Turns out, people searching for cars online tend to search more for cars under $35,000. While the Volt – after federal tax incentive – could be had for under that level before the price drop, the actual MSRP, the number used in the results, was almost $40,000. The new price tag starts at $34,995, which you may notice is, hey, under $35,000. As General Motors vice president Chris Perry told Wards Auto, “The market dynamics are changing, there are savings (we) have identified and then there are consumer habits at some of the shopping websites. Their cutoff has always been $35,000 and below, and we were always above that.” In other words, Internet shoppers wouldn’t see the Volt in their results. And that, if you’re trying to sell cars, that is a problem.
There are other factors that played in the price drop, including cheaper components. Looking down the road, we don’t really know what what next-gen Volt will bring, but it’s fairly certain it’ll be even cheaper and better. We’re guessing that will return a lot more hits.
