Volt Sales Plummet In January - Is It Destined To Be the Next Corvair?

Why, has Ralph Nader written a book about it (that is wildly inaccurate and self-serving)?

The only thing wrong with the Corvair was marketing. When GM replaced the swing-arm rear suspension in 1965 with independent suspension the "problems" that Nader ranted about disappeared. But GM wasn't agressive enough to overcome the negitive image he created.

No and in more ways than one.

1. If you assume the Volt is a failure and done for, it would make it a worse failure than the Corvair, which survived for a few generations.

2. The technological advancement made by the Volt cannot be compared to the technological retardation made by the Corvair. Even if the Volt disappears the technology behind it is here to stay and evolve. That was not so with the Corvair.

3. If you think that the media made a mockery of the "Obama Volt" playing to people's dissatisfaction with the direction of this country then the Volt is just a collateral damage.

4. It all depends on OPEC and the price of oil. If the price of gas at the pump shoots north of $4.50/gallon in the Spring, GM may end up selling more Volts than they can make.

For people who like to compare the Leaf with the Volt:

Leaf US sales, Dec 2011: 954
Volt US sales, Dec 2011: 1,529

Leaf US sales, Jan 2012: 676 (-29%)
Volt US sales, Jan 2012: 603 (-61%)

I agree -- see my comment (and contradiction to it :)) here http://autospies.com/news/Chevy-Volt-Falls-Short-Of-First-Year-Targets-Where-Did-They-Go-Wrong-68508/

However due to a lack of a direct competitor for either model folks have been comparing the two.

Sadly the Volt gets compared to the LEAF in almost every comparison/article. Looks like a lot of hybrids of all sorts were down for the month. Check the sales of the Insight, CRZ, and HS in addition to the Volt and LEAF, all seem pretty dismal. I think sales will rebound soon if this is due to the investigation.

I have yet to see a single LEAF on the streets here in CT (right outside NYC). I've probably seen about 2 dozen Volts or so, still not a lot but kind of odd since the LEAF sold more. Must all be in CA or other cities.

The Leaf is harder to spot than the Volt, especially if it is in a neutral color. There is a silver one in our garage that I passed by several times before it dawned on me it was a Leaf. Here in the DC area not surprisingly I've seen both, more Volts than Leaves.

Econo compacts and diesels that now have ratings of 40+ mpg on the highway and reasonable price stickers are currently attracting the buyers seeking higher fuel economy.

Politics aside (yes, that is possible NoMoreObama2012) if Israel bombs Iran and drag the US into a conflagration oil prices will jump higher and that may renew interest in electrics/hybrids. Also once Spring comes we may see more people buying them. For now people are probably paying off holiday bills.

Final reports of the NHTSA investigation (some interesting pictures inside):

http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/Final_Reports.pdf