PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
1 "(Reuters) - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.
2. Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.
3. ...There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.
4. GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others. GM's basic problem is that "the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced," said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group.
5. But the Volt's steep $39,995 base price and its complex technology the car uses expensive lithium-polymer batteries, sophisticated electronics and an electric motor combined with a gasoline engine have kept many prospective buyers away from Chevy showrooms.
6. ...the technical challenges of ownership, mainly related to charging the battery. Plug-in hybrids such as the Volt still take hours to fully charge the batteries -...
7. The lack of interest in the car has prevented GM from coming close to its early, optimistic sales projections."
Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs | Reuters
And....let's see what could have been learned from a study of history....
8. The Trabant is an automobile that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc. The main selling point was that it had room for four adults and luggage in a compact, light and durable shell. Despite its mediocre performance and smoky two-stroke engine, the car is regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the failed former East Germany and of the fall of communism (in former West Germany, as many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989). For advocates of capitalism it is often cited as an example of the disadvantages of centralized planning as even refueling the car required lifting the hood, filling the tank with gasoline (only 24 litres[1]), then adding two-stroke oil and shaking it back and forth to mix. It was in production without any significant changes for nearly 30 years with 3,096,099 Trabants produced in total.
Trabant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
9. ....the man who goes to buy a car in Moscow, pays for it, and is told by the salesman that he can collect it on a particular date in 10 years' time. The buyer thinks for a moment and then asks: 'Morning or afternoon?' The salesman, astonished by the question, asks: 'What difference does it make?' And the buyer answers: 'Well, the plumber is coming in the morning.'
10. Stil think it's a good idea for the brilliant folks in government to be picking the winners and losers in the economy?
This is why this post belongs in politics rather than economy or technology.
This is what Obama supporters voted for.
2. Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid, GM is still losing as much as $49,000 on each Volt it builds, according to estimates provided to Reuters by industry analysts and manufacturing experts.
3. ...There are some Americans paying just $5,050 to drive around for two years in a vehicle that cost as much as $89,000 to produce.
4. GM is still years away from making money on the Volt, which will soon face new competitors from Ford, Honda and others. GM's basic problem is that "the Volt is over-engineered and over-priced," said Dennis Virag, president of the Michigan-based Automotive Consulting Group.
5. But the Volt's steep $39,995 base price and its complex technology the car uses expensive lithium-polymer batteries, sophisticated electronics and an electric motor combined with a gasoline engine have kept many prospective buyers away from Chevy showrooms.
6. ...the technical challenges of ownership, mainly related to charging the battery. Plug-in hybrids such as the Volt still take hours to fully charge the batteries -...
7. The lack of interest in the car has prevented GM from coming close to its early, optimistic sales projections."
Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs | Reuters
And....let's see what could have been learned from a study of history....
8. The Trabant is an automobile that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc. The main selling point was that it had room for four adults and luggage in a compact, light and durable shell. Despite its mediocre performance and smoky two-stroke engine, the car is regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the failed former East Germany and of the fall of communism (in former West Germany, as many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989). For advocates of capitalism it is often cited as an example of the disadvantages of centralized planning as even refueling the car required lifting the hood, filling the tank with gasoline (only 24 litres[1]), then adding two-stroke oil and shaking it back and forth to mix. It was in production without any significant changes for nearly 30 years with 3,096,099 Trabants produced in total.
Trabant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
9. ....the man who goes to buy a car in Moscow, pays for it, and is told by the salesman that he can collect it on a particular date in 10 years' time. The buyer thinks for a moment and then asks: 'Morning or afternoon?' The salesman, astonished by the question, asks: 'What difference does it make?' And the buyer answers: 'Well, the plumber is coming in the morning.'
10. Stil think it's a good idea for the brilliant folks in government to be picking the winners and losers in the economy?
This is why this post belongs in politics rather than economy or technology.
This is what Obama supporters voted for.