GM delays Volt to save cash
December 18, 2008 by Matt Brogan
In even more gloomy news today, General Motors have suspended construction of a Michigan plant, scheduled to build fuel-saving engines for the Volt and Cruze models, as it awaits a federal rescue loan.
We’re told the delay at the $349 million factory in Flint won’t affect the late-2010 launch of the Chevrolet Cruze small car and the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid (to be sold here as the Holden Volt), as confirmed by GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel.
CEO Rick Wagoner announced the plant on September 25th and said it would produce two versions of a 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine, one with a turbocharger for the Volt and one without for the Cruze.
The delay reflects GM’s heightened efforts to reduce spending as its supplies of cash dwindle. GM is waiting for the White House to approve a bailout that will keep the automaker operating and avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
The postponement will allow GM to halt payments for construction materials, Basel said.
“Steel has been ordered but placed on hold, as have additional orders,” she said. “This has only to do with the construction of the plant, not the program timing. There is enough leeway in the construction schedule for it to build the engines on time after the temporary hold”.
Although Basel did not say when the work would resume, she was quick to add that the factory is being built with a common template used all around the world and as such can be assembled in less than a year.
GM already builds a non-turbocharged version of the engine for its European small cars though Basel said GM has no plans to import those powerplants from Europe if the US project ends up behind schedule.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
Bid the Big3 get the money/loan from GovCo to bailout or not?
I read on a US Blog that China has a production ready superior electic vehicle ready to go for US$20k.
Oil has come down, no need for electric cars now, once again GM has screwed itself….
Cheers
F-0
I don’t get it, are they not closing down factories in the US, and here they building a new one, I know its good publicity and all, I know they received a 120 million in tax breaks to build it as well(gee, hope that money hasn’t been handed over yet!)but it still does not make sense.
Yes yes there is a cost of conversion and retooling and I guess the 120 million in taxpayer funds helps pay for it, but I still don’t get it, partic as they already build the 1.4 liter engine in Austria.
Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just import the engine from Austria, rather than building a new factory, or refurbishing an existing one, training people to do the job and so on?
Probably just me.
You could have attached pics of the actual Volt, not the concept car. Pics of the real thing aren’t exactly hard to come by…
F-0 you are such an idiot. How long do you think oil will remain this cheap for? Already OPEC are planning massive cuts to production to jack the price back up. Its that sort of short term thinking that got GM in trouble in the first place.
And that Chinese electric car. You have no idea if its superior to the Volt, and given the standard of chinese cars thus far, I’m going to assume it’ll be crap until proven otherwise.
GM should release to Volt earlier to make some cash…
Andrew I suspect FO was talking about the price more than the actual quality of the car. What makes you think there will be a Volt anyway?
If there is no Volt, the asian car wins easy :)
This to me seems like an attempt to wake up the US government. As if to say “give us the money or no electric car”.
Perhaps they think the government will be too scared of the backlash if the electric car never gets going again. I mean come on, the world hates them as it is… could it get any worse?
As far as the shut down factory here, build factory there mentality. It does have some merrit. A brand new highly automated factory will require less employees. Les over priced (comapartively) wages, less health plans and less retirement benefits. As to the old factory, if it shuts down, then you can get rid of a lot of the UAW contracts.
A new volt engine plant is announced in September, insolvency in November, engine plant on hold in December. Mmmmmmmm hello!
If I were the steel supplier etc I’d be getting all monies up front & cleared before even smelting it!!
Hopeless, inept, short sighted, ignorant, arrogant, pigheaded, presumptuous, contemptuous………….thesaurus exhausted.
I nominate GM’s management for the Gold Dilbert of the Year awards
Btw, does any global market want this car?
Actually, boiling it down,
you have a economically dysfunctional administration bailing out an economically untenable industry……perfect.
Its a circus, thats for sure
Btw, does any global market want this car?
I want one!!
Btw, does any global market want this car?
I’d have one. The problem is the price. The early adopters are going to get screwed.
The concept of using a series hybrid allows the manufacturer to save on architecture and technology changes into the future. Because the car runs solely on electric power with no mechanical connection between the wheels and engine, it opens up a range of on board charging options: Hydrogen fuel cell, gas turbine, petrol engine, tiny turbo diesel, stirling engine, etc.