Bolt’s wait time slows to crawl in Canada
“Iwent shopping for a Bolt. Did you know there is an eightmonth waiting list for that car in Canada? Meanwhile, down in the Excited States ( sic), there is a surplus and the plant is on extended summer shutdown? What’s with that? Slap some French stickers on and reprogram the car for metric and DRLs ( daytime running lights) et voila, Canadian car. AND none are available either for looking at or test drives.”
This is from the letter of a reader, and he has a good point. Why can’t we buy a Bolt here in Canada, but car lots in the U. S. are so stuffed that factories are shutting down production? Why do an aggressive ad campaign, over months and months, if you’re not gonna have any goods come market day?
In an email from General Motors, our reader was told the problem was because the “complexities of the manufacturing and shipping process can sometimes delay the delivery time of vehicles to the dealership. While it is in the best interest of all concerned to streamline this process, material shortages and delays in shipping by outside sources, as well as internal plants and foundry divisions, are some of the major contributing factors we must deal with in the automotive industry. In addition, market demands for popular models sometimes exceed our production capabilities.”
That’s different from the official reply I received from GM’s public relations: “Our plan is based on market demand and scale here in Canada. We recognize there is an ongoing and increasing interest in electrification by consumers across the country and we’ll work as quickly as possible to satisfy that demand while ensuring dealer readiness with training, tools and equipment for sales and service.”
If there are material shortages, why is there a glut in U.S. market?
Reviews of the Bolt are consistently great. The No. 1 issue everyone has had with EVs is range; the Bolt offers 383 kilometres of asphalt-eating goodness. Sure, the styling is a little mundane, but it’s as roomy as anything else in the segment in a world of generic cars. So now the complaint shifts to charging times, and lack of charging locations. Times have been cut and, while not even approaching a conventional gas fill-up, they’re far better than they were a few years ago. We’ve gone from no discernible places to charge your EV to people littering my mailbox with complaints that malls and facilities have way too many designated charging stations taking up valuable parking spots.
But General Motors — particularly with the Bolt — can’t seem to stop shooting itself in the foot. How can the car it will no doubt be most compared with — the Tesla Model 3 — receive more than 300,000 orders last year, even with the company announcing it wouldn’t be ready until 2018? Sure, Tesla is fumbling deadlines and rewriting headlines day to day. The fact remains that the car- buying public appears more willing to gamble on the Tesla dream than the GM reality.
GM is crazy if it thinks most of those interested in the Bolt will wait for long. Online forums are a great ear- to- the- track hint of how consumers think. The bulge of Volkswagen diesel-tainted blood money is in the mail, and people who might logically be considered prime candidates for the Bolt do not want to hear “maybe in the fall.” Diesel is gasping its last breaths; these are people who had previously invested in an advanced power plant, and you’re not ready for them?
Volkswagen is eager to restore confidence in the market, and the e- Golf is sparking a lot of interest. Those same forums have another interesting point: sales people in too many dealerships have little faith in, or knowledge of, the product. How can you buy what someone can’t sell you? This is like transplanting a cactus.
Electric- vehicle sales are negligible, at this point in time. They’re a blip on the sales radar, a fart in a windstorm. Quebec is the first province to announce it will be setting sales quotas, much to the chagrin of its dealer networks who are crying foul. Several provinces, including B. C., Quebec and Ontario, still offer huge rebates to those who purchase electrics, much to the chagrin of everyone who doesn’t. Gas prices remain stubbornly low, and look to stay down for the next year or so, which stymies the single best marketing tool a zero- emission car can offer. The electric vehicle is the castor oil of the car world. It’s good for us, but nobody wants it.
Having said that, it will be hybrids that will be the bridge for the coming decade. There is a steady uptick in production and acceptance of the PHEVs, with hybrid versions being rolled out alongside their gasoline brethren. What was once the province of greenies is now mainstream, with sales continuing to climb.
While I salute GM for producing a damned fine car, I question the marketing strategies that have surrounded it. The public is fickle, and spoiled for choice. They can have any kind of cake they want, and have it served to them whenever they want it. Rolling out one of your most important vehicles, ever, and fumbling the ball on delivery is costly in more ways than one.
You can only light a match once.