Excessive Channel Stuffing Forces GM To Halt Chevy Volt Production, Fire 1,300

On Thursday, we were the first to expose GM's latest strong car sales data as nothing more than the latest in a long series of accounting gimmicks known as 'channel stuffing' when excess inventory is offloaded to a vendor channel, in this case GM dealers, while allowing the company to book revenue, and, of course, profits (most likely on a FIFO basis thus further making numbers a complete myth in a time of once again surging input costs). The problem with channel stuffing is it can only go on for so long before the intermediary collapses under its own weight due to so much excess inventory the only next possible step is wholesale dumpin, in the process destroying the brand. Sure enough, it took about 24 hours for this latest speculation to be proven right as GM announce it was "temporarily" halting production of its Volt electric car. Per The Hill: "We needed to maintain proper inventory and make sure that we continued to meet market demand," GM spokesman Chris Lee said in a telephone interview." Translated into English, this means that GM has flooded dealer floors with so many of the spontaneously combusting cars that it has managed to bring demand to zero.

But not before it took benefit for "selling" them over the past several months, in the process completely fooling the market and the adminstration sycophants into believing that the SAAR for US auto sales has risen to a whopping 15.1 million in February compared to 13.3 million year ago, and 14 million expected, when in reality all that has happened is that excess inventory has flooded the market and now sales, which can no longer be masaged via channel stuffing, are about to drop off a cliff. And adding insult to injury, the halt also means that thousands of GM workers will now be "temporarily" fired. One wonders how many millions of workers will be laid off when the SAAR decline to its fair value, somewhere about 2-3 million lower?

More from The Hill:

General Motors has temporarily suspended production of its Volt electric car, the company announced Friday.

GM, which is based in Detroit, announced to employees at one of its facilities that it was halting production of the beleaguered electric car for five weeks and temporarily laying off 1,300 employees.

Chevy has argued the debate about the Volt has become too political.

"We did not develop the Chevy Volt to be a political punching bag," General Motors CEO Daniel Akerson testified before Congress in the same January hearing. "We engineered the Volt to be a technological wonder."

Chevy has sought to give a boost to the public image of the Volt, releasing a commercial in January tying the Volt to the effort to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"This isn’t just the car we wanted to build,” a narrator says in the commercial over footage of Volts being manufactured in Hamtramck, Mich. “This is the car America had to build.”

So GM was actually lying about its true sell through rate? That should not come as a surprise to ZH readers. But at least it is good to know that neither they, nor the government, could possibly lie about the safety of the car which has ostensibly been known to blow up in a puff of flames for no reason. Because luckily the government would never lie about something like that: after all, it only engages in "modest fibs."

Comments

[Yen Cross]

The Pinto, 2012 Edition. /sarc F    The 15m( figure), was all those FEMA Hummers via " fleet sales" , courtesy of the "Bureau of Land Management"!

[nope-1004]

In response to the channel stuffing post on Thursday, Max Fischer (Clitoris Monday) said:

You guys have no idea what you're talking about.  That "channel stuffing" chart is totally irrelevant.  The sales figures the GM reported today are sales to customers, NOT GM sales to dealers, or GM "stuffing" dealers with inventory.  The reason for the increase in inventory is due to huge expectations for Spring sales.  

Max Fischer, Civis Mundi

 To which californiagirl replied:

Obviously you do not either.  Look at footnote 1 of the audited financial statements in their most recent 10K

Revenue Recognition

Automotive

"Automotive sales and revenue are primarily composed of revenue generated from the sale of vehicles. Vehicle sales are recorded when title and risks and rewards of ownership have passed, which is generally when a vehicle is released to the carrier responsible for transporting it to a dealer and when collectability is reasonably assured."

LMFAO!!!!!  Do the trolls really believe thier idiocy?  LOL.

[Yen Cross]

 May I redirect you to Manheim.com Which I am a proud member of. Look at the used car sales stats. The market is saturated.

[AbruptlyKawaii]

but but but Obarry said......

HE SAID HE SAVED THE CAR INDUSTRY BY HIMSELF, HE SAID THE ECONOMY IS BACK, HE SAID .........that gm added a 3rd shift.....and those 1300 laid off OBARRY SAVED THEIR JAWBZ .....he renegotiated their CONtracts too so now they get less bennies while they scramble ....especially if theyre not legacy .......tell me again what is the difference between willard and obarry? other than the obvious: both their religions start with an A for asshole!

[nmewn]

"A few weeks later, Obama visited General Motor’s Detroit Hamtramck Facility where the Volt is built. He even got a chance to sit behind the wheel of a pre-production Volt and drive it 10 feet — but due to security concerns, didn’t get much further.

“The Secret Service wouldn’t let me drive it. But I liked sitting in it,” The President told the assembled audience. “It was nice. I’ll bet it drives real good.”

lol...they were afraid it would blow up.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/03/01/obama-ill-buy-a-chevy-volt-after-my-presidency-ends/

[Manthong]

Yeah, well it pays big time to be an Obama Corpse, er, I mean Corps, channel stuffer.

What are we up to now, like over $13,000.00 in bonuses per union schlub in the past year or so?

                    Not to mention overpay for line work, generous health care and fully funded pensions.              

                    Civil wars have started for a lot less.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/7723000-420/gm-workers-to-get-5000-signing-bonus-in-deal.html

http://times247.com/articles/gm-bails-on-taxpayers-in-favor-of-big-worker-bonuses

[trav7777]

At least Pintos were cheap

[Yen Cross]

Cheap Barbeques for Tail Gate Parties.

[A Nanny Moose]

Does that include the price of the semi at 70mph to get the conflagration started?

At least the Pinto required an external catalyst to catch on fire....most of the time. I once watched a light blue '74 wagon with simulated wood paneling and matching window dressings, spontaneously combust in my driveway. I think it was an act of self immolation.

[Hulk]

My Dad's Woody caught fire a year before I was born...

[AbruptlyKawaii]

is that bad or good i so confuzed....:/

[Hulk]

Fortunately, it was a Ford Woody and not a woody woody...

[LasVegasDave]

Build an electric car that can go 0-60 in four seconds,  can cruise 300 miles on a full tank, and can accelerate from 80-120 in a pinch and Ill buy it.

till then, I dont give a rats ass how much gasoline costs, no one's taking away my god given right of driving the open roads of the mountain west.

[Bay Area Guy]

I would add to that the need to refill the "tank" (battery for those of you who don't get the analogy) in a rapid amount of time.  Pretty hard to drive an electric car from San Francisco to, say, Las Vegas in a day if you have to take three or four hours to "fill the tank".

[FeralSerf]

Why not just an LENR power car that needs to be "filled up" every few years or so?

They're still on the drawing boards.

[Umh]

And unsubsidized!

[Max Fischer]

Concerning the Chevy Volt, Obama was very critical of it and voiced a lot of concern about its viability - much to the chagrin of GM.  Of course, no one here would know that because you redneck Luddites only listen to right-wing propaganda.

Obama:

While the Volt holds promise, it is currently projected to be much more expensive than its gasoline-fueled peers and will likely need substantial reductions in manufacturing cost in order to become commercially viable......

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/GM_Viability_Assessment.pdf

 Max Fischer, Civis Mundi

[NumberNone]

If only he would have been so prescient with Solyndra. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/obama-solyndra-hindsight-2020/story?id=14656360

What a bunch of shite you are spreading.

[malek]

Look, the troll still believes he knows what he's talking about!

[Max Fischer]

It's truly hilarious how I can give you redneck Luddites the TRUTH, but if it doesn't taste like the doomer Kool Aid you get from Tyler, you're not interested.

You guys are thoroughly DRUNK on doomer propaganda. Hopeless lemmings, running to wherever Tyler points.   

Max Fischer, Civis Mundi

[malek]

Hahaha, complete miss - try again, stupid!

So when are you taking over a GM dealership?
Put your money where your mouth is!

[earnyermoney]

He may have had his doubts but he's all in now given his current statement this past week.

[earnyermoney]

"... reduction in manufacturing cost..."

LOL. Those UAW suckers in Hamtramck will have their jobs outsourced to Foxconn.

[withnmeans]

WOW, I just love the (Clitoris Monday) !!! Now that is good humor, I needed a laugh after all of this bad news we read everyday. Too bad Max Fischer doesn't grasp reality, one day maybe, one day soon.

[Max Fischer]

I'll repeat again:  You guys have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE what you're talking about.  NONE.  "Channel stuffing" has NOTHING to do with those sales figures released Thursday, and the 10K posted by CaliforniaGirl has NOTHING to do with it, either.  If you'll notice, my reply to CaliforniaGirl was omitted.  "Channel stuffing" has NOTHING to do with monthly sales figures.

Here's my response (from yesterday) to the footnote of GM's 10K. I'm 100% accurate, which is probably the reason it was conveniently omitted: 

------------------------

Revenue recognition is something entirely different.  

That has NOTHING to do with the industry-agreed upon sales figures which are released on the 1st of each month. 

The numbers released to the press on the 1st of each month are sales to end-customers.  This is a universal agreement among EVERY manufacturer - they only post deliveries to actual customers for the sake of fair comparisons.  If some manufacturers posted deliveries to end-customers while others posted the number of cars loaded onto transport trucks while others posted cars rolled off the assembly line, there would never be a fair comparison. So all manufactures agreed to post "deliveries to end-customers" on the 1st of each month.     

What GM does with their books and how the recognize revenue is an entirely different story. 

For proof of this, just read their press release from last month:

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/u...

It clearly says, "General Motors dealers in the United States reported 178,896 total sales in January...."

It does NOT say, General Motors delivered 178,896 cars to dealers.....

It does NOT say, General Motor's dealers purchased 178,896 cars from GM factories....

It clearly states that these were cars sold to customers by dealers.  

Furthermore, in the footnotes of monthly sales, it will always give the number of "selling days" which excludes Sundays and sometimes will include an extra day like February 29th of this year.  This, again, proves that we are talking about dealership sales.  Those transport trucks and factories run 365 days a year, except when some are shut down like the Volt factory for 5 weeks in the coming days.*

Max Fischer, Civis Mundi

*You should h/t me, Tyler. I love how you use the information I give you just to write an article to GET UNDER MY NERVES with something YOU KNOW is misleading. 

[nope-1004]

So sales are solid Max?  Then why is production being halted?  Why are 1300 family-supporting workers off the payroll?

It would appear that the GM production dept is at odds with the HR dept.  Max to the rescue!  LOL.

And if you believe that GM fluff piece, then I am willing to bet that you also believe JPM has tons of physical silver.

[Max Fischer]

Sales of the Volt are UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT. 

They only sell a few thousand A YEAR in the entire United States.  Total GM sales are over 2 MILLION.

This "channel stuffing" theme is ENTIRELY DISHONEST.  

I've really go to hand it to Tyler.  He's got his lemmings totally wrapped around his finger.  They believe ANYTHING.  When it comes to wing-nuts, Kool Aid trumps truth all day.

Max Fischer, Civis Mundi 

[Mentaliusanything]

Even the release was not "Honest" - How long have do 1300 people have to wait before they earn again ?

General Motors has temporarily suspended production of its Volt electric car.

5 weeks minimum. With most living week to week, paycheck to paycheck that may as well be permanent.

Lies lies and damn statistics - New GM is the same as the old GM ... Give Money

[AbruptlyKawaii]

dude maxipad ur bleeding shut the fuck up STFU! with ur latin cum with python or fuk off cl[]MSeaaych3

[Umh]

"Sales of the Volt are UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT."

We know that so why is anyone wasting time on this heavily subsidized unwanted vehicle.

[Tyler Durden]

Are you truly an idiot or just a troll trying to get a raise?

GM's "Channel Stuffing" Goes Mainstream

"General Motors Co. stocked Jim Ellis Chevrolet in Atlanta with plenty of Silverado full-size pickups in early 2011, part of a wager on a strong economic recovery. The strategy is backfiring. “We thought that this year would bring back the kind of economic activity that would translate into us selling more trucks,” Mark Frost, the dealership’s general manager, said in a phone interview. “It’s not happening.” Supply of Silverado has ballooned to 6 1/2 months worth at the dealership, a figure Frost, 52, calls “a little scary.” The Detroit-based automaker, 33 percent owned by the U.S. after its 2009 bankruptcy, has 280,000 Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups on dealers’ lots around the country. If sales continue at June’s rate, that would be enough to last until November." Thus begins a story just published by Business Week covering a topic that Zero Hedge has been pounding the table on since last December, and which just hit an all time record for fresh start Government Motors a few days ago - namely the firm's propensity to dump as much inventory as possible on dealer floors. Granted, many have been quick to mock, ridicule and ignore our glaringly obvious findings (especially since these come at a time when the light vehicle sales SAAR is back to a 10 month low, and likely to plunge once the long overdue inventory liquidation finally takes place), although now that the topic of General Motors' "strategy" of overfilling dealer inventory is front page news, it finally may get the overdue respect it deserves, especially since as Jefferies' Peter Nesvold cautions, this is nothing more than new GM reverting to the habits of the old one (the one that filed and needed taxpayer bailouts for a few hundred thousand union workers).

So because we have pretty much said all there is to say on the topic, here is Business Week's far more "credible" perspective on precisely the same issue:

After GM’s truck inventory swelled to 122 days worth of average sales, the company said 100 to 110 will be normal going forward for such a large and complex line of vehicles, compared with 60 to 70 days for most models. Peter Nesvold, a Jefferies & Co. analyst, isn’t convinced. Ford Motor Co., which makes similar trucks, is running at 79 days, and Nesvold says GM averaged 78 days on hand at year end from 2002 to 2010.

“It’s unbelievable that after this huge taxpayer bailout and the bankruptcy that we’re right back to where we were,” Nesvold, who has a “hold” rating on the stock, said in a telephone interview. “There’s no credibility.” In a research note he asked: “Is GM falling into old, bad habits?”

GM's response:

“Unequivocally no,” Don Johnson, vice president of U.S. sales, said in a July 3 interview in response to the question. “We’re managing the business to match production with demand in the marketplace. Nothing in the last few months that we have done would indicate any different.”

Two plants in Michigan and Indiana are idle through July 15, and GM “may make some tweaks or additional adjustments if necessary,” Johnson said on a July 1 conference call. Truck output will slow in the second half of the year, he said.

The net effect of GM carrying higher truck supply is pulling ahead 2012 earnings into 2011, said Nesvold, who has a $36 price target on the stock.

“They feel a lot of pressure to put up some good numbers,” he said.

And because there is "pressure", Channel Stuffing is perfectly allowed, even though it sure raised a few eyebrows over at AOL some years ago:

“Truck sales are pretty subpar, and that’s really the only area that is getting my attention,” Paul Ballew, chief economist for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., said in a phone interview. “If you’re at GM or Ford, you’re certainly focused on that issue right now, and you should be.”

Full-size pickups are still the two top-selling vehicles in the U.S. Ford sold 264,079 F-Series in the year’s first half, a 9.9 percent increase, while customers bought 182,785 of GM’s Silverado, a gain of 9.6 percent.

The volumes are much lower than before the recession and the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler Group LLC, the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker, now controlled by Fiat SpA. In June 2005 alone, GM sold 109,359 Silverados when it offered employee discounts to all consumers. Ford followed suit and sold 126,905 F-Series pickups the next month.

GM’s target of 100 to 110 days supply of trucks at the end of this year and next year is higher than some competitors in part because Silverado and Sierra have fewer direct sales to fleet customers, Johnson said. Those orders spend almost no time in inventory, which can lower the days-supply figure.

But none of this matters: GM's response - it is transitory:

GM’s Johnson says he sees inventory of higher-mileage cars and lower-mileage trucks being “more in balance” by fourth quarter. The March 11 earthquake near Japan helped deplete industrywide inventory of high-mileage cars.

“General Motors has so many hot-selling vehicles that it’s kind of bipolar,” said Frost, who has been selling cars since 1987. “It’s a strange place in inventory overall.”

---

So much for transitory:

Oh, and wait, we forgot this:

GM gets back into the subprime loan business

That isn't as crazy as it sounds -- as long as the company stays disciplined and sticks to auto loans, rather than branching out into subprime mortgages again, analysts said Thursday. Indeed, some said the move is essential as GM prepares for an initial public offering that will cut the U.S. government's 61% stake in the company.

GM said Thursday that it agreed to buy subprime auto lender AmeriCredit Corp. for $3.5 billion in cash

The deal harks back to the previous decade, before the financial crisis, when GM owned GMAC, one of the largest lenders in the U.S. GMAC, now called Ally Financial, made auto loans that financed a lot of GM's car sales, but it also offered mortgages through its Residential Capital unit, which grew into a leading subprime mortgage player.

But yes, we will take your word that things are better, despite the facts and such. Now please crawl back into your parents' basement

[tarsubil]

Just a little anecdote to compliment this story. Jim Ellis Chevrolet had a Camaro sit on their lot so long last year they sold it to a guy for below cost just to not lose any more money. I have to admit the car looked pretty sweet.

I have no idea how GM hasn't shit the bed yet.

[Fedaykinx]

the mattress has a hole in it, obama's down there with a bedpan

[rcintc]

Max.....Max....

You there?  

Any response to Tyler?

Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot the troll motto....Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

[jonjon831983]

Ally has been advertising high interest 2% savings accounts up in Canada for a long time.  Always have been skeptical since they're GMAC.

[Fluffybunny]

But GM bailout was an shining light of Keynesian central planning working in practice. This cannot be happening...

[Piranhanoia]

Except for the makers standard issue exploding gas tank made famous by the mustang,  the Pinto was a cheap, fuel efficient car that Cal Worthington sold the livin shit out of after he started customizing them into "tricky trucks". 

[William113]

Oops, GM didn't really want this to get out today.

LONDON (Reuters) - Business secretary Vince Cable will meet General Motors Co bosses at the Geneva motor show later this week to urge the group not to axe its plant in Ellesmere Port, northwest England, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday.

The plant, which employs 2,100 staff and produces around 190,000 vehicles a year, has been under threat since GM revealed last month that its European Opel-Vauxhall unit lost 355 million pounds in 2011.

[Cdad]

Okay, I think we can conclude that the Chevy Volt is not responsible for this chart:

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=A103600001&f=M

[Hulk]

Absolutely stunning Cdad...

[Cdad]

That chart of collapsing gasoline deliveries to retail outlets is, indeed, stunning.  We are literally in uncharted territory per gasoline demand destruction.  In fact, I have yet to hear a single alternative explanation for the last three months on this chart...NONE.  

That is because this one is purely economic, baby.  If you don't have a job, you do not need gasoline. 

[trav7777]

welcome to everywhere else in the world where people walk.  now we will reap the rewards of our asinine suburbia lifestyle

[dogbreath]

agreed +1

[NumberNone]

As with most things in the US, things didn't get here by accident. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy 

[fajensen]

Here in Lund, we take the bicycle. One reason property prices have not collapsed here as they rightly should is that one either needs to live locally -or- spend more time commuting. Another reason is the danes leaving Copenhagan in droves for a much friendlier taxation regime.

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

Thats why Americans have the huge stores of fat! Their becoming Chevy Volts, able to decrease our dependance on foriegn oil, but still able to cause a small grease fire while walking to Applebees...

[Hulk]

Looks like we are back to women with big calves again...

[smiler03]

The chart cdad has linked to was actually aired on ZH back on 10th Feb. You could have seen it here first! 

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-why-gasoline-consumption-tanking

[Yen Cross]

 Thanks Cdad. Excellent chart. Looks like demand destruction to me.

[Cdad]

It gets better [I mean worse].  From the Ceridian Pulse of Commerce Index...which measures diesel fuel purchased by truckers.  From Feb 14, 2012:

"Pulse of Commerce Index Dropped 1.7 Percent in January;

Compared with January Last Year, the PCI® is Down 2.2 Percent

The Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index® (PCI®), issued today by the UCLA Anderson School of Management 

and Ceridian Corporation fell a surprising 1.7 percent in January.  That places the PCI 2.2 percent below year-ago 

levels with essentially no growth in the year-and-a-half since the summer of 2010."

http://www.ceridianindex.com/ <---turning down hard, and registering a print not seen since April, 2010

http://www.ceridianindex.com/userfiles/file/Index-Report-Jan-2012.pdf <-----good read on the coming recession...not far off at all.

[Real Estate Geek]

The pulse, eh?

CODE BLUE!  CODE BLUE!  Get the crash cart--STAT!

[HungrySeagull]

Forget the crash cart. Obamacare has imposed a tax on that and all other medical devices.

It's easier to simply discharge the patient via Death and move on to the next one.

As far as the Volt is concerned... where I live it is a garden gnome that rots in the sun. No one wants to buy one.

A bank was seen offering a Volt for months until they threw it away and replaced it with a more attractive SUV.

[trav7777]

the "coming" recession?  We're IN ONE NOW.  A sustained one.  THIS is what recession feels like.  Fuck the stock market, wtf does that have to do with anything?

[Cdad]

I understand, Trav.  I'm talking about the coming recession as meaured by our fascist government.

Indeed, the last recession never ended...and it won't, either.  Not while the criminal syndicate known as Wall Street is still intact...preventing capital formation.  This Greater American Depression will roll on and on...until something is done about our zombie banks and our out of control Federal Govt.

[RSloane]

Our fascist government, our propaganda-drenched MSM, Wall Street, and the Fed... will never admit to the coming recession as even existing. It will merely be a slight, temporary slow-growing season for green shoots. This will continue until people start throwing bricks through the White House windows.

[t_kAyk]

Based on what mainstream economists have long told us, I believe we can officially call this a depression. 

Of course TPTB wont say or tell us that, even though they fund and base their bullshit on mainstream economists. 

[gangland]

i want to grab him by the ears (reminds me of ma gran papa ) and skull fuck barton biggs live on cnbs's power lunch

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

That would be eye popping...

[RSloane]

The pulse, she is weakening!

[andyupnorth]

It's people like Cdad that really add value to the ZH community.

[dwdollar]

The government makes them and declares them safe!!!

Maybe, just maybe, that's a conflict of interest???

[Benjamin Simon]

Time to trot out Clint Eastwood, fire off a new commercial. Let these damn people know whats good for them, the enviroment and the administration. If you support coal fired electric plants, then by all means, buy an electric car.

[lotsoffun]

benjamin simon - correct.  the 'electric car' is just another fraud.  it was based on the beginning of 'environmentalism' back in the late 70's when i was a child.

the basic concept was that you can control pollution better by generating electricty in one place.  if you burn any sort of carbon fuels - you have a choice.  spew it as the vehicle (or home or factory etc.) burns it on the spot or burn it in one central place with good pollution controls and distribute it as electricity.  well - the fact is - you lose a lot of energy in the electric distribution grid and probably always will.  of course there is nuclear electric, really want to go there?  so in the end - the electric car consumes more fossil fuels, always will and should cost more to run.

it isn't green at all.  it's just another hoax that's new and well spun until people figure it out.  in the meantime, 'we' get rich and you get had.  again.

[fajensen]

You can indeed control pollution better at a central power plant. You will produce nuclear electricity (or starve) and the electric car is a magnitudes less complex machine than one powered by the ICE so it will be cheaper to manufacture and run. You are fighting physics here, thus you will lose.

[Kiwi Pete]

You can also generate the electrcity with wind. And hydro. And geothermal. And upcoming tidal. 

[malek]

Pollution? Ever heard of catalytic converters built into cars?

the electric car is a magnitudes less complex machine[...] so it will be cheaper to manufacture

Aren't you missing something here: the battery?

[HungrySeagull]

US Post Office.

Does your package contain batteries? Yes? Take it out because they explode.

[Atomizer]

Chevy Volt - Building A Better Tomorrow

[RSloane]

"The fear of fire helps me get to work much faster." Haha

[Hulk]

Should have been called Kill O Volt...

[Goldenballs]

Must be the new HOT hatch.

[GeneMarchbanks]

Sellin' like ____ cakes!

[VisualCSharp]

Shit?

[Ness.]

Cup?

[Oleander]

Yellow

[Yen Cross]

O/T but Charlie Sheen has 9(livers), lives.

[haskelslocal]

Nice Report... Keep up the good filter.

[mendigo]

There are many things going badly. The Chevy volt maybe is not quite ready for prime time. I don't think its a good example of current conditions. Its basically a heavily subsidize beta test. I think there is plenty of valid points to be made with resorting to this.

[Yen Cross]

Batteries are too heavy and can't handle the amperage. I forgot the exact figures, but car batteries only use 30 something % of their potential energy to increase longevity and reliability.

[Winston Churchill]

Its called battery "memory".

Go below 30% charge and you can never re charge to 100% again.

Every time you do it you decrease overall capacity by around 5%.

[Yen Cross]

Thanks W.C.  I appreciate your update. Can you update the forum with more info? At your discretion of course.

[StychoKiller]

Which battery chemical formulation exhibits this phenomena?

[smiler03]

As far as I know NiCad (nickel cadmium) batteries suffer from the memory effect. You only have to use a mobile phone to be affected by battery degeneration, even if it's a newer Lithium Ion . The older the phone gets, the shorter the time it holds its charge. 

Lithium batteries are supposed to be better but not in my experience. 

A fortune awaits the inventor of the first decent cheap rechargeable battery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%E2%80%93cadmium_battery#Memory_and_lazy_battery_effects

[Conman]

They are channel stuffing everything not just volts. Where is all this excess demand coming from going forward? I'm no auto sales expert but since clash for clunkers and all these all time record sales, isnt the median age of used cars way down by now? who's goign to be buying all these new cars?

[mendigo]

I suspect they are channel stuffing.
Its been thier habit as long as I can remember.
Except they would fill up these huge lots near the factory waiting for delivery to dealer.
Excess inventory is a sign of a poorly run company.
Steadily increasing excess inventory may be a sign that they are spending other peoples money - perfecly logical as Max would say.

[RSloane]

Mebbe they could park them on the White House lawn and have a 'fire sale' there.

[b_thunder]

Obama better buy one now, 'cause in 5 years neither Volt nor GM will exist!

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/02/28/usa-obama-volt-idINDEE81R0MT201...

Ueconomical and grossly overpriced even with $7500 Washington't bribe to the "greenies."  Oh, and explosive fire hazard.

[Kiwi Pete]

That's a bit harsh. According to the linked article "... though no real-world example has been recorded." The batteries caught fire 3 weeks after a side-impact test. 

[YesWeKahn]

when officials, managers, parents are lying, everybody will lie too, because lying becomes a virtue.

[Joebloinvestor]

FUCK GM.

They screwed bondholders but have enough cash now to go into partnership with Citroen?

I would have made them sell the Corvette and Cadillac divisions and started looking for a truck buyer.

TBTF until they piss off the administration and can't deliver the votes.

Oh yeah, and FUCK the UAW too.

[Yen Cross]

LMFAO! Good post. GM/Fiat/Citroen/Scoda Partnership announced.

[rawdawgs]

Wow. They really didn't want to do this before the election. Things must be really bad

[Yen Cross]

I'm getting really sarcastic now.   http://www.borgwarner.com/en/Investors/default.aspx )(  http://www.allisontransmission.com/ )( http://www.deere.com/en_US/deerecom/index.html )( http://www.getrag.com/ .

  I'll send the simple old days picture later. It's Italian circa the early 60's.

[Pretorian]

This is 2 nd time GM is destroying Electric car on purpose. Long live Oil empire poluting the earth.

[Yen Cross]

Honda beat them to it . That Insight /Jetson mobile was a royal POS!

 Just like that Lexus XL'F piece of crap, and that Nissan Gt'r piece of crap! I'll stick with the boys that know how to Build. Use your imaginations.

 As I jogged past my neighbor in his ( red) 250GT swb California this morning.

[Mr. Lucky]

Where does the electricity come from when its recharging?

[smiler03]

Thin air I think.

[max2205]

New rule

Cars on the lot over 99 weeks get dropped off the inventory report

Cars that have been test driven are counted as part time on the report

There. That looks better. Makes us feel better too

[Fix It Again Timmy]

Put Americans back to work, washing and waxing cars sitting on dealers' lots.  The Gov't saves us AGAIN!!

[rsnoble]

Oh so in other words this news will be completely ignored until inventory is depleted at which point in time the finance pages will stick headline after headline up our asses regarding "Auto sales are booming again."

[rsnoble]

Oh and btw it's no wonder the volts aren't selling the only thing people know about them is that they explode. LMAO.

We can build 2 seater gas cars right now that go 100mph and get 50mpg. You don't need 5,000lbs of steel to get from point A to point B.

[smiler03]

How about a diesel BMW 3 Series?

61.4 mpg and 141 mph

http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/bmw/3-series-saloon/320d-se-4dr/summary/64284

Oh, and it weighs 3296 lbs (1494kg) and seats 4   ;O)

edit: not available in the US (as far as I know)

[ptoemmes]

AAPL and GM could team up and give away a Volt with every new (rumored) iPad3 purchase.  Plug the iPad3 into the Volt and you got an extended battey.  Heck you could plug your iPhone in too.  What a deal.  Plug your iPod in for some tunes and you got a greenish mobile home.

Pete

[Taterboy]

I like the fact that Tyler's headline has the word "fire" in it. So many meanings.

[shuckster]

Even my rich friends complain about gas prices

[Seasmoke]

The GM dealers who got fucked, actually may not have gotten fucked.......

[Seasmoke]

Looks like we came out of halftime and fumbled the kickoff .....thanks for the pep talk clint

[devo]

Channel stuffing so Obama can claim GM made profits, thereby justify bailing them out.

[Dr. Gonzo]

last year bought a 108cc Honda Elite Scooter for ($2200 after 2 dealer rebates). I get to park practicly right up to the door at work while my co-workers get shuttled in from a comuter lot. They spend between 1 to 2 hours per day comuting to work and waiting for buses in their lots while my door to door trip is less than 5 minutes. I spend about $1.50 per week on gas and drive it everywhere except the highways. goes up to 55mph. Can put a lot of groceries under the seat. Dealer says they last for 40k miles. So far I put about 2k on. runs perfect. I do everything I can not to drive my car. That scooter will pay for itself in gas alone in few years but the cost depreciation on a car it's already paid for and the convenience is just gravy. Wish America would build useful solutions like these instead exploding cars that cost $40,000 cars and run on dirty fosil coal. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Oh Yeah. Costs me $25 a year for a tag. 100 times less than tags for a Volt would cost me. 

[Hulk]

How much do snow tires cost ???

[Alpha Monkey]

Who needs em, I drove my 125cc bike in seattle through the worst snow of this year.  Just had to drive slower is all.

[HungrySeagull]

I crawled behind a scooter earlier today.

I suppose the next thing is the Tata which is supposed to eventually hit USA.

We have gone through several generations of shit cars trying to be good on gas. The Yugo, Geo etc. Oh yes and the Pacer, Pinto etc.

[Mr. Lucky]

My doctor friends refer to scooters as "organ donor machines"

[Fedaykinx]

plus there's no convenient box to bury the rest in like with the smartcar

[Mr. Lucky]

I saw the results a smart car after a multi car crash on the Grand Central Parkway in NYC.  The occupants did continue their journey in an ambulance; after their bug in the jar experience.

[malek]

I hope you know that one already

http://www.mopo.ca/uploaded_images/mac-pc-motorcycle-777073.jpg

[GMadScientist]

Spend another $8k, buy a crotch rocket, and get onto the freeway...at 140mph.

[piceridu]

Are you kidding? Talk about instant death. The Italian Piaggio BV500 scooter...75 mpg plus top speed of about 115 mph...no wobble and first rate exceleration...But still it's a twist and go, walk through automatic. 

[GMadScientist]

Not kidding. Even the CBR type bikes get ~60mpg; I rode one for years when I had to commute in LA.

[Fedaykinx]

well that was entirely fucking predictable.  sometime in 2052 GM's share price will be back to what the government paid for it.  only problem is that and a $20 will buy you a cup of coffee.

[BlackholeDivestment]

Good work Zero Hedge. You all are the best. 

+ Perfect

[GMadScientist]

Gee, Activision Blizzard laid off half that number...and all they stuffed were data pipes.

"And the best part is...you won't even need salesmen!"

[Jim in MN]

If all those Volts sit in the showrooms long enough, there won't be any showrooms left (poof, burn baby burn).  Which will fix the channel stuffing problem...

[JohnKozac]

so when do we bail out the GM again...Q2 or Q3?

[Barmaher]

In Revenge of the Electric Car GM, Nissan, and Tesla were compared and contrasted.  Nissan ended up looking like gold, GM like crap, with Tesla constantly on the brink of disaster.  In the earlier documentary by the same filmakers, Who Killed the Electric Car? the answer, of course, was GM (with a side order of BP.)  In the same week that GM announced the decreased VOLTage, Nissan announced that the Leaf is now available in all US states.  I drive a Leaf and I say,

EVs bitches!

[Papasmurf]

Hope your $18,000 battery lasts a long time...  Looks like a nice coal powered car to me.

[HungrySeagull]

Those are called Steamers, we had those back in the early 1900's

[lizzy36]

Car sales are not about to fall off a cliff.

Subprime moved down market.

Instead of getting a liar loan to buy a house people are getting them to buy a car.

When the US has experiences it next recession (w/i the ungoing depression) expect all the car companies including ford to require a government bailout.

[overmedicatedun...]

all the UE youngun's are sitting home playing games and surfing the net texting and doing face book stuff so AAPL is doing great..driving cars is thus down..domestic fuel dropping off a cliff..the one thing that is mocking the recovery BS is NAT GAS..never in my lifetime have we had an economic recovery with NAT GAS at historic low prices.

the problem is NAT GAS is used to make electricity..so why are our utility bills going up? Why are OIL fired plants not converting to NAT GAS use? or are they?

we fell thru the looking glass..things that are real like fuel and nat gas use are numbers even that mundi cat can't hide. (and they are direct measures of a healthy recovery)

the people are fed the happy happy times BS 24/7..it feels like a recovery in that world..when the music stops who knows? but much more free food (snap cards now at historic highs)  and free winter fuel better be planned for by the elites..a one eyed man in the land of the blind.

[covert]

the volt is the also-ran of our time.

http://expose2.wordpress.com