Should The Chevrolet Volt Been A Cadillac From The Get-Go?

Although the reviews came in buzzing, even from our very own Agent 001, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt's sales haven't been all that electric -- pun intended.

Sure you can blame it on not being for sale in all 50 states, but still it seems there may have been some serious oversight when it came to positioning the Volt.

First off, we already know it is likely the most advanced vehicle ever produced. With its giant heaping of technology and an enormous amount of research and development put into the Volt -- obviously at great expense -- this only meant one thing: this puppy was going to cost a pretty penny.

So when it rolled into dealers at the $40,000 mark -- with rumblings it was going to cost more -- it probably caught a lot of consumers off guard. Given the amount of R&D put into the car, something tells me that GM would have liked to earn a larger margin on this vehicle.

With that said, why wasn't the Cadillac Converj a reality? Think: GM could have positioned Cadillac as an innovator over other luxury marques, like Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and the ilk. AND it would have a helluva halo product that could spawn more electric siblings, like the Volt. Not to mention it could have commanded a larger margin.

At least if sales weren't significant there would be a variety of reasons to blame it on:

1) The car was overpriced
2) The luxury market wasn't ready for EVs
3) etc., etc.

Even better, it would have been less noticeable to outside observers that it wasn't doing so hot.

Taking ALL of this into consideration, we're a little interested: should the Chevrolet Volt have been a Cadillac?

Agent001 - 9/29/2011 11:13:13 PM

-1 Boost

To be clear, I did say I like the Volt.

It is a phenomenal piece of technology and I would prefer owning it to the Prius or Leaf.

BUT, and this is a BIG but (no pun intended), at the price they charge it is one of the stupidest arguments for being green.

And because of the pricing I called it the MODERN DAY EDSEL and said it would be a huge flop.

Not because of the car, strictly because of the pricing.

If anyone asks me what green car strategy they should adopt, I tell them to buy a Hyundai Accent for 17k and use the rest of the money they would have spent on the Volt, Leaf or Prius and buy Apple stock with it.

The key market problem is not even Lexus can sell a $40k + hybrid in volume.

No ONE and I repeat NO ONE is looking for a LUXURY hybrid.

The supposed luxury hybrid customer the left leaning media has invented is strictly that. An invention.

What GM and all the others should do if they really want critical mass adoption is to figure out how to build a Prius that they could sell for 12k.

Do THAT and MILLIONS would sell.

And with millions driving them, gas prices would be a Bachman-like $2.00 per gallon again.

My .02.

001

1c3am5 - 9/30/2011 6:35:51 AM

+1 Boost

I think the article and logic is spot-on. Should have been a Caddy, and would have been a great way to promote all the Cadillac "firsts", from the start of the 20th century.

ctfund - 9/30/2011 2:21:55 PM

+1 Boost

I think they wanted to avoid the 4 Year 50K Warranty that comes with a Cadillac Branded Car.