Chevy Volt priced at $41,000 before credit.

[Dino Scuderia]

"According to the Associated Press, GM CEO Dan Akerson has said General Motors will buy back any Chevrolet Volt from owners who are concerned about the vehicle's fire risk. Akerson said that his company isn't making the move because the plug-in hybrids are unsafe, but because GM is committed to keeping its customers happy. The CEO also said that GM is prepared to recall the 6,000 Volt models currently on the road if the federal government deems such an action necessary. As you may recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered that the Volt could catch fire several days after a severe side-impact crash and rollover."

Autoblog


hmmmm...

[RacingManiac]

Just covering all the bases....You would rather them do that they leaving the early adopter out in the dry should there actually be any cause for concern. Which as it stands there are more just hot air than real risk....

[henk4]

if I was in the business of producing things I would not sell them in the American market. The risk of litigation is far too great.....

[Ferrer]

if I was in the business of producing things I would not sell them in the American market. The risk of litigation is far too great.....

True.

Still, it doesn't give a good image to the Volt...

[Dino Scuderia]

General Motors Co. (GM), the largest U.S. automaker, is planning to stop production for about four weeks in September and October at the factory that makes Chevrolet Volt cars, two people familiar with the plan said.

Sales of the plug-in hybrid sedan haven’t met Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson’s projections this year. Through July, GM sold 10,666 Volts in the U.S., according to researcher Autodata Corp. Akerson had aimed for sales of 60,000 globally, of which 45,000 would be delivered in the U.S. In June he said sales would probably total 35,000 to 40,000.

The people who described the temporary shutdown declined to be identified because Detroit-based GM doesn’t make its production plans public. Automotive News earlier reported that the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant will close from Sept. 17 through Oct. 15.

“I can’t confirm those dates,” William Grotz, a GM spokesman, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “It’s just a matter of we’re matching supply with demand and gearing up for the production of the Chevy Impala.”

The redesigned Impala sedan will arrive in U.S. showrooms in the first half of next year, Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet global marketing, said earlier this year.

“In the past couple of months, the production of the Volt was running ahead of sales, but I thought that might be for this particular process because they’re bringing in the new vehicle, so they were intentionally trying to get ahead,” Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates, an automobile-industry analyst in West Bloomfield, Michigan, said in a telephone interview.

The Volt can travel more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) on electric power before a gasoline engine takes over.

Sales of the Volt slowed after a U.S. investigation into the safety of the car late last year that was followed by a congressional hearing in January, Akerson said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in January that the Volt poses no more fire risk than other cars.

The Volt failed to meet its sales goals last year as well.

GM Said to Halt Chevrolet Volt Production for Four Weeks - Businessweek