"The Volt" May BE SCRAPPED!- NEVER BUILT!!

[martinafan]

When Saturn was being developed, it was to be GM's answer to all its problem, not only it would compete with the Japs but it would "teach" GM how to make cars more efficiently and with higher quality and this would be used in all other divisions. Well I don't need to recount how they royally screwed this up just like they have screwed up everything else they've done. Now the VOlt is the new Messiah, pleeeze, why on earth would any rational being put down $40k for an unproven,questionable experimental machine when you have other fuel-sipping hybrids available with proven technology at approx half the cost? I suppose they'll be a few treehuggers with $ to spare who might go for it, (look at the Smart) But it wont do anything to take GM out of this mess.http://forum.ecomodder.com/images/icons/icon13.gif

[Cd]

Originally Posted by martinafan

When Saturn was being developed, it was to be GM's answer to all its problem, not only it would compete with the Japs [/url]

I take offense to that. And I'm not even Japanese.


EDIT : And what's this about 'treehuggers' ??. I have a great respect for 'treehuggers' .

I see you even threw some religious reference in there too.


Back on topic : So the Volt .... what's the latest news ?

[Cd]

So how many Volts has G.M. actually produced to date ? I think I read somewhere that they had already produced a few of them. ( test cars I assume )

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Cd

So how many Volts has G.M. actually produced to date ? I think I read somewhere that they had already produced a few of them. ( test cars I assume )

They've produced MegaVOLTS!!!! worth of hot air coming from their mouths... maybe other orifices as well.

[gone-ot]

...SATURN was an exercise in futility.

...it was futile for Saturn employees to do anything different from the GM-mandated 'guidance.'

...IMHO Saturn had some very good ideas--in the beginning--but, (as I understand it) GM management down played them, such as: spin-on transmission oil filter; plastic/5-mph crash door panels; etc. Syling started off OK, but quickly sunk to just "rebadged" other GM/GMC chassis.

...supposedly, management "earns" its BIG-BUCK$ salaries by being wise enough and forward-thinking enough to anticipate future trends and paradigm shifts...GM has farted on that front since the 1980's.

...and, speaking of the early years, the "old" GM used to import the "unique/different" models from their Global divisions as niche models...remember the "baby Corvette" Opal GT...and the Aussie Holdens?

...it's gotta cost LESS to tweek a proven "seller" import to meet US/EPA mandates than to backward engineer one from the ground up! Some excellent examples NOW are the G8-GTO from Australia and the new Opal from their european division.

[Christ]

I'd take an Opel GT over a Corvette. Corvette - the equivalent of an overplayed single by "The hottest new "artist" this week".

That said, I'd take a Corvette as well.

[gone-ot]

...I owned a '65 MG Midget (really wanted a bug-eyed Sprite but could find one) and would cheerfully compare the 2/3's sized Opal GT to a Corvette-body on a Midget/Sprite drive-train and chassis, ie: thrilling most of the time, adequate all the time!

...Midget/Sprite were nicknamed "butt-draggers" for their VERY low ground clearance.

...and, yes, I lusted after the one I saw up close in Yuma, AZ, (of course Ill never admit if it was the CAR or the blonde driving it that captured my attention!)

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

When the mega inflation hits, they won't have to worry about paying back the loan. They can pay it back with monopoly money because that's about what is going to become of the US dollar.

Thriving economies are like efficient cars. They both require everything to be working properly, and care and maintenance.

This economy has been fiddled with to death, playing with interest rates, playing with accounting principles, anything but actually doing the work and understanding the rules are based on centuries of practical experience.

The DOT COM "boom". Buy stocks at 200 to 1 PE ratios because they are going to be worth a fortune in just a few years. Throw away technology. The information age.

In all this finagling, the basic principle of producing a product and putting money in the bank by creating worthwhile tangible assets was lost.

We have become a nation of consumers relying on our accumulated wealth to finance our future.

I grew up with the computer age. The computer was supposed to make our lives easier, by eliminating redundant, boring, back breaking work. It was much the same as the automation of the assembly line.

Now the growing field of employment is what? IT?

Laughable.

From the peak of 600k employees, GM now has 40k, a mere shadow of itself in its prime.

$50,000,000,000 to keep
40,000 jobs

Hmmmm, that math seems weak to me. The scales do not balance.

Isn't that the same as
$50,000,000 to keep
40 jobs?

Boys and girls maybe I am too old and too dumb to do the math, but if my ancient brain is still working that's;

$1.25 million per job.

My cheap solar powered calculator that is at least 15 years old will not do enough digits for 50,000,000,000.

Ford closed it's truck plant in Norfolk Virginia a few years back. They offered their long time employees something like $30-70,000 buyouts for them to get no retirement.

Bet those 23 year vets of the Ford assembly line would have really loved

1.25 million each.

Today your govt is engaged in the greatest crime in history, and you call it change you can believe in.

It's change I doubt few even understand, but at the rate they paid off GM it won't take much longer for our national net worth, which took over 2 centuries to accumulate, to disappear.

You won't get it from the rich, they have mobility and will just go where mass stupidity doesn't buy votes, to propagate more mass stupidity. Like the intellectuals left Germany during the thirties.

God help the poor when the wealth is no longer there to be transferred to them because they "deserve" it.

For a single share of the GM bailout I could build a frigging car that GM COULD make money on, and COULD pay back their "loan".


"And Cassandra stood on the highest wall near the gate, as the Trojan soldiers dragged the obscene monument into the city.
She screamed a warning, but no one listened and the celebration went on, as the ignorant revelled on the last night of their lives."

regards
Mech

Lets not get started on the economy. It can be summed up in one word: China. Until spending habits change it will only get worse. Were only starting to pay the piper. We need to actually make things in order to stay strong. When our own people wont even buy are own products then it sure does not seem likely other countries will. Meanwhile more and more jobs leave America and everyone looks at everything except for the obvious. The obvious is we no longer build anything! We can not remain strong flipping hamburgers and polishing each anther's shoes. There is no need for very many words, the problem is obvious and simple.

[gone-ot]

...back to the VOLT.

...it's over-priced, seemingly over-hyped, and over-whelmed by it's competition.

...why is it an almost full-sized sedan, when all it's competitors are smaller, lighter cars?

...shouldn't it be a "...better-designed, better-built, same sized vehicle of comparable co$t..." to really be viable in the HYBRID market?

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...back to the VOLT.
...why is it an almost full-sized sedan, when all it's competitors are smaller, lighter cars?

I was wonder the same thing. But many people do not agree it will be anything near as large as a full sized sedan. There seems to be a lot of people in the business that claim The Volt will be a small car that might even be built in the Lordstown Ohio Plant, which is where the Cobalt, and next The Cruise is to be built. My father really truly believes The volt will be a small car, but I do not know what he bases his opinion on. I even told him that it appeared to me The Volt was going to be closer to being a med size to large car, yet some people keep saying it's going to be a very small car. Based on photos it's difficult to say, but it appears to be at least a med-size car to me. Has GM ever said the size of this car? I would like to finally know the answer to this.

Thanks