Bob Lutz: Chevrolet Volt may cost close to $40,000

LMAO!!!...What's new?...Again?...Besides I think GM is paying too much to have an idiot like No Nutz-Lutz to be working for GM and calling whatever shots in the production process...And that folks is "TOO-BAD!!!"

Riiight.. because he's done nothing to help turn the company around. Absolutely nothing.

It's one thing not to like him, it's another thing to completely dismiss all of his huge achievements at GM in order to get your point(whatever it may be) across.

We've known for a while that the Volt would be a little more expensive then planned since the technology is so new. However, people will be flocking to buy it since they'll get their money back within a few years.. if not sooner due to the savings in gasoline.

The Volt's drive train isn't a just a one-time deal. This vehicle will be a stepping stone to future Chevy and GM vehicles. As a result, plug-in hybrids will become cheaper and more accessible to people on a lower budget.

People who are on a 'low budget' should just buy a gasoline-powered car. They can get a hell of a lot more than this for their money.

^ Someone on a budget will buy a gas car. Probably a used gas car. This car is not a welfare project.

I'm sure there is a whole team of top execs at GM making decisions on the Volt. Don't make Lutz out be be a fall guy -- he is primarily a PR/marketing guy and has been doing that job very well.

I see the Volt as a politically correct PR exercise so far. There is a lot of work to be done to make plug-in hybrids a market success. I see these vehicles as being practical only for strictly urban use and their success will depend on the enthusiasm of power companies for offering special low electricity rates to retail customers during off-peak hours so they can recharge their plug-in hybrids.

What! I spent 100K+ for my daughter 3 series covn. (05. And my wife’s A6 (07). I had a Cherokee (i know, no thrills) and now have a 01 Durango and traded for the Durango with 75,000 miles on it and now the Durango has about the same and not ONE problem with either one. I expect the same from the viper 908). The Bmw and Audi have both been in the shop for warranty work. Buy American! I slammed a $450, 00 SLR. And the Mercedes is so freakin common. Not that model but its like a Z06, it so similar it doesn’t get the response. And neck turns. The brother has an AMG e 55 and that’s a bore. I have the stage one option from dodge which is headers exhaust, and converters which now has 678hp but even the stock one beat the v-12 Maserati ($250,000 from 0-140mph (road and track, last month). I don’t want to here about the no bells and whistle thing, my last and final Mercedes (wife’s) S500 went in for in inop trunk and the bill was $5,800, so you can have that crap.

Youre so full of Sh*t. The sarcasm was so funny I alsmost forgot to laugh.

I don't know about him being full of sh!t, but it appears he/she was surely as sh!t hammered when they wrote this.

Yeah, right. An inopt trunk would cost $5800.
Do you think only you own German vehicles?
A tranny would cost $5000 for German vehicles. Not an inopt trunk. Show me the receipt!
I have no doubt in whatever you said until the "inopt trunk".

sailnfl, my family is less exposed to the financial risk of repairing and maintaing foreign cars than your family and I have completely eliminated this risk on my A6 by leasing it with full warranty and free scheduled maintenance over the term of the lease (lease rate is 0.9% by the way which is virtually free money). I'm dying to buy Detroit iron again like in the old days but Detroit keeps disappointing me. For example I can't even get into the front passenger seat of the Buick Enclave without hitting my head on the roof because the front passenger seat lacks proper height adjustment --what kind of crap is that?

Wow you have bucks! Some poor person deboosted you because they drive an old POS around! LOL I can see where you are coming from, Although I wish I could do the sam.lol Too bad you have to be loaded to be green with this Volt.

What are they calling this thing? Vaporware?
I'll stick to my Prius. Thanks Bob for continuing to remind me of why.

They pulled the name from the parts bin. Over in Asia/Europe the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix is known as the Pontiac Voltz. Guess they need to rename it the Viber like all the other ones from here.

It is a stepping stone display of technology. It will get cheaper and more efficient with time like all technology. They have to start somewhere. Kudos to GM for this.

the article title says "close to $40,000"

That's not what Lutz said. He said that the first generation Volt delivered in 2010 may be "closer to 40 than 30". In other words, the Volt may cost $35,001 rather than $34,999. Maybe that's nitpicking for some people, but a tolerance band of $10k means something in my book. I assume that GM will provide actual news for the naysayers to argue about in the autumn of 2009. Until then, no news is good news.

Lutz, by the way, has been doing a fantastic job increasing GM's focus, commitment to tangible quality, and the reintroduction of RWD cars. I don't see anyone at Toyota, Honda, Ford, or Chryserberus doing anywhere near as good a job right now. GM is on a roll.