Detroit-Hamtramck Shutdown Extended, Chevrolet Volt Production Slowed Again

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

The Detroit-Hamtramck plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt will be shut down for three weeks instead of the standard two weeks this summer, and according to GM, that’s just business as usual. Even when it’s not.

According to the Detroit Free Press

“This is (a) normal part of business as managing to market demand,” GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho said in an e-mail. Malcho confirmed that GM sold more than 2,000 Volts in March. Full sales figures will be released this morning.

Hmm. We’ve heard the whole “managing demand” thing before, in references to shutting down the plant. Let’s see how these sales figures pan out.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Acuraandy Acuraandy on Apr 03, 2012

    'These are not the Droids you are looking for...move along.'

  • Richarbl Richarbl on Apr 04, 2012

    I stand by my Volt/Edsel comments. This cannot end well for anyone, except for internet bloggers.

  • Carlson Fan Carlson Fan on Apr 04, 2012

    "The Volt is now outselling the Leaf regularly (2012 data) so it is holding is own" The Volt outsold the Leaf 4 to 1 in March. Conservatively, they'll sell 20K in the US & 10K in Europe as the Ampera this year. Hardly a failure or a turkey. Of course those types of ignorant comments are always made by people who have never driven or spent time with a Volt. People in Canada are still begging for them. "Now when the plug-in Fusion, Accord etc come along then all these niche EV’s could have big problems." I doubt that. I can make any plug-in gas hybrid like the Fusion or PIP burn gas before I reach the end of my block by simply pushing down too hard on the accelerator. There is still nothing else like the Volt available. BMW is making their own Volt, having hired a former GM employee who worked on the Volt project. That's the closest thing I know of.

    • Highdesertcat Highdesertcat on Apr 04, 2012

      There must be a majority of ignorant people in the world because they continue to choose an ICE vehicle over the Volt and its ilk. These are niche cars, and even the infinitely successful Prius line of vehicles will only attract a small minority of the driving public. This planet won't run out of fossil fuels for hundreds of years yet so ICE is still the most efficient way to go. The Volt is the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. For the sake of those individuals who want to buy a Volt I hope that the Volt will remain available. But once the battery of any plug-in EV runs out some other form of motivation is required to keep going. This is where the Volt falls way short of the Prius, et al. The Prius, Fusion Hybrid and Camry Hybrid, and all in that class, have it over a Volt which uses 1930's technology similar to railroad locomotives by employing an ICE-powered AC generator to spin the propulsion motor(s). A better way would have been to increase efficiency by employing direct-drive like the Hybrids from Prius, Fusion, Camry, Lexus, etc etc etc. What many people have done is buy a Cruze instead of a Volt and use all the money they saved to buy gas, or a second Cruze. The Prius has sold more than a million copies in ten years and is still selling well. Let's see how many copies the Volt will have sold after ten years.

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