GM To Launch Volt In New Zealand With $70,000 USD Price Tag

The Volt is set to go on sale in New Zealand in November for $85,000 ($70,000 USD), but GM sells it in the US for $48,200 (40,000 USD).

High cost of engines sees heavy discount for EVAs Holden New Zealand gets set to launch its high-profile electric car, the Volt, in America the price of the car continues to be slashed.

General Motors rolled out the Volt two years ago with lofty sales goals and the promise of a new technology that someday would help end America's dependence on oil.

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vdiv - 9/25/2012 4:40:36 PM

0 Boost

It is funny, the article does not mention a thing about import and excise taxes that NZ levies on the Volt, but goes in great lengths speculating at how much it costs to make one and why Americans are/are not buying it.

Did you know that...

New Zealand does not allow US Navy vessels powered by nuclear reactors or carrying nuclear weapons to enter its territorial waters or dock?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand%27s_nuclear-free_zone

Why aren't they negotiating with the Iranians?

chewy - 9/25/2012 6:55:16 PM

+1 Boost

Yeah, New Zealand has some European style auto taxes. The Holden/Chevy Cruze starts at 30,400 their currency.

Styles79 - 9/30/2012 6:45:28 PM

+1 Boost

vdiv-

"import and excise taxes that NZ levies on the Volt" actually NZ has a very open market for vehicles. The main import tariffs were removed in the 1990's.

"New Zealand does not allow US Navy vessels powered by nuclear reactors or carrying nuclear weapons to enter its territorial waters or dock?" - so what? NZ has made a stand on nuclear power and armament, a fairly unique one in the world. One that the US military and government seem to be able to tolerate. If it doesn't worry them then why let it worry you?

"Why aren't they negotiating with the Iranians?" - What the hell is that supposed to mean?

This whole piece seems to be an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to a perception that the NZ market is somehow closed to US trade or interaction with the United States. We happen to be a close trading and even military partner with the US. We have very low tariffs and have a number of free-trade agreements with the US.

I would suspect that a large part of the prices being so high here are transport, and the fact that our market is so small that many costs have to be amortised amongst fewer vehicles. For example our total market for the month of September was somewhere in the vicinity of 8400 vehicles. Not a big market to share the associated set-up costs of a vehicle like the Volt into NZ.

Chewy-

No, we don't have taxes like Europe. We have annual licensing fees, which are somewhere in the vicinity of NZ$300 per year, and safety checks, but we don't have any engine/vehicle sized taxing like Europe. And there are minimal taxes when buying other than the standard 15% Goods and Services tax which is applied to all transactions in NZ.