The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the (Very Near) Future

[oilerlord]

But from the commitment of the company as a whole, they seem to be treating it as a compliance car. Taking the loss and mitigating ongoing expenses.

Others will challenge you on using the terms "compliance car" and suggesting they are taking a loss - but it appears to be the crux of the matter. Do they want to sell the car or not? To me, it seems like GM is treating the Bolt as a tax on the continued business of selling profitable trucks and full size cars.

If there was a juicy profit margin with the Bolt, rest assured - it would be offered in all 50 states, and we'd see as many TV ads for the Bolt as there are for the Silverado.

[drdiesel1]

But from the commitment of the company as a whole, they seem to be treating it as a compliance car. Taking the loss and mitigating ongoing expenses.

Others will challenge you on using the terms "compliance car" and suggesting they are taking a loss - but it appears to be the crux of the matter. Do they want to sell the car or not? To me, it seems like GM is treating the Bolt as a tax on the continued business of selling profitable trucks and full size cars.

If there was a juicy profit margin with the Bolt, rest assured - it would be offered in all 50 states, and we'd see as many TV ads for the Bolt as there are for the Silverado.

The Bolt lowers GM's MPG fleet numbers (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and allows them to continue to sell all those full size
(big profit) gas hogs in CA.

[LeftieBiker]

The Bolt lowers GM's MPG fleet numbers (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and allows them to continue to sell all those full size
(big profit) gas hogs in CA.

Heh. I think you mean it raises the fleet MPG.

[ArthurL]

4000 orders in Norway. 40 shipped, 400 promised year 2018. One shift, one shared production line. That is the problem. I preordered mine first week of November got it mid April. Was the only allocation given to the dealer even though he had three preorders. One is getting his/hers this quarter. People just can't get it. We have a collectors item peeps!

[oilerlord]

4000 orders in Norway. 40 shipped, 400 promised year 2018. One shift, one shared production line. That is the problem. I preordered mine first week of November got it mid April.

The Bolt may not be a compliance car, but GM is treating it like one. They probably could sell more cars, but instead choose to saturate CA (and other CARB states) with inventory in the pursuit of credits.

[SparkE]

GM seems to be aiming for "most bang for the buck" :

- trickle out the inventory, so that the "gotta have it NOW" first adopters pay top dollar

- keep shipments low while using early adopters as "beta testers" (seat issues, camera issues, infotainment bugs, etc...)

- hitting all the CARB states big time, racking up those credits where they will do the most good

Seems like a sound business decision to me. They will have to change their tune in the next few months, once the LEAF2 is shipping. (Personally, I don't think that Tesla is going to be able to hit volume on the Model3 for quite a while, and the 'pre-orders' are going to suck up the first couple of years' production. Also, I think that the m3 is going to give the Bolt a big boost, once people see that the m3 isn't a 'S' at half the price, and that 'well equiped' will cost over $45k- I think Bolt sales will go UP after the m3 starts shipping.)

Once they have real competition (Nissan), *then* they will have to have all their ducks in a row. But by that time they will hopefully have all the bugs ironed out and be able to ramp up production on product they won't have to recall (or pay dealers to 'upgrade' every month or three).

[NeilBlanchard]

ALL NEW models lose money for a period of time right after they are introduced.

[mbepic]

What happened???

The Bolt ended up being a nondescript econobox, that happens to be electric - barely managing 1000 units sold per month. Really, should we be surprised when logic and numbers dictated the project's outcome?

I think the Bolt could have been so much more, but at least GM's customers got what they wanted.

Wow, you were ok, until you referred to the BOLT EV as an 'econobox'; far from the truth, in my opinion.

The car is not cheap, it is a solid, well built little car and yes, GM's customers got what they wanted, an excellent 200+ EV miler!

[phil0909]

Wow, you were ok, until you referred to the BOLT EV as an 'econobox'; far from the truth, in my opinion.

Nobody seems to know the meaning of the word 'econobox' anymore. An econobox is by definition boxy, i.e. rectangular, full of right angles. The Bolt does not fit that description at all. It's also not an economy car, though it does have some cheap features.

[oilerlord]

It's also not an economy car, though it does have some cheap features.

It is an economy car, the fact that it's expensive doesn't change the fact it has a low-rent interior full of hard-touch plastic and cheap seats. If GM replaced the battery, and electric powertrain with ICE components, the savings may have provided the potential to have luxury on par with Cadillac. Something has to give...at $40K, you can have a car with a 60kWh battery, or an upscale interior. People that buy the Bolt choose the former.