If you thought $41,000 was a lot to pay for a Chevrolet Volt, what would you think of $61,000?
That's how much one Southern California dealership wants, according to Edmunds.com. The site emailed an unnamed dealership to inquire about getting a Volt and was told that demand is so high it is asking $20,000 over MSRP.
Some 600 dealers have signed up to sell the Chevrolet Volt when it is offered in seven markets -- California, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, New Jersey, and the Washington, D.C. area -- later this year. General Motors is barred by law from telling dealers what to charge for the car, but it is urging them to stick to the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $41,000. That comes to $33,500 after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
It appears not all of them are doing that.
Sixty percent of the 1,312 people who responded to an an online poll by the fanboy site GM-Volt.com said dealers told them to expect a markup. Thirty-seven percent said they were told to expect a $10,000 premium. The poll is hardly scientific, but it jibes with what The New York Times found when it called around. It quotes a dealer in Washington, D.C., who said, "the consensus has settled around $50,000 for the base model, up to $53,000 with the higher equipment level.
GM says it can't do much about the gouging but says many dealers are sticking to the MSRP.
"There are some who have moved in the opposite direction of our request," GM spokesman Rob Peterson told The Times. "In response, what we’ve done is to urge customers who have contacted us about pricing discrepancies to shop around, because there are dealerships in their area that are honoring MSRP.”
We've always thought GM would have a tough time selling the Volt at $41,000, but apparently demand is strong enough -- GM will build just 10,000 in the first year -- that some dealers feel they can ask whatever the market will bear. The question is, who'd pay $50,000 or more for a Volt?
Contrary to earlier reports, General Motors is not banning dealers from selling Volts to out-of-state customers. Even if it wanted to, it can't under franchise laws.
Photo: Jon Snyder / Wired.com
