CALLED Out: Are THESE Two Cars The FLOPS Of 2011?

No one wants to be named a flop. Everyone wants to be a success. But in the real world there are winners and losers. Unfortunately for these two all-new 2011 model year vehicles, they've been deemed duds.

The thing is we told you this a LONG time ago.

First up is the gas/electric 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Although it is the most practical electric vehicle on the market -- thanks to its gasoline-fed motor -- it just didn't live up to the figures that General Motors projected. Even worse, the vehicle has experienced some fire issues thanks to the Li-ion batteries.

Then there is the cutesy Fiat 500. Going into 2011, many were excited for the 500 because of its chic style and iconic history. Only problem is that folks didn't exactly turn up with their checkbooks out. In the land of the brave, small is a hard sell, especially when you're trying to move 50,000 units. Every time the subject came out on air with FOX News I always stuck to my guns that after the Smart and MINI Cooper, which had been on sale for years, the 500 was too late to the game and there wouldn't be enough buyers.

But out of curiosity, we want to know: Are THESE two cars the FLOPS of 2011?

...3. Volt
Company: General Motors

GM (GM) was originally so excited about the Volt that the company had announced in January it was speeding up its roll-out by six months. But by November the excitement had fizzled out. Larry Nitz, GM’s executive director for vehicle electrification told Reuters, “It’s naive to think that the world is going to switch tomorrow to EVs [electric vehicles].” Indeed, sales for the vehicle have been consistently low. Only 125 models were sold in July 2011. This was after GM spokeswoman Michelle Bunker was quoted as saying that the Volt was “virtually sold out” due to its popularity — a statement later shown to be misguided. Adding insult to injury, Chevy Volts are under investigation for fires involving the cars’ lithium-ion batteries. For concerned Volt owners, GM has offered free loaner cars...

...6. Fiat 500
Company: Fiat

This year, Fiat released its new 500 — a three door car that is under 12 ft. long. The car was expected to be a big seller, rivaling BMW’s Mini. Even before the car’s launch, however, detractors were predicting failure. Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford (NYSE: F), stated in Panorama magazine, “I do not see a large market in the U.S.A. for a smaller car than the Fiesta. Those that tried failed.” He was right. According to online magazine DailyTech, “Fiat expected to sell 50,000 500s during 2011 in North America. Through the first seven months of 2011, Fiat sold fewer than 12,000.” Sales were so poor that Chrysler Group, which manages the Fiat brand in the United States, ousted U.S. chief Laura Soave this past November...
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Johnel - 12/29/2011 7:45:01 PM

0 Boost

Why not add the Fisker Karma in this list, after all it has the same battery supplier of the Volt. Yet once again the American company gets bashed as always.

vdiv - 12/29/2011 10:12:51 PM

+1 Boost

More hate from Agent00R. What's the primary flop aspect of the Volt, too expensive to buy? What about TCO? Let's see, this year I've spent over $3,500 on gas driving a 24 MPG vehicle. If the average Volt driver gets 90 MPGe and I was one of them, my gas/electric bill for the year would be less than $1,000 resulting in $2,500 savings. In eight years (the life of the battery assuming the battery performance remains the same and gas prices stay the same) I would save $20,000. Hmm...

What about the new Civic and the CR-Z? Would you consider them flops?

AlleVier - 12/30/2011 1:47:14 PM

+2 Boost

These too-expensive arguments are coming from the same people who believe that the high premiums paid for luxury and performance cars (over basic transportation) are a reasonable trade-off for their rarely-used performance and subjective personal rewards. Of course, they're right about the premiums being worth it for them. But, the same logic applies to others for whom low-emissions and high-mileage (themselves an aspect of performance) gives them what they want, however subjective it may be.

vdiv - 1/5/2012 10:05:14 PM

+1 Boost

I could not agree more or have said it better, thanks.

mini22 - 12/30/2011 6:18:19 PM

+1 Boost

The Volt suffers from what most EV cars suffer from. Too high in base cost and too inconvienient to own as an only car.To improve the attitude towards EV's and /or plug in's a few things have to happen.
1)Recharging time has to come down to about 15 minutes.
2)Driving range needs to increase between charges to about 300 miles.
3)Initial aquisition cost needs to be no more then a couple of grand over what a comparable gasoline version would cost. Until those things happen EV's will never be the rage. The Volt is not a bad engineering effort. However because it uses "today's technology it still suffers from the negativity towards EV's in general.
As for the Fiat 500 there are multiple problems it started off with.
1)Lack of enough dealers
2)About a grand over priced
3)A little underpowered
4)Terrible marketing.
All these things can be addressed and the lack of power is soon to be addressed by the Abarth. However Fiat needs to make improvements to the base model in terms of power, handling, and bundled options. The Lounge model should be gotten rid of as it is simply too expensive. What comes with it should be alacart to the Pop and Sport.
Fiat is simply learning the hard way in it's reintroduction to the US. I believe, however they will learn.Not only should they take a page from Mini in it's model offerings but also in it's marketing. Mini uses a "unisex" type of marketing where Fiat has veered too much towards "girlyman" marketing.Time will tell.