Volt Production Halted

GM halted Volt production and laid off 1,300 workers until April. The company planned to produce 45,000 of the PHEV vehicles this year but only sold 1,626 of the $40,000 cars the first 2 months this year. Nissan Leaf sales were miserable as well. This fiasco is reminiscent of the EV1 from a decade ago.

If Obama could push gasoline prices to $8 or$10 per gallon, like he would like to, he might boost Volt sales. But no one wants to buy an over-priced green car when they could get a Hummer, Cadillac or exotic sports car when they can afford the gasoline anyway. After all, most Volt buyers earn $170,000 a year.

Reuters reports US wages are up...

"American wages and salaries have risen at a 5.7 percent annual rate in the seven months through January. Average hourly earnings, to be reported on Friday as part of the government's monthly jobs report, are expected to have advanced by 0.2 percent in February from the prior month."

Really? 5.7% annual rate? I've been cheated! I got a 3% raise in January without any raises in the previous 2 and a half years. They must be talking about government workers, they sure aren't talking about me or anybody that I know.