GM wants to reboot the slow sales of the Volt and Ampera
- GM is going to drop the price of its electric vehicles equiped with the range extender, the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera. The price reduction will be around 17%, which represents a decrease of 7,600 euros for the Ampera. Both models have indeed been struggling to penetrate the markets (particularly U.S. and European) and a decrease in prices could boost sales.
- Since their launch in 2010, the Chevrolet Volt has been sold at 50,000 units (including 20,000 in the first eight months of 2013) and the Opel Ampera at 10,000 units (including 2,000 in the first eight months of 2013) while the manufacturers' objectives were well above.
- Since 2011, the Nissan Leaf and the Renault Zoe were sold during the same period at more than 60,000 and 6,000 units . But if the first eight months of 2013 are taken into account, they have sold 25,000 Leaf and 6000 Zoe.
- Is thus observed that the Leaf has been sold at more units than the Volt in 2013, and even more than the pair-Volt Ampera (25,000 units against 22,000). Hence GM's decision to reduce their selling price. Zoe knows lower scores because it was launched in 2013 and it is not sold in the United States or Japan, the two major markets for electric cars. 15,000 Chevrolet Volt and 14000 Nissan Leaf in the United States in the first eight months of 2013. Over the same period, Nissan sold 7500 Leaf in Japan.
