Chevy Volts Testing Chinese Market Now
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Just prior to news last week that Chevy Volt sales are way up in the US, GM announced that it was sending some Volts to car-booming China to test the market for them there.
“GM has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) to manage a fleet of Chevy Volts for ‘data collection purposes’,” Chris DeMorro writes on sister site Gas2.
“It’s no secret though that GM wants to prop up Volt sales, and where better than the Chinese market? Auto sales are booming in China, and the central government is raining money down on carmakers and consumers who opt to build and buy fuel-efficient hybrid, electric, and fuel-cell vehicles.”
The Volt’s cousin, the Opel Ampera, is doing quite well in Europe, and it won the European Car of the Year Award there (reportedly the first “American-made” car to win that award). So, it’s shown that it can do well on other continents. Note, however, that China’s got different rules for foreign and domestically built cars, and GM has to do some maneuvering to get the Volt a fighting chance.
“Recent changes to the tax and rebate program have shut out companies like GM from benefitting from these subsidies. That’s where CATARC comes in. This influential lobbying group helps shape government policy in regards to EVs. If GM can get the Volt into China, and benefit from government subsidies, they could have a hit on their hands (though it’d probably be better received if it wore a Buick badge).”
What do you think? Will the Volt make it into the Chinese care market? And if so, will it succeed there?
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