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Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Mar 2, 2012.

  1. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    "They're" not giving 'em away ... you are.
     
  2. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Good point.
     
  3. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    GM is apparently making big strides in quality, too.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-19/gm-passes-toyota-to-win-j-d-power-quality-survey-for-first-time.html

     
  4. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    This one might get lost in this thread and probably deserves a thread of its own.
     
  5. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    PRICE WAR ON ELECTRIC CARS!!!!!!!!!!!!

    http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/08/07/tesla-cant-ignore-gms-desperate-move.aspx

    Chevy cuts the price on the Volt $5,000 -- 12.5 percent -- to keep up with previous price cuts on the Nissan Leaf, the Honda Fit EV and the Ford Focus EV. Not because manufacturing costs are coming down, but because they aren't selling.


    "We've always known that electric vehicles will get cheaper over time. As the technology scales and the now costly batteries get cheaper, rides will become more accessible. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly discussed putting out a cheaper car in a few years.

    "However, prices are being cut now, because drivers just aren't buying them.

    "GM sold fewer Volts last month than it did a year earlier. The Wall Street Journal leans on data from industry group Electric Drive Transportation Association that estimates only 7,442 battery-powered and plug-in-hybrid cars were sold in this country last month."



    According to Kelly Blue Book, GM has sold only 11,643 Volts so far this year. In 2012, GM sold 23,461.

    Thanks to its earlier $6,400 price cut, the Leaf is now ahead of the Volt, selling 11,703 through the first seven months.


    Like I said earlier, if they're going to give them away, I'll take one. They're getting closer.
     
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Disconcerting news for those that bought a Volt a few months ago. GM has just killed their trade-in value in the short term.

    Lessees will fair much better as they can just walk away when their lease is up.
     
  7. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    And the taxpayers take another bath.

    The Energy Dept. has sold off it's $192 million in loans to Fisker for ... wait for it ... $25 million to a Chinese billionaire.

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/22/taxpayers-lose-139-million-on-fisker-automotive-loan/#ixzz2ldEgpJvD

    The government recovered $28 million of the loans previously, so taxpayers are given a $139 million enema. It's the worst "green energy" screwing of taxpayers since Solyndra.
     
  8. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    That Fisker story a few days ago aggravated me for other reasons. OK, the company went bankrupt and we ate $139 million.

    But right through today, it is the same old BS going on. The company that won the DOE's bid for what was left of Fisker was represnted by Glover Park Group, whose leadership includes Joe Lockhart and Al
    Gore.

    Those loans always bothered me, not just because of they were unfair examples of our government playing economic favoritism. It's that it was unabashed favoritism toward cronies and political donors. Quid pro quos.

    If Elon Musk wasn't running fundraisers and donating money to the right causes, for example, he'd be under investigation by the SEC for all his company's BS and irregularities in its filings. Let alone the freebie and government-created revenue (on emissions credits that he sells) that he gets. If Fisker didn't have VC money from Al Gore's firm behind it (and all the lobbying money Gore threw at Congress to get his pork), would it have really scored a handout that lots of similar companies didn't get? Then to make things worse, they not only have to eat the money they gave their cronies, they give the same exact players a second shot at the apple by allowing them to collect consulting fees on the sale of what is left of the mess they created. It's corruption and it just slides.
     
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

  10. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    New twist in the renewable energy industry: a battle between Republican libertarians (for) and corporate interests (against).

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115582/solar-power-fight-raging-gop

    The issue here isn't government funding, but government-regulated utilities trying to use said regulation to institute fees on people and businesses installing solar panels.
     
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    That is two interested groups wrestling over who gets control of government to hand out benefits to who they prefer -- under the guise of regulation. They are part and parcel of the same thing.

    My complaints are never about who the particular winners and losers in the corruption game are. It's that corruption itself has run so rampant.
     
  12. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    Just FYI, Reuters says the real cost of the Fisker debacle will be considerably more than $139 million.


    (Reuters) - The bankruptcy of Fisker Automotive could end up costing the U.S. government much more than the $168 million it loaned to the maker of the Karma plug-in hybrid sports car.

    According to its bankruptcy filing on Friday, Fisker owns tax breaks worth $320 million.

    Fisker's bankruptcy papers said the Southern California-based company plans to sell its automotive operations to a business affiliated with Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, but it will hold on to the tax breaks after it emerges from bankruptcy.

    Fisker piled up some $800 million in net operating losses in recent years, which have a future cash benefit worth approximately $320 million, according to the bankruptcy filing.

    That lost tax revenue would add to taxpayers' pain from Fisker's failure.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/25/us-autos-fisker-bankruptcy-idUSBRE9AO0PX20131125
     
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