The Chevy Volt - Another Government Financed Failure

In June of 2008, GM CEO Rick Wagoner met with candidate Barack Obama to tell him all about the green future and how the government should help finance the development of battery and hydrogen powered cars. Three months later, the company was looking for a bailout from the government using the Volt for cover. "Investing in cutting edge green technology like this will allow GM to lead the world once again." In January 2009, Wagoner even drove to Capitol Hill in a Chevy Cruze done up like a Volt to dramatize how government money was going to turn the industry around.

Year to date, the Volt has only sold 13,000 units, a remarkable sales failure by any standards, and production has been temporarily suspended. 

It is thought that up to $3 Billion of Federal and Michigan subsidies were spent on developing the Volt and GM spent at least another $700 million just to develop the $40,000 car. Total sales of the car since its release in December 2010 come to about 22,000 with recent incentives becoming hugely generous to move them out. 

Here is a YouTube parody about the Volt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=avLKiWi71cE

Now we can count GM's Volt as another "green" initiative, financed with taxpayer money that were business disasters.  This one tops the losses from Solyndra and the other future energy government financed boondoggles. 

Meanwhile, in 2012 Volkswagen will sell about 350,000 cars of which at least 70,000 will be clean diesels. VW earns a fat profit margin on these affordable cars and the customer gets a car that in the real world can get 50 mpg. That's good business so why aren't GM and Ford into it?

How can such a good and green niche be absent from the lineups of our domestic manufacturers? It is particularly puzzling because both GM and Ford sell thousands of small efficient diesel powered cars in Europe. Why are they just leaving that business on the table?

Followup.

Quietly, Chevy now has a clean diesel version of the Cruze on the market that is rated the same

Highway Fuel Mileage

Volt 40 mpg
Cruze Diesel 46 mpg