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Chevy Volt Follows Stupid 2012 with Stupider 2013
Townhall.com ^ | February 11, 2013 | John Ransom

Posted on 02/11/2013 5:17:17 AM PST by Kaslin

After a year that can only be described as “stupid,” the Chevy Volt is gearing up to make 2013 even stupider still.

I know, I know.

You find it hard to believe that a mostly-owned subsidiary of the United States government and the Obama administration- like GM is- could get any stupider than say Fannie Mae, or Federal Reserve Bank.

Yes, that’s tough competition, but in the “idiocy” category GM seems to be the ruling champion.  

Not only have they lost substantial amounts of taxpayer dollars, they have managed to do it while generating record profits even though they still have an unfunded pension liability of over $100 billion. The pension liability is more than twice as large as the company’s current valuation on the stock market.       

GM has now all but admitted that in it’s current iteration, the Chevy Volt- the car on which the company says it pinned all its hopes and dreams- is dead.

That could be a sign of progress, but alas, no.

Because as a result they have introduced a Cadillac version of the Volt power plant just to make the stupidity a bit pricier.

As of now it’s unclear if spontaneous engine compartment fires will be included in the Cadillac luxury version just as they were in the original Chevy Volt or if rich liberals will have to pay more for that option. 

What is clear is sales are struggling, with the Volt reaching only 38 percent of its sales goal for 2012, despite incentives that make the Volt a loss leader amongst “green cars.” And if you thought sales were bad in the USA, they were even worse in Europe and Asia.

According to Greencarreports.com, “[j]ust 1,336 Volts found buyers outside the States during the portions of the year the car was on sale--against 23,461 in the U.S. Of those, 1,225 of them were sold in Canada. China and Europe together accounted for only 111 Volts.”

Remember: This was the European car journalists’ “Car of the Year” for 2012, which just goes to show you that Europeans feel about the same regarding their journalists and the Chevy Volt as Americans do about their journalists and the Chevy Volt.

So now GM’s plan is to make the Volt more expensive, because the Obama administration understands that richer liberals are just stupider with their money. Rich liberals went out and voted a tax increase for themselves after all, campaigned for it, embraced it; argued, in fact, that the biggest problem in all of the world is that the government doesn’t have enough of our money.   

What better way to reward them then to figure out another way to fleece them out of more money that they don’t value?

But this time the fleecing will come with Onstar Navigation, leather seats and a dual DVD players.  Maybe shortly they can come out with an Escalade version?

Like most government enterprises, however, GM has decided that it doesn’t want to completely ignore bilking the middle-class. 

That why they have announced that the next version of the Chevy Volt is going to far cheaper.

“Instead of shoehorning the electric powerplant into a conventional GM compact-car platform,” reports USAToday, “the next Volt will be purpose-built. That will allow the ability to better package the batteries and other specialized components, says Mark Reuss, president of GM North America. He spoke Wednesday night at Automotive News' World Congress here in Detroit.”

The result will be a car that’s more affordable for working class dudes like you and me.

I’m not exactly sure why they wouldn’t have made the car “purpose-built” in the first place to make it as affordable as possible.

But perhaps like the tax increase that was supposed to be aimed just at the rich, had we known they were going conjure up one “affordable” for all of us, no one would have voted for them.

Because no one was just itching for the payroll tax hike.

And I’m guessing that most everyone would agree that buying a $30,000 car that gets 35 miles between all-night, plug-in charges is just stupid.

Even for middle class liberals.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: dncrico; entitlements; gmrico; rico
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1 posted on 02/11/2013 5:17:20 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Odungomotors


2 posted on 02/11/2013 5:20:29 AM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: Kaslin
And I’m guessing that most everyone would agree that buying a $30,000 car that gets 35 miles between all-night, plug-in charges is just stupid. Even for middle class liberals.

I wouldn't bet against it...

3 posted on 02/11/2013 5:23:55 AM PST by raybbr (People who still support Obama are either a Marxist or a moron.)
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To: Doogle

If you take 80 billion dollars from your Uncle...you better build what your uncle wants...and Obama wants an electric car...so it will be built...Obama will make government agencies buy them...thousands of them...they do not car..its not their money...they just print it


4 posted on 02/11/2013 5:25:11 AM PST by Youngman542012
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To: Kaslin
Liberals love getting others to pay for their stupidity even if the can afford it themselves.

Electric Car Owners Get a Free Ride in Ann Arbor

No argument can be made that electric car owners are somehow in need of a subsidy.
A 2012 survey of electric vehicle drivers
found that the vast majority come from households earning more than $100,000 per year, and are predominantly, in the words of the study, "...very well-educated, upper-middle class, white men in their early 50’s..."
5 posted on 02/11/2013 5:26:29 AM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Kaslin

More than 48 Volts can be fatal.


6 posted on 02/11/2013 5:28:16 AM PST by sasquatch
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To: sasquatch

They have to “sell” 1% of their cars in CA as electrics in order to do business there. The loss per car is $9000 for the Chevy version, that everyone else subsidizes. That will increase as the percentage is to increase.


7 posted on 02/11/2013 5:35:16 AM PST by rstrahan
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To: Kaslin

When the President of the United States is flogging you with a cat of nine tails in a pressurized steam room, it is hard to concentrate and design a “purpose-built” car by next week.

Taking bits and pieces of CAD drawings in the hard drive and cobbling something together is quicker and stops the pain.


8 posted on 02/11/2013 5:43:01 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: Kaslin

GM Bailout = A way for the Obama government to funnel welfare to high paid labor union members in return for financial contributions and votes.


9 posted on 02/11/2013 5:52:20 AM PST by Iron Munro (I miss America, don't you?)
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To: Iron Munro

———to funnel welfare to high paid labor union members-——

To funnel money stolen from bondholder pensions to overpaid lazy union members


10 posted on 02/11/2013 5:57:23 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: Iron Munro
GM Bailout = A way for the Obama government to funnel welfare to high paid labor union members in return for financial contributions and votes.

Correct,and worth repeating, so I repeated it. Also: Chevy Volt: = such a disaster that it's kept around just to really tick off those of us who understand the equation above.

11 posted on 02/11/2013 6:05:55 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright
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To: Kaslin

how many of those Volts were sold to government agencies/contractors?


12 posted on 02/11/2013 6:09:42 AM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: Kaslin
GM has built some crapmobile Cadillacs in the past, sounds like they are keeping with tradition.


13 posted on 02/11/2013 6:15:16 AM PST by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: bert
What you and your anti-government VRWC pals have completely overlooked is that The Chevy* Volt is perfect for Alaska, Saskatchewan, and Maine.

Its uncanny ability to spontaneously combust can warm stranded motorists for hours. In addition, by using the optional trailer-towed, steam-powered portable generator, small villages near the event can have enough electricity for up to 1/2 hour of Internet Connectivity, or Cable TV.

This may not sound like a lot of connected time, but with timely reports from Homeland Security, relayed instantly to the Obama Ready Room and ESPN Hot Spot, the POTUS can use that brief interlude to address the:
(a) survivors of the fire, promising them instant Federal Aid and registering them to vote if they have overlooked this duty, due perhaps to recent arrival in the country.
(b) the lucky villagers within whose bounds the event occurred will get the briefing on why snow and sub-zero temperatures are the result of Bush-caused Global Warming.

*(We always say "Chevy" Volt instead of "Chevrolet" as it makes us Left-Wing Elitist Folks sound ...well ...more "folksy.")

14 posted on 02/11/2013 6:31:24 AM PST by Kenny Bunk (The Obama Molecule: Teflon binds with Melanin = No Criminal Charges Stick)
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To: raybbr
Yes, but they could be used as golf carts with the optional "Club Caddy" attachment.

This, of course, is a very nice feature.

15 posted on 02/11/2013 7:13:01 AM PST by D Rider
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To: Kaslin
I'm holding off on the Volt...eventually Obama will send me a check to go get one....just doing my part to save the turtles!!
16 posted on 02/11/2013 7:28:47 AM PST by ontap
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To: Kaslin

What percentage of the 2012 34% of goal was actually “sold” to the government?

FUBO & FAD


17 posted on 02/11/2013 7:50:48 AM PST by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: Kaslin
You find it hard to believe that a mostly-owned subsidiary of the United States government and the Obama administration United States Taxpayer!
18 posted on 02/11/2013 8:28:21 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Kaslin
Because as a result they have introduced a Cadillac version of the Volt power plant just to make the stupidity a bit pricier.

No one has ever accused Hollywood liberals as being smart; but come ON!!

Would YOU rather be seen doin' yer 'green thing' in a Chevy or a Caddy?

19 posted on 02/11/2013 8:29:38 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Kaslin

35 miles on a charge? Wow, that’s only 5 miles worse than the $2,900 Citicar from 35 years ago.


20 posted on 02/11/2013 8:38:28 AM PST by Mr. Lucky
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