Volt Birth Watch 124: Champagne Wishes And CadiVolt Dreams

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Remember the Converj concept Caddy rolled out for the Detroit show? You know, the good looking Volt coupe? The one that was held up as a reason to bring PNGV back from beyond the grave? Anyway, you probably had your hopes up for a quick production run. After all, GM’s Car Czar Bob Lutz hath already proclaimed that a production Converj would look “exactly” like the concept. So it’s official, right? Right? When Automotive News [sub] actually asks the question, Lutz’s maximum takes a moment to aknowledge the presence of reality. “Ready to go? Well, first we have to prove to ourselves that we have the money,” Lutz says. “And then that it’s a high enough priority to displace something else, and that we can actually make money on the vehicle, and that there is potential customer interest and so forth. We haven’t done any of that work yet.” So now we know: “proving to ourselves that we have the money” is step one (post-concept) for GM product development. With an estimated debt load of $60b and a market cap of you-depress-yourself-with-the-math, that process of “proving to ourselves that we have the money” must make for some entertaining material. Reality series!

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 14 comments
  • Ponchoman49 Ponchoman49 on Jan 20, 2009

    How about instead of spending good money after bad developing these ugly concept cars that will never come to life, GM concentrates on improving their current products so they sell better. The Malibu needs a rear seat armrest, glovebox light and the 6 speed automatic as std and the V6 has to be brought up to it's competitors in mileage ratings. The Impala badly needs a refresh, the Corvette a higher quality interior, the new Buick LaCrosse needs to lose some weight and look less derivative, the Lambdas need to relocate there power connectors so as to not interfere with drinks and every GM product needs better cup holders that are deeper and more supportive. I could go on for hours on things GM needs to improve.

  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Jan 20, 2009
    Phil Ressler Phil, are you related to Dave Ressler?
  • Phil Ressler Phil Ressler on Jan 20, 2009

    @Ronnie Schreiber: There are Dave Resslers I am related to and others I'm not, at least not directly. The name is not common but there are a few thousand of us among 300mm+ Americans. I'd have to know more. Likelihood of family connection increases if your Dave Ressler is from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania or nearby. If you want to ask more, you can reach me privately by using my name separated by a dot at the mail service domain of a major search engine provider. Phil

  • Charly Charly on Jan 20, 2009

    Volts produced in the first six months are most likely not perfect, or more likely will have major issues. This is not good for a luxury brand and if you wait 6 months than you can just use the powertrain of the volt and it will work with a high degree of certainty. Besides the first year there will only be sold a few ten thousand at the most so a few thousand per car is nice but not really significant for GM

Next