Case you missed it: GM unveils a car you can't buy

Posted at 11:50 AM on September 18, 2008 by Jeff Horwich (2 Comments)

What does it say about the US auto industry when their most hyped product is one you can't buy for at least two years?

(Credit: China Photos/Stringer)

Amid the tanking markets and receding waters dominating the news this week, GM had the umpteenth "unveiling" of the Chevrolet Volt, the much-touted electric car that they hope to debut with the 2011 model year. (Apparently this unveiling is the real one. Until they actually unveil it. For purchase. If they can work out the kinks with suppliers and start actually making the thing en masse.) This unveiling happened in China...just to mix it up a bit?

And they now say the Chevy Volt might cost upwards of $40,000 once it actually hits showrooms. And the design is scaled back from the concept model to look more like...an Impala? NYT says it looks like a Saturn.

Didn't GM already have an expensive electric car like, 12 years ago?

Beating on the US auto industry is like kicking someone when they're down, I know. And all those jobs are vital to the US economy, especially here in the Midwest. But seriously, what are you doing for me now? The Volt saga is almost a parody of itself.

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Comments (2)

I'm afraid that I started thinking about utilizing Reddy (or is that "Ready"?) Kilowatt as the...uh, spokes-entity for the project. And how exactly does he go about re-charging your battery? That would explain why he's always smiling...

Posted by Mark Nathanson | September 18, 2008 2:53 PM

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I was a high school kid in the 70's when the first gas crisis hit. We lived in Santa Fe and I worked at a Texaco on Cerrillos Road. The lines, the threats, the rationing--that whole experience taught me to buy cars that get great mileage.

I worked on cars for my spending money at the station, then at home for my passtime.

I have a love/hate thing with the U.S. automakers. Haven't bought one myself since '97 because they simply don't make a car I want to buy. The Volt underlines the problem: I want a highly advanced, technically sophisticated, well made, safe electric car. I typically drive 40 miles a day in the metro--perfect for me. They don't make one. I'd argue they don't really make a hybrid--just some with a badge.

The U.S. automakers are still doin' it old school. These backward looking, stuck in the 70's visionless, spineless, thoughtless companies are useless. It will remain so until the stockholders start firing dinosaurs. But until then, Detroit will remain the visionless, ill-conceived, useless relic it has become.

Posted by Rowlandg | September 18, 2008 7:31 PM

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