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Discounts run as high as $10,000 per Volt, according to figures from TrueCar.com, an auto-pricing website. They include low-interest financing and subsidized leases. GM says the Volt leases for $299 a month after a down payment of $2,899. Sales of the $39,995 car have quadrupled this year, and set a monthly record in August. They show that Americans, who have been slow to embrace electric cars, are willing to buy them if prices are low enough.
But electrics have a long way to go before they enter the mainstream and generate profits. Electrics and gas-electric hybrids account for 3.5% of U.S. auto sales this year. GM is losing thousands of dollars on every Volt. News agency Reuters recently estimated losses run up to $49,000 a per car. GM denied the report. Volt's technology is also going into other cars, such as a new small Cadillac under development.
The Chevrolet Volt has been EPA-rated for 35 miles on its batteries and electric motors -- and now 38 miles for the 2013 model -- before a gas engine takes over to generate the electricity. Because it can be recharged by plugging in, owners may rarely need to fill up at gas stations, depending on their driving patterns. But the car has been controversial because of the government bailout of General Motors and its cost.
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US car giant Ford has said that it will cut several hundred jobs in Europe because of declining demand, including in the UK. Jobs will also go in Germany and in other parts of Europe. The carmaker will offer voluntary buyouts for staff and cut jobs for "agency workers and purchased service", it said. Ford has warned its European operations could suffer losses of $1bn (£630m) this year. The carmaker has said it does not yet know the final number of axed workers in Europe. Ford employs 15,000 workers in the UK and has plants at Halewood, Southampton and Dagenham, among others.
In a dispute over pay and pensions, 67% of Ford's UK workers represented by the Unite union - about 1,200 white-collar employees - voted in favour of industrial action after a ballot in May. "Ford of Europe expects the programmes to result in the reduction of several hundred salaried positions, but exact figures won't be known for a few months," Ford said. "Any Ford salaried staff separations across all three programmes will be purely voluntary." Earlier this month, the carmaker unveiled a string of new models, including revamped versions of its best-selling Fiesta, Mondeo and Kuga brands, to revive sales in Europe.
Ford's European chief executive Stephen Odell, speaking at the launch in Amsterdam, said at the time that Europe offered tremendous growth potential in the long term. The US automotive giant's sales fell almost 10% in Europe during the first half of 2012, to its lowest level in 17 years. Ford wants to reduce labour costs and improve plant utilisation in Europe, where industry watchers say it uses less than 65% of its capacity. With closing factories in Germany politically difficult, Ford is trying to get the unions and national politicians in Belgium, Germany, Spain and the UK to agree to structural changes.
BBC News - Ford to axe 'hundreds' of jobs in Europe
