GM Plans `Tens of Thousands#39; of Volt Cars in 1st Year (Update3)
GM Plans `Tens of Thousands; of Volt Cars in 1st Year (Update3)
By Gopal Ratnam
Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) — General Motors Corp., vying with
Toyota Motor Corp. for the global sales lead, plans to build
“tens of thousands;; of Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid electric
cars within a year of starting production in 2010.
“We;re not doing the Volt to sell 500 or 1,000;; cars, Jon
Lauckner, GM;s vice president for global program management,
said today at a Washington forum. “We;re talking about tens of
thousands and more than that within the year.;;
The Volt, being designed as a plug-in hybrid vehicle that
can go 40 miles without recharging, “will meet global safety
standards to be able to sell around the world,;; Lauckner said.
A high-volume debut for the Volt might lend credence to
Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner;s strategy of using
technological advances to gain ground on Toyota. The Japanese
company, which fell short of passing Detroit-based GM in
worldwide auto sales last year, has a decade-long hybrid lead
with its Prius, the world;s best-selling gasoline-electric car.
Toyota sold 181,221 of the cars in the U.S. last year.
Unlike current hybrids such as the Prius, a plug-in Volt
would be able to recharge from household electrical outlets.
GM;s investment to develop lithium-ion batteries to power
plug-in vehicles would mean the cost “of initial units would be
very high,;; Lauckner said, likening the effort to the creation
of technologies such as anti-lock brakes.
No $30,000 Volt
The Detroit-based automaker won;t meet its goal of selling
the Volt for less than $30,000, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said in
an interview published today in the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-
Telegram.
“That;s not going to happen,;; Lutz told the newspaper.
“There;s a lot of new technology here, systems that we have to
design and build to manage energy consumption.;;
The U.S. government can help automakers by creating tax
incentives, said Senior Fellow Daniel Weiss of the Center for
American Progress in Washington, which held today;s forum. The
research center is led by John Podesta, who was chief of staff
for President Bill Clinton.
The energy bill passed by Congress in December didn;t
include a $3,000 tax credit for buyers of plug-in hybrids, Weiss
said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, “have both
said they;d attempt to revive that tax package in 2008 and that
would address the cost question,;; Weiss said.
GM gained 75 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $28.21 at 4:22 p.m.
in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have
risen 13 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Gopal Ratnam in Washington at
