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2015 Chevy Volt Production Halted, Retooling for the 2016 Volt Begins

Chevrolet is shutting down production for the 2015 Volt as the golden bow tie is preparing to launch the improved 2016 version of their hybrid.
Chevrolet Bolt EV 1 photo
Photo: Catalin Garmacea
Transition can be a tricky thing to accomplish, and usually such a process will take time. Chevrolet knows that and has halted production for the 2015 Volt in order to perform retooling. However, there's another reason behind this decision.

According to the Detroit Free Press, sales of the 2015 Volt are slow, with volumes going down as much as 48% compared to last year's performance.

In addition, the Hamtramck plant has a 200-day supply of the hybrid across the US and a 100-day supply in California, where Volt is one of the most desired PHEVs. Therefore, Chevrolet decided to stop making Volts for six weeks, which is about double the standard retooling time.

On an average, carmakers are trying to reach and maintain a 60-day supply, which makes GM's decision of shutting down production for a longer period an understandable one.

You see, Chevrolet already announced the 2016 Volt and officials described it as "the next generation of electric hybrid cars". Such claims only persuaded potential customers to wait and get the 2016 version, while completely overlooking the 2015 variant.

By the way, Chevrolet even involved customers in the new Volt's development and listened to what they had to say before improving the car's weaker spots.

Besides the 2016 Volt, Chevrolet also announced that the Bolt EV production will start in late 2016 after the Bolt prototype saw daylight in Detroit. GM is looking to emulate Elon Musk's success with the Tesla Model S, so we could see the eco race hotting up in the near future.
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