[Peakster]

You know what? At this point in the US economy, I have to agree. They will most likely lose their shirts on the Volt. Why?

When the Volt comes out in 24 months, gasoline will be at such an astronomical price that most people will not be able to afford new cars. Especially ones that have a complicated/expensive hybrid system.

I've always been very critcal of hybrids: "buy this $35,000+ vehicle and get better fuel economy than one that costs $13,000 and below". It makes no sense at all. Obviously people that can afford a higher price brand-new car are going to be less fuel-economy conscious than ones scraping by with 10-year-old 4 bangers.

Its time for automobile manufacturers to smarten up, and fast.

Look at the early 80s: Just 10 years prior, people were driving 18-foot luxury land yachts with massive V8s. Then suddenly there was this huge demand for Ford's Escort, Chevrolet's Cavalier, and Chrysler's "K" cars. Simple, cheap, and fuel economy is what sold cars. Chevrolet couldn't sell their 8-6-4 technology out of a paper bag, Lincoln's diesels were ridiculously expensive and unreliable, and poor Chrysler had to be on the verge of Bankruptcy before making some of the most impressive sales successes in it's history with their 2.2L cars and mini-van.

At times where the USA economy is plunging, people need to go back to the basics, and auto manufacturers will find themselves selling nothing if they don't make high-MPG and inexpensive to purchase automobiles. GM stating that adding a $7000 hybrid system to all future vehicles being the only way to achieve CAFE standards of a pitiful 35 MPG is completely absurd.

This is not 1998 anymore. Luxury SUVs and 3500+lb. cars sales are long dead with the 60 miles commute. And anyone still holding onto that dream is going to find themselves in deep doo-doo. Auto companies need to immediately start pumping out bare-bones, aerodynamic, 1800 lb., $8000 cars with electric motors only if they ever want to see the light of day in 15 years.

The more I find out about the Volt, the more of a fiasco I think it's going to be. The company is investing all this money in the Volt thinking it's going to save them but when 2010 rolls around, I will be highly surprised if I see this car for sale for less than $40K. It's pretty hard to sell a $40K car when people will be eying up $4K Aveos, Focusses, and Neons as their now expensive to own family cars.