VIDEO: Charlie Rose talks to Wagoner, Volt price in the mid to upper 30s
Veteran interviewer Charlie Rose has done a two-part look at General Motors in the wake of the company's recent losses and its pending centennial celebration. In the first part, Rose sits down with Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner to discuss all manner of issues surrounding the ailing automaker, including the Volt. Aside from reiterating that the engineering teams are making excellent progress on the Volt and are on track to meet the late 2010 Job 1 date, Wagoner was asked about price. He replied that they haven't worked out final pricing yet but expects the initial cars to come out in the mid to upper 30s. That's clearly more than they would have liked but it is the reality of battery costs. Wagoner said the company hopes that the government will implement tax incentives that make the end price more palatable to consumers. On the subject of incentives he said that GM doesn't expect the government to pay for the development of vehicles like the Volt, but would like to see the government encourage the demand side to help build volume. That would be a combination of incentives to buy, and also allowing fuel prices not to drop too much. The company is already realigning its production capacity to the reality of high gas prices and they would hate to see a reversal in demand for trucks at this point. You can check out the video after the jump. A second part, featuring an interview with Bob Lutz, hasn't been posted online yet.
[Source: Charlie Rose]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erik 2:10PM (8/20/2008)
Wow, GM wants gas prices to stay high.
It makes great sense in view of all the changes the auto manufacturers are making, but I was still shocked to see it in print.
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Torrent 6:44AM (8/21/2008)
Yeah well GM is sorry it costs so much to make an all electric vehicle. If GM wanted Gas prices to stay high, they wouldn't have XFE's, Hybrids, and FlexFuel vehicles.
This is one of those times where I say that you need to come to reality before you post a comment.
Torrent 6:46AM (8/21/2008)
Dude. That was totally meant for Noz.
Scott 2:14PM (8/20/2008)
Thanks for posting this Sam. Encouraging news on the price point (since we last heard 40k range from Lutz). Looks like Lutz interview is up now on Charlie's site. From what I understand their are some additional visuals of the production model. Can anyone who's not blocked at work grab a few screenshots and post them?
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Curt 12:31AM (8/21/2008)
Anyone remember when the 1st gen Prius first came to the US ?
It was subsidized by Toyota in order to keep the price within reason.
http://www.cartalk.com/content/testdrives/Reviews/toyota-prius-2001.html
Why does GM need to rely on the US government to subsidize the Volt ?
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Noz 3:44AM (8/21/2008)
$30K+ for a GM product?
Thanks...but no thanks. They can keep that POS.
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Jason 2:57PM (8/21/2008)
They want the US Government to keep fuel prices high.
Basically they are saying that they want the US Citizen to suffer for another 2+ years until (THIER) product comes to market to save them. Even then if you are running longer than the plug in range it is not going to save you if they are encourageing higher fuel pirces.
Absolutely Ubsurd comment.
What they are also saying is what every single anylist and government agency denies. That our country can have any influence what so ever on the price of fuel. Completely market driven on supply and demand. What this "Expert" is saying is that they sure as heck can and he wants them to keep them high.
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Rob 4:11PM (8/21/2008)
Jason,
Don't be a buffoon. GM isn't saying they want prices to be high, the article is assuming they do since they are retooling their production line and to reverse that would be expensive.
Curt
"On the subject of incentives he said that GM doesn't expect the government to pay for the development of vehicles like the Volt"
If they want to give a tax break for people buying the Volt, I think anyone on "AutoblogGreen" serious about changing the automobile would support that. Prius didn't get tax breaks in 2001, but frankly, the pregnant-rollar-skate-car wasn't, and is not nearly as revolutionary from a technology standpoint as an E-REV.