Thanks to additional costs for services and repairs, some Chevy dealers are choosing not to carry the Volt.
According to Automotive News, the sales of the Volt at some dealerships does not justify the cost of special tools needed to repair and service the vehicles. Dealers are spending up to $5,000 on tools, including a new item that is needed to drain the vehicle’s battery to send back to GM in case of repairs.
Despite sales of the Volt reaching 20,828 through November, some dealers are unable to sell enough of the range-extended electric cars to make up the cost of the parts. Requiring to sell just five Volts to break-even on the costs of the tools, some dealers are instead opting out of the Volt authorized dealer program. Dealers believe that GM is raising the requirements to be a certified Volt dealer in order to create a smaller network of dealerships that would provide more Volts to more successful dealers and areas.
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With the Volt-based Cadillac ELR coming in 2013, other dealers are seeing a benefit of continuing to be a part of the Volt Authorized dealer program, with the same tools allowing work to be done on the likely pricier ELR.
Source: Automotive News
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