One of the biggest barriers the 2010 Chevrolet Volt will have to overcome will undoubtedly be its high cost of entry. Although General Motors originally targeted a $30,000 price tag for the plug-in hybrid, development costs have pushed that target closer to $40,000 – rather high for sedan wearing the Chevrolet Bowtie. However, GM may have a new plan to alleviate some of that sticker shock.
According to Automotive News, GM is currently considering giving Cadillac a version of the upcoming Chevrolet Volt . Although not officially approved for production, the Cadillac logo would allow GM to charge more for the E-flex vehicle and therefore possibly turn a profit on the new technology.
Such a strategy is not unheard of in the auto industry as many automakers debut their newest technologies in their top models or brands so some of the added costs can be hidden by the car’s already high price of entry.
It also remains unclear if GM would simply rebadged the Volt as a Cadillac – albeit with different styling and added features – or if GM would put the technology into an entirely new model. The forerunner to the upcoming Cadillac SRX – the Provoq concept – actually used a fuel cell version of the Volt’s E-flex system, so it could be possible to see a Volt-esque version of the SRX.
Whatever the case, the E-flex Cadillac model should hit the market in 2011 — if it ultimately gets the go-ahead for production.
