Chevy Forced To Extend Shutdown Of Bolt Plant After Realizing That Literally No One Wants A Bolt

[Frank Cannon]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-18/chevy-forced-extend-shutdown-bolt-plant-after-realizing-literally-no-one-wants-bolt

General Motors launched it's much-hyped, all electric Chevy Bolt at the end of 2016.  The Bolt was expected to make a splash as it was the first electric car in the U.S. market to offer 200 miles of driving range at an affordable price starting around $35,000.  The only problem is that pretty much no one seems to want one.

Unfortunately, that lack of demand is about to earn a bunch of UAW workers at GM's Orion, Michigan plant an extended summer vacation.

As AOL Finance points out today, GM has managed to sell just over 7,500 Chevy Bolts through the first six months of 2017.  Moreover, since dealers are sitting on about 111 days worth of inventory, we're going to go out on a limb and say the Bolt launch slightly underperformed expectations.  All of which has resulted in GM's decision to extend the shutdown currently in effect at it's Orion plant for just a little while longer.

General Motors Co has extended a shutdown at the Michigan factory that builds the new Chevrolet Bolt electric car as part of a broader effort to get control of bulging inventories of unsold vehicles in the United States.

"Shutdown periods vary by plant based on launch timing of new or refreshed models across the portfolio and our ongoing efforts to align production with market demand," GM said in a statement.

But it's not just the Chevy Bolt that GM is having a hard time selling.  Overall, the company is battling a massive inventory glut, some 126 days of supplies, in passenger cars.  As such, the company has extended summer vacation shutdowns at three other North American assembly plants. The assembly plant at Lordstown, Ohio, that makes the Chevrolet Cruze and a plant near Kansas City, Missouri, that produces the Malibu sedan both have three additional weeks of downtime. An assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario, will be idled for two extra weeks to reduce inventories of the Chevrolet Impala large sedan.

Of course, this shouldn't be much of a surprise for our readers as we recently pointed out that GM's "channel stuffing" hit a new all time high for the restructured company in June 2017, with the number of GM vehicles parked at dealer lots and patiently waiting for a buyer rising to the highest since the summer before recession officially began, when GM was still pre-bankruptcy GM, with far greater (if ultimately superfluous and in need of restructuring) production.

All of which kind of makes you wonder just how well that other, highly-anticipated, mass-produced, affordable, all-electric vehicle will perform when/if it officially starts to ship later this year.

[Frank Cannon]

The bailout was really worth the effort. Look how vibrant this company is now.

[INVAR]

The bailout was really worth the effort. Look how vibrant this company is now.

I'll never buy a GM car ever again.

Not after that bailout.

Hell no.

[Frank Cannon]

I'll never buy a GM car ever again.

Not after that bailout.

Hell no.

Judging by GM's channel stuffing, extended shut downs and $4500 average incentives on new cars, I would say there are a hell of a lot of people making that same decision.

[thackney]

I'll never buy a GM car ever again.

Not after that bailout.

Hell no.

+1

And we have 4 drivers, 5 vehicles.

[Elderberry]

I'll never buy a GM car ever again.

Not after that bailout.

Hell no.

We have 4 Chevy trucks, a 56, a 98, a 2007, and a 2015. And a Chevy engine in my 53 Willys. And when I purchase my next truck I'll be looking at a Chevy first.

Oh, and a 75 Corvette.

[Jazzhead]

We have 4 Chevy trucks, a 56, a 98, a 2007, and a 2015. And a Chevy engine in my 53 Willys. And when I purchase my next truck I'll be looking at a Chevy first.

Oh, and a 75 Corvette.

My next car will likely be a Chevy too.   They're well made,  and our local dealer provides excellent service.

Buy American, folks! 

[Wingnut]

All those millions of potential Volt buyers are just waiting for Saint Elon Musk to deliver the holy grail of electric vehicle power.  The Tesla S model! 

[Smokin Joe]

How are Ford and Dodge doing? Is anyone selling cars like hotcakes that doesn't have a government contract?

Maybe the economy just isn't as recovered as we have been told.

[Wingnut]

How are Ford and Dodge doing? Is anyone selling cars like hotcakes that doesn't have a government contract?

Maybe the economy just isn't as recovered as we have been told.

Don't know about ford but that Carpetbagger Sergio "The great" Marconi is driving what is left of Crysler into the ground.  The only thing propping up his Fiat/Alpha Romeo fiefdom is the sales of Jeep.

[The_Reader_David]

They might have realized that overlap between the market for Chevys (that portion of middle America not offended by the GM bailout) and the market for all-electric vehicles (urbanites with "green" sensibilities and no need to drive long-range, or the money to have two vehicles, the all-electric for commuting and the gasoline-fueled vehicle for long-distance travel) is pretty small.

[thackney]

How are Ford and Dodge doing? Is anyone selling cars like hotcakes that doesn't have a government contract?

Maybe the economy just isn't as recovered as we have been told.

Ford: F-series is best-selling truck for 40 years
http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/04/autos/ford-f-150-truck-40-years/index.html

Ford F-150 #1in Full Size Pickup Trucks
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/ford/f-150

[thackney]

How are Ford and Dodge doing? Is anyone selling cars like hotcakes that doesn't have a government contract?

Maybe the economy just isn't as recovered as we have been told.

Auto Sales
July 05, 2017
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html

[catfish1957]

Ironic that product name has two meanings now.

[Elderberry]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2016/02/15/the-longest-lasting-used-trucks-and-suvs/#bd9e9c752c7e

Heavy-duty models from Ford, Chevrolet and GMC were the highest-ranking pickup trucks, with full-size SUVs from Toyota, Ford, and Chevy also placing among the top models. Six percent of Ford F-250 Super Duty pickups – the top performing model among all used vehicles – were found to still be on the road after running for more than 200,000 miles. Six of the top 10 models on the list are from General Motors GM -0.27% and two each are built by Ford and Toyota. Neither Nissan nor FCA placed any trucks among the top-ranked vehicles.

[catfish1957]

My next car will likely be a Chevy too.   They're well made,  and our local dealer provides excellent service.

Buy American, folks!

After having GM products '75-86, I came to the conclusion that they are such POS junk, that I'd never own another.

[Frank Cannon]

How are Ford and Dodge doing? Is anyone selling cars like hotcakes that doesn't have a government contract?

Maybe the economy just isn't as recovered as we have been told.

Rolls Royce is having a good run.....

http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/07/12/bmw-group-sales-achieve-best-ever-june-first-half-year/

[thackney]

Rolls Royce is having a good run.....

http://www.bmwblog.com/2017/07/12/bmw-group-sales-achieve-best-ever-june-first-half-year/

2017 YTD % Change
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/07/u-s-auto-sales-brand-brand-results-june-2017-ytd/

Alfa Romeo 1,152% increase
Jaguar 88.0%
Maserati 30.3%
Industry Total -2.1%

[INVAR]

Buy American, folks!

Not when it's shit, overpriced and subsidized by my tax dollars.  I'll buy the best quality that I can afford.  If that means I'm buying something from Korea or Mexico - so be it.

[truth_seeker]

Get a Mercedes Benz truck

[thackney]

Get a Mercedes Benz truck

http://fortune.com/2017/07/18/mercedes-x-class-truck/

...The only demographic missing in its initial launch is Americans. The Mercedes X-Class, which was introduced as a concept last year, will be available in Germany by November 2017 and other European countries this year, followed by Australia and South Africa in the beginning of 2018. By early 2019, the truck will head to Argentina and Brazil.

For now, the X-Class is not coming to America—an interesting decision considering the vehicle's lifestyle luxury leanings seem to be the ideal fit for U.S. consumers....

[Wingnut]

Get a Mercedes Benz truck

That does not fit your american Benz demo.  Maybe a few hoodrats and the muzzie crowd but not feeling the love from your C class buyer.  The rednecks and the urban cowboys won't buy it either.

[truth_seeker]

Mercedes recall millions diesel cars over harmful emissions

By Luke John Smith

 PUBLISHED:  15:31, Wed, Jul 19, 2017    | UPDATED: 15:44, Wed, Jul 19, 2017

DAIMLER is recalling millions of Mercedes cars amid a scandal over ‘faked’ emission results.

Almost every new Mercedes-Benz diesel car bought in the UK over the past six years is being voluntarily recalled.

The reason for the recall is so that the engines can be adjusted to improve the car’s emissions performance.

The action is being taken in relation to nearly all cars with diesel engines meeting the Euro 5 standard - implemented in 2011 - and the existing Euro 6 rules.

It has not been confirmed how many UK owners are to be affected by the recall, but it is estimated that one million cars in Germany and two million cars across Europe are expected to be recalled.

The company has estimated that the voluntary recall will cost around 200 million euros (£195 million).

In 2015 Volkswagen Group admitted that 482,000 of its vehicles in the US were fitted with defeat device software to switch engines to a cleaner mode when undergoing environmental tests.

Diesel cars have come under huge scrutiny since then with experts wanting a diesel scrappage scheme, citywide bans and toxin taxes to be introduced.

snip

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/830367/Mercedes-diesel-recall-2017-emissions-scandal

[Smokin Joe]

Auto Sales
July 05, 2017
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html

Okay, car sales down, light truck sales pretty steady overall on that graph. They light truck is the vehicle of small business (pickup, van), so I can see sales staying steady in a steady state economy.

Inference is that the economy isn't wildly improving.

[truth_seeker]

I was in the market for a vehicle recently and looked at the Chevy dealer. I have known a couple of folks with high praise for their Volts.

The Bolt is a very slim market offering. Severely range limited electric is going nowhere in the near term, in most of America.

The Chevy Cruise hatchback looked great, but it was way up price wise. Far, far above a Honda Civic hatchback, for instance. Like $35,000 versus $25,000 fully loaded.

Finally I must confess to being a German car fanatic. The BMW i3 is sitting on their lots. They move them with highly subsidized leases, etc.

Gas-electric hybrids do make sense, since they give good performance, excellent mileage and range. I notice there are more and more, of those.

Mercedes is in trouble for diesels, similar to VW-Audi recently.