many M3's Tesla can afford to sell...

 

[boltage]

Lack of any apparent advertising for the Bolt by GM is also evidence of this.

I haven't seen or heard or read a single ad devoted specifically to the Bolt on TV, on the radio, on the Net or in any magazines or newspapers placed by GM. All I've seen are just teaser ads for Bolts printed in automotive ads by Chevy dealers in my local papers.

I have seen (non-dealer) ads for the Bolt on billboards, in magazines, and on Facebook. But the volume of such ads does not appear to be that high.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I would bet big money that the Tesla Model 3 has the same issues - negative margins and immature quality - for at least a couple of years. I wonder how many M3's Tesla can afford to sell...

I would take the first part of this bet, if measured on a per-unit basis. I bet that Tesla will be able to build a Model 3 for less than they sell it by the end of 2017. As for the quality issues, well, they don't have a great track record. The odds are in your favor.

 

[oilerlord]

I would bet big money that the Tesla Model 3 has the same issues - negative margins and immature quality - for at least a couple of years. I wonder how many M3's Tesla can afford to sell...

As long as Wall Street keeps it's faith in TSLA, they can "afford" to sell as many cars as they can build.