not that many willing customers

Post #322,707 by SpiceWare 3/11/10 2:30:12 PM Reply	not that many willing customers While customer reaction to the EV1 was positive, GM believed that electric cars occupied an unprofitable niche of the automobile market as they were only able to lease 800 units in face of production costs of US$1 billion over four years. things do appear to be different than 10 years ago, for one they're not being forced to build a product they don't believe in.
Post #322,708 by drook 3/11/10 2:48:54 PM Reply	"GM believed"? I'd have to transcribe the whole movie to make the point. Go get Who Killed the Electric Car to see how hard GM had to work to keep those cars away from people. The only thing they "didn't believe in" was its profit margin compared to Yukons and Suburbans. -- Drew
Post #322,710 by SpiceWare 3/11/10 3:17:45 PM Reply	businesses make that decision all the time Sure I wish Apple hadn't killed off the Newton, and Honda the S2000, but I understand when a company kills off something that's not profitable.
Post #322,711 by drook 3/11/10 3:57:58 PM Reply	You're not hearing what I'm saying They didn't kill it because it was unprofitable. They actively worked to sabotage it. They were trying to prove to CARB that a zero-emission vehicle wasn't feasible, but they forgot to tell the engineers and the sales staff that. They hired all new salespeople with no experience. They made commercials that sounded more like a warning than a sales pitch. They made prospective owners -- excuse me, lessors since they flat refused to actually sell one at any price -- made them fill out a form acknowledging all the "shortcomings", then followed up with calls from corporate to ask, "Are you really, really sure you want one of these?" They bought the rights to technology that would double the range and refused to use it. They killed it because they were afraid it might actually be profitable, which would undercut their legal position with the state of California. And I'm seeing the same level of commitment to the Volt that they showed to the EV1. -- Drew
Post #322,713 by SpiceWare 3/11/10 4:27:34 PM Reply	guess we'll see in 7 months

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