GM May Make 60,000 Volt Electric Cars in First Year, People Say
By By Jeff Green
Bloomberg News
August 22, 2007
General Motors Corp. may build as many as 60,000 Volt electric cars for their inaugural year on the market, four times the sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s hybrid Prius in its first full year in the U.S., people with knowledge of GM's plans said.
Production at that level may allow GM to sell the plug-in Volt for less than $30,000, said the people, who didn't want to be identified because the plans are confidential. The discussions show the Detroit automaker, racked by losses and U.S. sales declines, believes an affordable electric car will help spur a revival, the people said.
``If they were able to get 30,000 to 60,000 on the road in a year, it would be a huge leap in technology,'' said Brett Smith, an alternative-fuel analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ``It will be difficult, though, because there are so many barriers to making this happen.''
A high-volume debut for the Volt, designed to go 40 miles without recharging, would lend credence to Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's strategy of using technological advances to gain ground on Toyota. The Japanese company has a decade-long lead with its Prius, a gasoline-electric car that is the world's best-selling hybrid.
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