GM stops building Chevy Volts for 5 weeks, lays off 1,300 employees because of oversupply of overpriced cars "due to slow sales"

(USA Today) General Motors is stopping production of the Chevy Volt and European sibling Opel Ampera for five weeks due to slow sales.

"Even with sales up in February over January, we are still seeking to align our production with demand," said GM spokesman Chris Lee.

GM told the 1,300 employees building Volts at its Detroit Hamtramck plant that they will be laid off from March 19 to April 23.

Chevrolet sold 1,023 Volts in the U.S. in February and 1,626 so far this year. In 2011, it sold 7,671 -- short of its initial goal of 10,000. And GM had planned to expand production of the $40,000 plug-in, extended-range electric car to 60,000 this year, with 45,000 for sale in the U.S.

"The fact that GM is now facing an oversupply of Volts suggests that consumer demand is just not that strong for these vehicles," comments Dr. Lacey Plache, chief economist for auto research site Edmunds.com. "The price premium on the Volt just doesn't make economic sense for the average consumer when there are so many fuel-efficient gasoline-powered cars available, typically for thousands of dollars less."

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