hahaha…cat’s out of the bag already, johan, no explanation necessary…

wow, a auto exect that actually makes sense.
maybe if gm had someone with common sense running the company they would not have been building junk for the past 25 years.

I can agree somewhat – but it’s interesting to have said what he did just days before their own electric car comes out. I think this maybe one of the biggest blunders in auto-exec history. You can think these things, but you should never say them. Again, his timing is just simply amazingly bad. I mean he’s backing what his products do well – but at what cost? It’s not like diesel doesn’t pollute.

As Johnny said, it’s kind of like spitting in the face of America, you may not even like the Volt or GM, but it’s almost a personal insult on Americans when it comes down to it.

“Audi’s core competence lies in diesel technology,”

And we wonder why he’s calling the the volt a car for idiots…

i agree with this guy

Haha and this is coming from a company that charges $40k for FWD A4, $55k for FWD a6, and $75k for FWD architecture with AWD standard option for A8. We are not idiots!!!!

just stop it , de Nysschen, it’s getting ridiculous. serial hybrids will be the standard in a few years , weather we like it or not.

Even though wide adoption of electric vehicles will shift the carbon emissions from cars to power plants (some being coal plants), it’s still smarter than continuing using vehicle powerplants based on fossil fuels.

In time, electricity will be provided by renewables to a greater and greater degree. And coal plants may be retrofitted with carbon sequestration technologies in the future. Regional Power Authorities are being required to source more power from non-carbon sources here in CA.

Going electric also reduces dependence on foreign and unstable suppliers of fossil fuels in the Middle East and elsewhere.

So I guess the only TRUE IDIOT is the self-serving and shortsighted Audi President Nysschen.

just keep digging your hole there dude….

It’s probably a good thing half of us aren’t auto execs.

The car is no good. Bottom line. A car that’s the size of a Prius @ $40K and needs 6000 RPMs out of the engine to pull 100 HP for the motors (as cited in Car and Driver) is NOT going to do well. It’s gonna be a huge failure that GM will just end up leaving in the attic to collect dust just like their EV concept and numerous other forgotten failed models. I’ve never seen an auto manufacturer with so many failures in my entire life. They should just stick to the corvette and camaro. Nothing else. Everything else is the worst of its class.

Unless you’re uber-rich, this is a moot point in the northern states. A fully electric car could not be used here from mid-November through most of March because the batteries wouldn’t be able to hold the charge long enough or provide heat to the driver/passenger. That means that this would be a warm weather car. Don’t know many who could afford a $40k warm weather car PLUS a cold weather backup.

I’m going to try and be the voice of reason here. Were the Audi exec’s comments insulting to American pride? YES!… Did he have a point? YES!… Is he being a hypocrite? YES!…Should GM care? MAYBE!…The point is that the Volt’s success hinges on average day American’s finding value in this car. It’s nice for wealthy people to purchase it but in order to get prices down to Prius/Insight levels you need volume. People can guess how the American public will react but no know truly knows. Is GM is taking a gamble? YES!………But they have to take chances and gamble because the way they were doing things ran them into the ground! Good luck GM!

jealousy isnt very befitting, if the shoes was on the other foot Audi would no doubt be projecting a higher cost.

like it or not, his statement will be heard throughout the world, and people will question a hybrids(whether it a full EV or just a hybrid) price hike! Just as in europe, where a diesel engine isn’t a premium option, it is below or a standard option, unlike here where a diesel engine is a premium. That needs to change!

Honestly, as cool as you want the Volt to be, I doubt anyone here defending it will buy it. It’s 40 grand! and only goes 40 miles. If anything the absolutely hideous Nissan Leaf is better. And all those dogging clean diesel have never driven one. You get the mileage of a Prius but actually get an engine with power. Plus, 50% of power in the US are generated by dirty coal. So yeah, enjoy your Volt, and realize that clean diesel burns much cleaner than dirty coal in Gary, Indiana.

He was cooler before backpedaling.

Once you say something you can’t take it back it was a unprofessional comment from a unprofessional arrogant man

One thing people don’t think about or know (unless your a mechanic) is that all of the German
technology for diesels is great – until the components wear out……..the engines
today are sound – it’s everything else they are attaching to it.

The scrubbers and all the components they “clean” the exhaust before going to the cat. con. and out
the pipes are VERY EXPENSIVE to replace. And they don’t last 100k miles. So anyone wanting to
have a car they plan on keeping for a long time may get a bill for many thousands of dollars.
Not good – and not economic, considering what they are touting.

I would go for a normally asperated 4 banger or hybrid than go to the “new” diesels ……not that
hybrids don’t have problems of their own

sctdiverdown,
FYI…fixing a diesel is WAY cheaper than fixing hybrid!

I agree 100% with this guy….I’m happy to hear an exec call BS on GM

The man’s got a point, a good one that makes a lot of sense. Why sugar coated.

Zesty Honda,

You hit the nail in the head.
I do wish GM all the success, but at this currently point in time I would NEVER pay $40k on a Volt. If it was around $30k max then I would take a look, but at $40k n way.

GM also thinks the Volt is BS. They wanted to cancel it before they were reminded of the political value.

“Let me re-state my previously brash statement with one that’s equally as true –so the idiots will understand…” -Johan

what boggles my mind is this fixation on the price tag.

Not only would you have to be a limp wristed idiot to buy the volt, you would have to be a complete moron to think it will be a success. How does a company emerging from bankruptcy pull off ANOTHER immediate blunder? QUIT WASTING MY F×<±|\& TAX MONEY!!!

“The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time. ” -Henry Ford

perhaps de Nysschen should heed this advice

To some extent Audi itself depends on “idiots” for success — it needs people to pay huge premiums over the MSRPs of Fords and Toyotas for Audi “brand value.” Yes, Audis are better-engineered, etc., but the secretaries buying A4s don’t get that. All they get is status and social-climbing. So Audi needs its idiots, just as the Volt needs idiots of a different stripe.

Having said that, if de Nysschen was trying to say that you would have to be economically irrational to buy a Volt because you’ll never, ever break even on the deal against the guy next door who buys a Malibu for $17k less… he’s dead right.

Johan is the man. I have a lot of respect for anyone who is knowledgable and sticks to his guns…

The fact everyone knows the Volt is $40,000, makes it a status symbol. However, that being said, the Cadillac Converj should have come out first. Conspicuous consumption sells-whether or not its a gas-guzzling Hummer or an environmentally friendly smug-machine for the self assumed intellectual elite.

Mr. Fancy Pants Auto Exec! Nice backpedaling! No, no, no, I thought you said I’m alright Spider! No, no, no, I thought I said I’m alright Spider! Uh duh uh duh uh duh. Get da **** outta here!

Nice try Mr. Audi dude, but you’d better be careful. If you wriggle any more than you already are someone’s liable to stick a hook in your mouth and throw you off the side of a boat.

However unpopular his statement is, he’s right, moving to electric is cute, but it won’t solve anything, in fact, as somebody mentioned, since over 50% of US energy comes from coal, which is, no matter what politicians from West Virginia try to tell you, very very dirty and polluting.

The truth is, we should focus 100% of our attention on energy generation methods, and I’m talking throwing money at universities and labs like it’s the New Deal. Once we have an alternative for generation, and don’t say renewable because for now they’re far from capable of providing baseline power, then we can start pushing for electric cars.

And why aren’t we using diesels yet?, they don’t require rare metals, don’t require spark plugs and are very efficient. Arrgg, I hate hybrids so much, but I really hope that they will be recycled correctly at least and batteries will be re-manufactured, not end up in a landfill…

i think he is totally rite. nowadays people are gloryfying electric cars as if they would save the earth and the whole universe and that´s bullsh*t. hybrids are cool if they use/ store power produced by the gasoline engine, but the common full electric cars of today are too expensive and not that eco-friendly at all.
and they sound ****

Everything is expensive when it first comes out where are you guys from, Plasma TV’s Blue ray the list goes on and on. The third gen Volt will go further on a charge and cost less. Maybe someday we can tell opec to go F themselves

This guy has typical arrogant CEO foot in mouth disease.

He may not agree, but how most cars are used, the Volt is a great idea to bridge the gap until battery tech evolves to allow for quick charging and better range. Most drives are going to be less than 40 miles and will require only electricity, but there is still the flexability to drive longer distances. It is, given current technology, a very smart product.

His beef however is about cost, and I agree it is too expensive right now for what you get. I personally would not pay the premium for this new technology. Thank goodness there will always be those who have to have the latest and greatest and have it first. As well as those who feel that they need to make a strong environmental statement regardless of cost. He needs to be careful about insulting this segment of consumers, because all companies rely on them to some degree. The more upscale the company, the more you need these buyers, and Audi certainly fits the bill.

In terms of environmental impact, I don’t think de Nysschen is giving enough credit to the inherent efficiency of the electric motor. Sure, the power has to come from somewhere, but it still is a more efficient design than even the best ICEs and requires overall less power. I am much more concerned about the environmental problems raised by the sudden demand for the materials to make and the problem with recycling or disposal of all of the batteries.

de Nysschen FTW! Finally someone who can handle calling GM liars.

So, I’ve done some crude math. If you buy the Volt (40K) over the Jetta TDI (22K), and if you drive either car for 40 miles a day, that means the Volt would only use electricity, it would take 30 years to offset the Volts price over the Jetta.

So, those of you who feel offended by someone calling the Volt an unreasonable buy, then you have serious problems, or you’re just some GM fanboy who will go ape sh*t over any GM product anyway.

Now, if the Volt was priced around 20K-30K, then it would be a good idea, but 40K is too pricey for an economy car.

And to whoever saying “What a hypocrite, the A4 costs 40K”, the difference between the A4 and the Volt is that the A4 is a luxury car while the Volt is an economy car. An econobox costing as much a luxury car is retarded. You all know that

My guess is we’ve finally found Tripleonefive’s real identity. Who knew he was really an exec at Audi?

BTW, is he dead or what?

Long story short, the volt should have been released as the Cadi version first. Tesla and Fisker got it right, GM clearly did not. They other 2 understood that the technology is expensive, SO in order to justify they price of the car, they made the cars look and feel nice enough for you to fathom paying that sticker price. The Cadi version of this wuld easily have fetched that premium premium price and no one would have through twice. but putting that price on the chevy moniker econo box Plug in was a stupid move

I vote Hydrogen-powered vehicles!

he makes a good point about it being over price. his argument about moving the problem to coal plants is not a valid argument because coal plants are much more efficient at producing energy then any gas car engine can be.
the lithium ion batteries were developed to with stand cold temps, how well is yet to bee seen, but if you charging this car it probably in you garage where it will be warmer and can charge once on it probably can keep the batteries warm

as for the engine not having enough power it dose seeing how any acceleration would be from the batteries not the engine and all the engine would need to power is it at high way speed were that much hp would no be needed. if u need to accelerate from a stop after the 40 miles when you slowed down it would give u almost all the power you need to get back up to speed threw regenerative breaking, more impotent is the torque in the electric motors with i believe it had plenty.

this car could be an importnent step to hydrogen vehicles when the tech is ready, and infrastructure is not all there

The wierd part to me is the comment from someone in the industry not seeing the bigger picture. The technology frees the vehicle powerplant choice from the infrastructure constraints. That the powerplant is merely a generator to the all electric motor/battery. You can choose the best powerplant for the time, be it gasoline, diesel, fuel cell, etc. That frees up the chicken/egg conundrum for new fuel sources.

Yes, it’s a $40k car, but remember what happened when Toyota introduced the Prius. The early adopters were Hollywood tree hugging types who could afford much more expensive cars. They were making a statement with their purchase.

Agree, but, what would you buy, a Volt or a Tesla S?
Chevy Volt is plain stupid, not only who buys it.

Audi is for idiots. Yea BMW!

The Volt’s idea is good. The price? Not so much.

this is typical American ignorance and arrogance, Johan de Nysschen is Audi USA president , he is not the President of Audi. Americans think the world belongs to them so the US president of Audi must be the head of all Audi.

VoltsWagens are for idiots

Guys i agreee with him but it makes no difference.

There will always be rich greenie soccer moms looking for a sedan alternative to their Yukon Denali hybrid. One to take to the grocery store, one to take the kids to soccer practice.

To Status:
No one questions there was mistakes made, however let’s look at some of the facts here. Americans went from being cool in Hummers to Smart cars in less than 2 years. Combined with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Toyota lost money for the first time in history. They’re not wasting tax dollars by employing your friends and families, and if you’re friends and families don’t work for the auto industry, then surely one of the 275,000 folks who are employed by the auto industry, will eventually have an impact in thier network.

Expensive? You better believe it, brand new technology has a price tag, and as always, it will drop.

Although there are emissions associated with coal and oil-fired power plants, smokestack emissions associated with charging EVs are extremely low. In fact, EVs can charge from zero-emission sources such as nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, and wind power.

Lastly, if it was such crap why is Audi investing in it?

It’s already a success in the way it’s shaping the industry. Whether or not THIS vehicle proves financially fiscal is irrelevant, it’s technology WILL prove to be.

Don’t be so sour, it’s just a car.

^audi is investing in it because they can charge 50k for an electric car, GM can not.

I totally agree with de nysschen on diesel, hybird supplies are eventually going to run out, anybody remeber the article on here a couple of days ago? It said that the world might have some strain for the rare metals that hybrids use. It also said that most of the rare metals come from china and canada, most of it coming from china. These are not the countries that i want to waste money on, especially so i can be an egomaniac and be “eco friendly”. I’ll just buy a diesel and hope they keep finding oil.

The only thing I sort of agree with is the Emissions. Calling an electric vehicle a zero emissions vehicle is just a straight lie. The emissions are produced at a plant. The Volt is not an EV though. And the amount of waist caused by batteries is huge.

Here is the big problem. People are complaining about a 240mpg $40K vehicle. Where were you guys to complain about a 40mpg $30K Prius? Do I smell bias? Now if you complained about the Prius fine but to ignore it and complain about the Volt, you are stupid.

Another problem is you forget it is new technology and, like technology before it, the price will drop.

Lastly, if it is so stupid Mr. Nysschen, why are you investing in it? I think the only reason they are making a big deal is because they couldn’t invent it first.

“An econobox costing as much a luxury car is retarded. You all know that”

That’s really the bottomline aside from the environmental aspect. Let’s cut the bs and get real shall we? How many of you guys are willing to drop 40K for a Volt? How many of you are willing to be the pioneer who would sacrifice their hard earned dollars in this economy no less for a car that has questionable savings.

“People are complaining about a 240mpg $40K vehicle. Where were you guys to complain about a 40mpg $30K Prius? Do I smell bias?”

Only if it’s real. So don’t get ahead of yourself, GM has been full of claims that were never delivered.

electric vehicle are cooler, before in a gasoline engine, you would burn in an accident due to the ignition of the gas tank, now you will melt due to the acid leaking from the battery. That’s what we call progress.

for everybody who thinks that an ev being charged by solar or wind power is completely “green”, think about where the power and materials used to make the solar panels or turbine blades comes from. There is no such thing as completely environmentally friendly.

The “overpriced VW” comments are getting old quick. Again, VW is not AUDI and AUDI is not VW. We share technology and platforms but we do NOT rebadge. I have seen the Pontiac Le Mans that was once called an Opel E Kadett carry a Dawoo badge, GM got a real long lifetime out of that car.

leftwinger “them fihgtin werds mr audi. obama aint picking losers! ameriku’h NUMBER 1″

the reality of the situation is this car isnt perfect. hell i would love to see GM crash and burn they havent made a halfway decent car in donkeys years.

gm europe and gm australia are leaps and bounds ahead of its father. both in build quality and in value. if gm hadve handed the volt over to opel i think itd be far far more compeditive. its not hard to spruce up an interior to make it into a more luxurious car to match its massive pricetag. if at the end of the day it is a flop as most are projecting then hey at least they had a shot. i dont like hybrid tech for a lot of reasons but mainly because i am a petrolhead through and through.

hybrid tech is here to stay and it will only get more and more prevalent. if anything GM is slow to the mark. good luck to them and good on a CEO for speaking his mind. dancing round topics that you believe in is plain weak, come out with it and mean it.

GM should NOT try to recoup the development costs for the Volt in the 1st year.

By lowering the price and getting more cars on the road, if they are as revolutionary as GM says, they would increase popularity and therefore sales by word of mouth and positive reviews from sites like this.

They should try to make a profit by increasing volume not by increasing the initial costs to consumers. Other makers that put out hybrids don’t increase the price 50% from the regular model right? Also, f6typhoon, capitals and apostrophe’s are around for a reason…….

No one ever mentions the US labour costs being a potential factor in the price of American vehicles.

If GM has to pays out $70 and hour, for example, the worker itself may not be getting it all (health care, pension costs, etc. taking some away), but the corporation still has to pay it. They need to get it back somewhere, obviously not from the bonuses the execs get, so the retail price increases. Toyota pays out roughly $50 an hour, so every bit helps in reducing the price of vehicles in the long run.

Read this for more info:

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/do_auto_workers_really_make_more_than.html

Bosley, labor costs are rarely taken into consideration because workers deserve every dime and even more than they get if you ask a Union worker. That quality derived from “industrialized” countries comes at a price is something most customers don’t want to consider either, sure it can get built cheaper but at a cost to jobs in “industrialized” countries and at a loss in quality. Yes China and Africa can/could learn to build just as high quality but right now they don’t meet what we consider high quality manufacturers (otherwise I doubt any of you would be ripping the products they do bring out on the market already).

I’m not saying the workers don’t deserve all they get. I’m saying the unions and other corporate entities may be taking more than they should. I’m a union member, as a licensed electrician, and I know that my union takes a percentage of each hourly wage paid by an employer. Those costs don’t seem to fluctuate as much as the actual salary portion. There are ways of reducing these payouts the manufacturers make without reducing employee wage rates, that’s all. For example, these are the average salaries paid out by the ‘Big 3′ in the US (2006) versus the ‘Asian invasion’ trifecta (2005). I’m just saying there’s room to move, if one person can do it why can’t someone else?….

DaimlerChrysler $75.86

Ford $70.51

General Motors $73.26

Honda $42.95

Nissan $41.97

Toyota $47.60

Bosley when I started working at Audi I was still earning 50euro a week more at the bottom entry level than I was at the Autobody shop I use to work at for 7 years prior with hazard pay. Sorry an assemblyline worker, even with shift comp shouldn’t be earning THAT much more than a skilled laborer putting in more hours with more challenging tasks to complete.

I’m not trying to get into a labour wage rate debate/dispute, I’m just trying to suggest reasons why GM might think it has to make (or can make) the Volt sale price $40K for all the American ‘idiots’ out there compared to other competing vehicle prices. Whether the unions are taking too much for their own pockets or the monkey’s pushing buttons in the plants are getting too much, the total is so high that GM may feel it has no choice (because as I said earlier the execs seem to be exempt from these kind of cost cutting measures, until they fly corporate jets to Washington on taxpayer money)….

It is a possibility Bosley, yet whatever the reasons are I doubt we as customers will ever find out. I do agree that GM may have been smarter using Cadillac as the starter models to rationalize the high pricetag.

when you state those kind of wage numbers, you should mention that includes compensations and benefits. or just post the actually hourly rate and skip the confusion.

Speaking of labor, why is it that the U.S. uses china for assembling plastic stuff. Why can’t we use africa? They will do it cheaper. They can use the money to build up their economy, and it does not have to ship as far. Sound like a done deal that should have been done a long time ago.

P.S. We don’t owe africa money, and they aren’t communist either.

I wonder what would happen if some members from these bulletins were Auto Executives?

The Auto Execs aren’t smart enough to tune into this site……..(am I kidding, I’ll leave it to you)…..

HEY. I take offense to that. I’m an idiot and I’m not buying a Volt.

I’ll shut up now.

What does Audi offer that’s half the price of a Volt or has near the technology even at double the price of the average small car?

Again, though, I’m an idiot.

I’ll shut up now.

One should ask the question if a 10 cylinder 2 seater (aka Audi R8) makes sense without pricing support from the manufactorer? He is wrong about the “shifting of emissions from one to another”. It has always BEEN and will always BE easier to monitor the emissions of 1 tailpipe (smokestack) than millions of vehicle tailpipes. His country alone is one of the largest consumers of solar panels in the world. Does he think cheap gas is here to stay? He simply has not been investing the new battery electrics as he should of been. Audi builds a great gas vehicle and is behind in this field. Governments SHOULD subsidize programs that have lasting results. Our government shifted money from battery technology in the 1990’s to hydrogen (billions), when they should of put the petal to the metal on battery tech…now they are playing catchup. Toyota is on their 3rd version of a hybrid, now making money with them. Chevrolet will need 2 design cycles to make money with the “Volt” platform. Remember, most people thought a $1500 dollar computer in every house made no sense in the 80’s….now 99% own one. Electric cars bring the power back to the people. Its hard for governments to tax the sun…thats the real future fuel….we all get it for free. I see a day when we will never need foreign oil and we still go 0-60 in under 5 seconds. My 10 year old electric truck needs updating and I will buy a new one for huge money when the replacement comes out…I wish it was an Audi!!! Sorry Johan, it looks like an American car company will get my money not you.

Jdasch1: Did you mean this country alone ? (as in USA?) or His Country ( Johan De Nysschen’s country)? as Johan heralds from Sunny South Africa ,btw. South Africa is closer to the bottom with regards to the use of Solar power: Secondly: Johan is not the president of Audi Globaly , but the USA…Rupert Stadler is the title holder of that Position. Yes Audi Builds great Petrol ( Oops Gas ) cars , but Fantastic Diesel powered ones. Ps. I am wondering about ‘Taxing the Sun” …The US Govt. in all possibility do that in secret without you knowing , hence the issue with regards to Global Warming…Ok I’m just pulling your P!ss on this statement. I do not see why any Government should use Tax Payers hard urned Money to subsidize ill conceived aspirations of any Motor manufacturer . They all need to prove the viability of the product before they can even think of requesting any form of grants. This is the time for global manufacturers to stand together and work towards an achievable yet effecient end result.
A time to overcome the playground tactics of Mine is bigger , faster and uglier than yours tactics , but to achieve brilliance through co-operation.

I agree with Audi the Volt is not that great considering it’s hype The current ” Hybrid” is more at this point in time a better choice. Honda,Ford and Toyota have Hybrids that are 1/2 the price of the Volt and until battery technology advances the $40,000 is not justifiable.

-Sarge