There’s a problem with the Chevy Volt says General Motors CEO Dan Akerson; the American automaker is losing money on every one of them. That, however, will change with the second-generation model, he says, as will the price which could drop by as much as $10,000.
Akerson make the comments speaking at Fortune magazine’s Braintrom Green conference in Laguna Niguel, CA this week. “This next generation, we think we can decrease the price on the order of $7,000 to $10,000,” he said.
SEE ALSO: 2013 Chevy Volt Review
Helping make the car profitable, a 25 percent reduction in its price should result in a significantly higher volume of sales, allowing the company to better leverage economies of scale. GM has already announced plans to expand the use of its Voltec technology to a Cadillac coupe, called the ELR.
In addition to shedding cost, the new Volt will also drop a few pounds. Akerson also commented that reducing the Volt’s weight was another key goal for the next-generation car. Likely to come through lighter electronics and more compact batteries, it’s also possible the new car will use a smaller 3-cylinder engine.
The Volt currently costs $39,145 though a federal tax incentive of $7,500 makes that much easier to swallow.
SEE ALSO: Nissan Leaf Price Cut
Plug-in rival Nissan has experienced dwindling sales of its fully-electric Leaf model and followed a similar cost-cutting path to help attract buyers. In January the Japanese automaker reduced the cost of the car by $6,000 resulting in a $28,800 asking price, which can drop to below $20,000 depending on Federal, state and local incentives.
[Source: CNN]