Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Compliance is one of those words that gets squishier with time. Bolt is a fantastic car, and if I am not mistaken, available in 50 states. They hardly advertised the car, and sold in underwhelming quantity. Is that compliance? Certainly they've lost money on the whole endeavor.
If I were a manufacturer, there are 2 strategies that seem profitable to me. An expensive top end EV with high profit margin, and a plug in hybrid that has the minimum capacity 16 kWh battery that qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit. GM is done for credits, so the low end won't be as appealing to consumers.
Probably all manufacturers with EVs besides Tesla were too early to the game. As I often say, Toyota is probably the one to signal the more ideal market timing.
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I really doubt GM is losing money on the Bolt. If they were they would be limiting the number of cars that they sell. (Like they did with the Spark EV)
GM sold 24,803 Bolts in the first 9 months of 2021. That is up from 20,753 in 2020 (full year) and 16,419 in 2019.
For reference the Bolt almost outsold the entire Alpha platform this year even with the recall and stop-sale.
Jan - Sept:
15,083 - Camaro
5,859 - Cadillac CT4
7,639 - Cadillac CT5
28,501 - Alpha total.
The Malibu has only sold 32,155 this year. (That might be a chip issue because they sold 100K last year)