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Volt Production ‘Temporarily Halted,’ Hundreds of Workers Laid Off
The Blaze ^ | 02-02-12 | Becket Adams

Posted on 03/03/2012 10:32:59 AM PST by Lazlo in PA

General Motors told 1,300 employees at its Detroit-Hamtramck factory that they were being “temporarily laid off” for five weeks as the company halts production of the Chevrolet Volt, the Detroit Free Press reports.

“Even with sales up in February over January, we are still seeking to align our production with demand,” said GM spokesman Chris Lee.

“We needed to maintain proper inventory and make sure that we continued to meet market demand,” he told The Hill in a phone interview.

(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: autobailout; bailouts; chevrolet; chevyvolt; envirofascism; fail; fraud; gm; governmentmotors; govtmotors; green; greenautos; greencars; greeneconomy; greenenergy; notbreakingnews; obama; volt
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Looks like some for fail for the Regime. I thought this car was going to be so popular and indispensable that it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. All it did was raise the unemployment rate.
1 posted on 03/03/2012 10:33:01 AM PST by Lazlo in PA
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To: Lazlo in PA
“We needed to maintain proper inventory and make sure that we continued to meet market demand,"

So THAT is why production was halted, to bring capacity down to demand? ROTF!

2 posted on 03/03/2012 10:41:44 AM PST by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: Lazlo in PA
“Even with sales up in February over January, we are still seeking to align our production with demand,” said GM spokesman Chris Lee

Yeah, sales doubled from 3 to 6 units....

3 posted on 03/03/2012 10:41:44 AM PST by mikrofon (GM is re-Volting)
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To: Lazlo in PA
Go over to "GreenCarCongress"...

Last week they had 3 stories on the technical aspects of the up and coming Hybrid and "Energi" Ford Fusion.

They have to axe this Turkey before the Fusion comes out so they don't have to go mano-e-mano and then the Volt because it will look like a Trablant up against the Fusion.

Can't have that going into November with our "Dear Leader" being the Volt's biggest Cheerleader, he is going to have to fall in love with something else, and get it gone or he cooks his own goose.

4 posted on 03/03/2012 10:42:45 AM PST by taildragger (( Palin / Mulally 2012 ))
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To: taildragger

Something smells rotten in Denmark.


5 posted on 03/03/2012 10:43:17 AM PST by rovenstinez
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To: rovenstinez
Yes, I wonder if their is an engineering issue that has not been revealed as of yet.
6 posted on 03/03/2012 10:45:03 AM PST by taildragger (( Palin / Mulally 2012 ))
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To: Lazlo in PA
I thought this car was going to be so popular and indispensable that it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Yeah right, they can't even give the car away.

Oh wait a minute...that's what they are attempting.

7 posted on 03/03/2012 10:45:50 AM PST by EGPWS (Trust in God, question everyone else)
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To: Lazlo in PA

The question to ask everyone is Who do you know who can afford $40,000 for a new car? I wonder what the percentage is of Americans who are struggling to even afford their car payment?


8 posted on 03/03/2012 10:47:00 AM PST by GoldwaterChick
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To: Lazlo in PA

A Voltage brownout?


9 posted on 03/03/2012 10:47:15 AM PST by USMCPOP (Father of LCpl. Karl Linn, KIA 1/26/2005 Al Haqlaniyah, Iraq)
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To: taildragger
That is an excellent point. The Ford looks like a far nicer and attractive vehicle. I would bet it will blow the doors off the Dolt that is saddled with ugly styling and a bad reputation.


10 posted on 03/03/2012 10:54:14 AM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

11 posted on 03/03/2012 11:00:27 AM PST by rhema ("Break the conventions; keep the commandments." -- G. K. Chesterton)
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To: Lazlo in PA

I could have sworn I read something within the last week about how well the Volt was doing and I thought “another lie” ... and surprise, surprise, surprise /s .... it was.


12 posted on 03/03/2012 11:00:39 AM PST by MissMagnolia (Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't. (M.Thatcher))
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To: mikrofon

“Yeah, sales doubled from 3 to 6 units.... “

Yep, . . . All given . . uh . . er . . uh sold to G.E..


13 posted on 03/03/2012 11:13:09 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah, so shall it be again.")
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To: Lazlo in PA

Shocking, revolting, and potentially charged news for sure


14 posted on 03/03/2012 11:13:29 AM PST by bigbob
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To: MissMagnolia

Didn’t the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize just say the Dolt was awarded “The Car of the Year?”

Matching production to demand is the reason they laid everyone off.

What a bunch of amateurs...


15 posted on 03/03/2012 11:14:07 AM PST by nj patriot (How is that hope and change working out?)
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To: Lazlo in PA
From the Automotive News, 6,300 Volts in inventory.

Also from the Detroit Free Press, sales of the two other cars made at DHam last month:

Cadillac DTS, 68 cars, -95.5%
Buick Lucerne, 304 cars, -88.2%

Yeah the economy is picking up speed, down hill.

16 posted on 03/03/2012 11:14:43 AM PST by Springman (Rest In Peace YaYa123 and Bahbah.)
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To: Lazlo in PA

From a former car salesman..... When choosing a new car, the very first question you should ask nowadays is.....

Is the battery bigger than a breadbox? If the answer is yes, don’t buy it.


17 posted on 03/03/2012 11:23:59 AM PST by faucetman ( Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: Lazlo in PA
...seeking to align our production with demand...

What the Hell kind of archaic attitude is that? Clearly we need a dictatorship of the proletariat at GM so outdated, non-progressive thinking like that can be relegated to the bottom of the swarf and oil barrel.

18 posted on 03/03/2012 11:28:34 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: taildragger

Yes, I wonder if their is an engineering issue that has not been revealed as of yet.


You mean other than the whole car is a complete lemon and a bust?
The only consolation is it will serve as an example, from now until the end of time, what mixing government with private industry produces.
A very expensive lesson that probably most suspected from the get go was a bad idea.
Why should we have learned a lesson the quasi-government failure that was Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Ford,too is probably happy that the Edsel and the Pinto are no longer the biggest zonker of all time.


19 posted on 03/03/2012 11:38:15 AM PST by Leep (Dueling tag lines=don't worry,you'll be a vegetable guy soon<>It's gonna be a Newt day!)
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To: GoldwaterChick
Who do you know who can afford $40,000 for a new car?

There are several categories of people who might want buy one. These people are rich, and they value the coolness factor more than some insignificant pocket change to the tune of $40K.

However Hollywood is not that large. It appears that Volt sales saturated all the demand that ever was. Now Volt needs new buyers. But there are no other people in the country who have more money than brains.

From my own point of view, Volt has a future battery problem. We know that current hybrids, like Prius, are not dependent on the battery that much, and the battery in Prius is NiMH, and it lasts about 10 years. We also know that battery in Volt is Li-Ion, and those batteries don't last (anyone who owns a laptop knows that - two years and you need a new battery.)

Volt also has limited range. I live in hills, which means that if I buy Volt it will be struggling to return home. But even on a flat terrain 30-40 miles is not a sufficient range. I need 30 miles for a daily trip around the valley; if I go visit friends that turns into 60 miles. I may also need lights, heater, windshield wipers, radio, and all other power consumers that I'm sure are not counted in the advertised Volt's range.

Volt has a gas engine. However why in the world would I want to buy a gas car that also has an electric powertrain if it will be used only in the first hour of my trip? A gas engine of Prius, for example, is far better in terms of fuel efficiency because it's designed for that. A gas engine of Volt is a last-moment drop-in to solve the range problem. Also that auxiliary gas engine requires premium gas - which is not good news right now. Volt is designed to run the gas engine from time to time in order to circulate gasoline, so eventually all owners of Volt need to buy more of that premium gas.

All in all, this car doesn't even look like a good technical implementation. It's a shapeless pile of random things thrown together to do the job. As an engineer, I don't want Volt - it is simply not good enough for me to desire one.

Perhaps I'm driving too much, and other people - who commute to work for 10 miles or less - will be more interested? But those people are also spending very little on gas; they will be better off just buying a used car for a few $K and driving it until the wheels fall off. Volt's intended benefit is in electric powertrain; but it cannot be used for more than 40 miles. Short commute doesn't realize this benefit because the car is too expensive. Long commute doesn't realize this benefit because the electric range is not sufficient. In other words, Volt, as designed, will never be more economical than a 10 year old Japanese car (let alone a modern Prius - which can be had for half the price of a Volt.)

20 posted on 03/03/2012 11:38:53 AM PST by Greysard
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