Z28x

The market does decide at the end of the day. Gov't is just trying to give the market a nudge in 1 direction or another. It worked for the Internet.

It is about this being #1 (or even a player) in a segment. If a product/market can get a little help in the beginning it can get us out ahead of the competition and bring home more money and jobs to the USA. At some point though the thing being subsidized needs to be able to leave the nest and fly on its own. These EV tax credits do expire, don't expect any on a 2019 Volt.

It isn't an ideal way to be doing things, but the world of international trade isn't fair, so we have to fight back against other countries that will be subsidizing their products.

More info on how the tax credit works = The Ins and Outs of Electric Vehicle Tax Credits - Edmunds.com

guionM

What's really funny is that anyone's surprised at all over this. It is Fox News afterall.

Fox is the modern day version of the "Yellow Journalism" of a century ago. Sure, there's "some" legitimate news that filters through all the crap that seeps to the screen occasionally. But what Fox is all about is ratings by throwing granades just like Hearst did. Also like Hearst, if something you report can't be proven or has the barest thread of truth, invent an "expert" or have someone invent an entity that they can use to support whatever view they are trying to promote.

I'm not exactly a fan of the Volt. But to say the government forced GM to create the Volt is a flat out lie, yet it's being paraded as facts because it's a "News' channel. Then there's the $7500 you get for buying one. If I'm correct, hat $7500 is in the form of a tax break for buying one. One would expect the mindset at Fox News (if anywhere) to be fully supportive of giving tax dollars back to taxpayers. Regardless as to whether they buy a house or buy a Volt.

Volt was designed, engineered, and made in the United States of America, and is the most advanced hybrid on the planet right now. One would think that if anything, the American first spouting Fox "News" would be promoting the living daylights out of the Volt.

Even if they want to be anti-GM due to the bailout, the Volt was almost entirely done under the "private" General Motors Corperation, and the Feds that reviewed GM's product development before they decided to help GM slammed the Volt.

I also slammed the whole notion of the Volt as a waste of money and will never be profitable. But the idea of the Volt as an image car for GM (ie: Prius is for Toyota) is right on the mark. Also, being that my current 200 mile per week commuter car is a 4 wheel drive, extended cab, '02 Silverado truck, the Volt makes far more sense for what I use my truck for. I gotta applaud Bob Lutz for the vision of making the Volt happen (if you think he didn't have a hard time with this, check out his book).

And last I heard, he wasn't exactly a pro-government, tree-hugging fellow either.

JakeRobb

I've driven the Volt, and I've had extensive conversations with one of the lead electrical engineers. Not to mention, people who own one (that engineer for one, Chris Frezza for another) all love them. GM and Lutz have every reason to be proud of the car.

jg95z28

I suspect that the FOX news stance also has to do with there being a Democrat in the white-house. All conditions being equal and place a Republican in the oval office and I suspect FOX news would be less critical of the GM bailout and the Volt.

OutsiderIROC-Z

El Duce

You guys do realize that the article is talking about a segment during Bill O'Reilly's show don't you? Those blocks of shows in the evening are just that, shows. No different than Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow or Ed Shultz.

They're not meant to be taken as hardcore news. They're commentary and opinion shows.

Besides, it's not like ABC News or the NY Times have perfect records, and that was from their actual news departments. Don't confuse the entertainment segments of Fox News, CNN or MSNBC with regular news segments.

96_Camaro_B4C

True. Nonetheless, it still makes some of the conservatives who should know better look like idiots. It isn't just Fox, either.

There are countless legitimate, serious things for which they can hammer the current administration. No need to use incorrect information and ignorance about the Volt to try to make a lame political point. It makes it look like they are rooting for GM to fail.

One can argue about the way the bankruptcy was handled, but that is in the past, and the regular engineers, line workers, designers, bean counters, technicians, and 99.9% of the folks at GM had nothing to do with that. Rooting against the Volt, arguably the most advanced production car on the planet (and developed before BHO was elected), is just freaking unAmerican...

El Duce

This is where I think some of those expressions and feelings are derived from.

Z28x

Some classic Fox News Volt bashing = Want to see overwhelming hatred for the Chevy Volt? Watch this Neil Cavuto montage

El Duce

Wow, another one of their opinion guys who has an opinion. I'm shocked I tell you, SHOCKED!!!

96_Camaro_B4C

No doubt. But that doesn't excuse spreading falsehoods about the car. And, again, even if the company had gone into a more normal bankruptcy (like Delphi and countless others have over the years), it still looks stupid to root against them, especially when it comes to a product like the Volt.

It would be one thing, maybe, to argue that the manipulated bankruptcy that GM underwent was a waste and an Obama flop if GM were simply continuing as business as usual, repeating things that led them to bankruptcy in the first place.

But a car like the Volt is the opposite of that. A truly innovative, forward thinking, risky, technological envelope pusher that flexes American muscle and shows off American ingenuity. Conservatives should be cheering the car on and wanting it to succeed.

El Duce

Taking the opinions of two guys who have opinion shows on the Fox News Channel is hardly the consensus view of conservatives and shouldn't be construed as such.

People do counter intuitive things all the time, like rooting for something to fail, if it supports another view point of theirs despite not actually wanting the company to fail. On a far more serious note, there were plenty of people who were rooting for the Iraq surge to fail to validate their view points about the Iraq campaign despite what failing in that context would actually mean in the human aspect.

96_Camaro_B4C

Yep. Unfortunately, I've seen such nonsense parroted by other conservatives, too. Of course that still doesn't mean it is the consensus of all conservatives (I'm one, and I know better about the Volt). But you and I don't have a giant megaphone in the form of a TV show or talk radio program. It only takes a few of the more popular conservative voices getting it wrong to create the image that this is the norm and give ammo to the libs to use against us and make conservatives look stupid.Good call. That doesn't mean it is OK to do it though, right?

Bob Cosby

No, it doesn't. I am rather conservative, but the misinformation that is being spread on this issue is ridiculous. I hope the Volt is a success and GM continues to rise, and Ford continues to Rise, and Fia....errr, I mean Chrysler continues to rise...

That Camaro Guy

Oil companies raking in billions of dollars per quarter don't need subsidies, corn subsidies are in the same realm. But giving cutting edge technology a nudge to put us above the Japanese and the rest of the world is a thing I like. If nobody buys a Volt, then the market dictates the subsidy is worthless and GM gets $0. They only get the money when one of their cars is sold.