The Detroit-Hamtramck plant assembled its first Volt earlier this week, several months ahead of the planned launch in November. The production of the Volt will continue over the coming months as GM tests the assembly line to find potential issues before the vehicle launch.
The Chevy Volt that rolled off of the Detroit-Hamtramck line on Monday – the first Volt to do so – was intended to be a manufacturing-validation vehicle. Chevy Volts destined for showrooms are not expected to begin production until much closer to the November launch date, according to the Detroit News.
“The first manufacturing-validation vehicle … came down the assembly line on Monday,” said GM’s vice chairman, Bob Lutz, in an interview with the Detroit News at the New York Auto Show.
Lutz went on to explain that the current Volts being produced on the assembly line are only intended to “ferret out any areas that are difficult to assemble.” Lutz added, “This is eight months before production launch. It shows that the program is in extremely good shape.”
At various times GM has suffered doubts and reports that the Volt may not make it to market, or may be significantly delayed, but Lutz denied any of those suggestions as being even remotely possible. At one point, GM even announced that it would delay construction of the Flint, Michigan, plant that was set to produce engines for the Volt.
“There’s never been any problem. There’s never been threat of cancellation. There’s never been any threat of delay,” Lutz said.
Lutz said GM will produce several hundred more manufacturing-validation versions of the Chevy Volt before the launch in November. GM plans to produce roughly, 4,000 units through summer, 2011. For now, the automaker is still working on finalizing software for the Volt, particularly in terms of drive-ability.
References
1. ‘First Chevrolet Volt hits…’ view
