Chevy Sonic (200 mile BEV?)

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Said it before... they'd have to do a "Saturn" thing with separate dealerships that sold only BEV/PHEV cars if they actually expect to sell many. Their dealer network is working against them 98%.

You think that? This is the Internet Age, and people who are interested wouldn't let something stupid like their local dealer get in the way, especially since it only takes one interested dealer who'll deliver regionally (e.g. there's a GM dealer in CT who'll do a 1,000 or even 1,500 mile radius) to cover a large area. The only hassle is getting a test drive.

If GM really wanted to sell a BEV in volume, they'd just do a bit of marketing to get awareness that'd raise consideration. The Volt's a different kettle of fish, since they called it an ASDVQWEASDG* to avoid saying h*****, didn't really explain the car, leading to lots of confusion, which combined with its heavy Foxing means people don't really understand the car. GM hasn't really tried and is clearly waiting for Gen 2 at least before trying to sell volume. Not that I can blame them, what with the stupidity of the tax credit rule structure.

* Actually, EREV, but it might as well have been an ASDVQWEASDG as far as most people were concerned.

 

[Doug_G]

You think that? This is the Internet Age, and people who are interested wouldn't let something stupid like their local dealer get in the way, especially since it only takes one interested dealer who'll deliver regionally (e.g. there's a GM dealer in CT who'll do a 1,000 or even 1,500 mile radius) to cover a large area. The only hassle is getting a test drive.

That's the thing. If only the people who really, really, really want the car manage to overcome the barrier at the dealership, they're not going to sell very many. They need to be pushing these cars out to people, not preventing them from buying them. Which is exactly what most dealerships are actively doing.

If GM really wanted to sell a BEV in volume, they'd just do a bit of marketing to get awareness that'd raise consideration. The Volt's a different kettle of fish, since they called it an ASDVQWEASDG* to avoid saying h*****, didn't really explain the car, leading to lots of confusion, which combined with its heavy Foxing means people don't really understand the car. GM hasn't really tried and is clearly waiting for Gen 2 at least before trying to sell volume. Not that I can blame them, what with the stupidity of the tax credit rule structure.

They haven't even got their dealers on board. How many people walk into a dealership, tell the salesman what sort of car they're interested in, and get steered towards a Volt. I'm only aware of one dealership that does that. Most of them actively discourage people from buying it. Advertisements might get people into the dealership, but if the dealers are working against them they aren't going to sell many.

 

[Breezy]

That's the thing. If only the people who really, really, really want the car manage to overcome the barrier at the dealership, they're not going to sell very many. They need to be pushing these cars out to people, not preventing them from buying them. Which is exactly what most dealerships are actively doing.

They haven't even got their dealers on board. How many people walk into a dealership, tell the salesman what sort of car they're interested in, and get steered towards a Volt. I'm only aware of one dealership that does that. Most of them actively discourage people from buying it. Advertisements might get people into the dealership, but if the dealers are working against them they aren't going to sell many.

This is exactly true. Sure, you can order from a dealer hundreds of miles away but why should you have to do that when there's a GM dealer in your town? It's just another example of how people have to work around the dealers in order to get the car.

My salesman was really confused as to why I'd want to buy a Volt. I spend the first minute or two explaining to him that yes, I did in fact want to buy a Volt, not a Cruze. "Why would you want one of those?" "Well, we don't sell many of them"

 

[ElSupreme]

You think that? This is the Internet Age, and people who are interested wouldn't let something stupid like their local dealer get in the way, especially since it only takes one interested dealer who'll deliver regionally (e.g. there's a GM dealer in CT who'll do a 1,000 or even 1,500 mile radius) to cover a large area. The only hassle is getting a test drive.

And getting the EV back to your house. When I bought my Ford Focus Electric, there were 3 dealerships within a two hour drive. Sadly one of them was over 80 miles from my house. I would have wanted to test drive the actual car I was going to purchase (lose 10-15 miles) then drive it home on it's maiden voyage, and have to stop for an hour or so to get that extra 20-30 miles I would need to make it back to the house.

Huge hassle. And shipping a car is an even bigger hassle.

Not to mention one of the two remaining Ford dealerships tried to sell me a SVT Raptor. Even after pulling up in the Model S (which is why they were trying to up sell me) and went in asking about the Focus Electric. Add on to the fact I'm not really a fan of raptors ;-). Both dealerships kept pushing the C-Max Energi.