Chevrolet's technological flagship got off to a slow start when it was launched in just a handful of markets more than a year and a half ago, but the automaker is undoubtedly making progress. With two selling days still to go this month, the automaker has revealed that the
Chevrolet Volt has already broken its monthly sales record.
So far this month, 2,500 Volts have been delivered, a figure that far surpasses the 2,289 that found buyers in March. Through the first seven months of 2012, Chevrolet recorded 10,666 Volt deliveries, which means the eight month figure easily tops 13,000 including August's sales. That's still well off of the automaker's
initial goal set back in late 2010 of selling about 30,000 Volts annually this year, but it's undeniably progress.
Moreover, a Chevrolet spokesperson
told The Detroit News that about one third of Volt sales this month were made in California, a market that has proven elusive to Detroit's automakers. Aiding the Volt's desirability in California is the fact that it, unlike a standard
Toyota Prius, qualifies for carpool lanes regardless of the number of passengers aboard.
However, Chevrolet still has too many Volts on the ground at dealerships, so it plans to
halt production for about a month both in order to curb oversupply and retool its Hamtrammck, Michigan, assembly plant to build the
Chevrolet Impala.
