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General Motors’ first drivable 2011 Chevrolet Volt made its way into China yesterday, as it will be one of the first markets outside the U.S. to receive the Volt. The Volt makes its way to China sometime in the second half of 2011.
“GM has made a long-term commitment to bringing our industry-leading technology to China,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “This is enabling us to provide the best mobility solutions for addressing the transportation challenges associated with the growth in demand for personal mobility. With GM taking the lead, the development of electric vehicles is opening up entirely new industries.”
Electric vehicles may be a renewed industry, but GM isn’t the only automaker building electric vehicles for China. Several domestic automakers, including BYD, which aims to sell EVs in the States, are building electric vehicles of their own. Many lower quality, competing domestic-market EVs are sold at much lower price points and could add fuel to a potential price war.
GM won’t announce Volt pricing in China until the vehicle is officially launched next year, but Wale is confident GM will find the right price point.
“I believe the pricing will be competitive,” he said at a news conference yesterday. Although the Volt may be more expensive than its domestic competition, GM China won’t sacrifice profitability for sales, allowing it to turn a profit on each Volt sold in China.
In the U.S., the Volt will sticker for $41,000 before tax incentives, but that price is competitive with China’s most promising and highest-quality EV, BYD’s e6. The e6, a pure electric vehicle with a 300-km (186-mile) range, sells for around $44,000 in China, less incentives. Like the U.S., China plans to subsidize EV purchases to increase sales, and will spend over 100 million yen ($14.7 billion) over the next decade to help support the electric vehicle industry with the goal of decreasing the use of petroleum.
Source: GM, Reuters
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