Despite Strong August, Chevy Volt Still Not Plugged In to High Sales

After a record-setting number of sales in August, General Motors is still losing money on its Chevrolet Volt. Two years after the Volt hit the market as the first gas-electric hybrid in the U.S., the auto manufacturer is losing what industry analysts and manufacturing experts estimate to be $49,000 of its roughly $89,000 production cost.

Chevy is not alone in its struggle to sell the hybrid. While demand for the Toyota Prius has been strong, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi have experienced slow sales for their electric and hybrid versions. 

Thanks to a strategy that included monthly leases as low as $199, Chevy sold 2,831 Volts last month, bringing its year-to-date sales to 13,500, lower than the 40,000 vehicles GM hoped to see drive off lots this year. As a result, GM will halt Volt assembly in the Detroit-Hamtramck plant for four weeks beginning Sept. 17, the second time this year that production has ceased on the model.

“It’s true, we’re not making money yet,” Doug Parks, GM’s vice president of global product programs and the former Volt development chief, said of the Volt. “[It will] eventually make money. As the volume comes up and we get into the Gen 2 car, we’re going to turn [the losses] around].”

The second-generation Volt is expected to be unveiled in about three years.