GM Volt sales very slow even before safety issue with fires

Someone really needs to add up all the subsidies that have gone into these cars. The average income of Volt buyers is $175,000 a year. Whether it is 8,000 cars this year or a chance of 45,000 next year, where would these sales be without these huge subsidies? So much for initial predictions of up to 60,000 sold in 2011. From the WSJ:

Before General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Volt became the subject of a U.S. safety investigation, the auto maker's moon shot was falling well short of its stratospheric expectations.

GM's year-old, battery-powered Volt, cast by the company as a revolution in automotive technology, will miss the sales target of 10,000 vehicles that Chief Executive Dan Akerson set for this year, hampered by production delays, distribution problems and questions about whether Americans really want electric cars. The company is on track to sell around 8,000 Volts this year.

GM aims to sell 45,000 Volts in the U.S. next year, and the auto maker faces questions about whether it can deliver.

"We're getting a lot of interest, we're just not getting a lot of buyers," says William Willis, a Chevy dealer in Smyrna, Del. Mr. Willis says he has sold two Volts since the fall and has two on his lot. "Customers come in, they are wowed by the display, the quick acceleration. It's just going to take a while for the American public to accept the price."

The $41,000 Volt solved the biggest hurdle with electric cars: range. But that came with compromises on price and space. Now questions have arisen about safety in the wake of fires caused by government crash tests. . . .

Subsidies

tax credit of up to $7,500

federal tax credit equal to 50% of the cost to buy and install a home-based charging station with a maximum credit of US$2,000 for each station. Businesses qualify for tax credits up to $50,000 for larger installations.

There have been other huge subsidies in terms of the development of the cars and even the equipment used to manufacture the cars.

Who can forget all the big subsidies to General Motors?