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GM program sees dealers taking on way more loaner cars

Given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. Bring your car into the dealership for service, and you may need a loaner car in exchange. And with so many recalls being carried out, that means a lot of loaners – especially at General Motors dealerships. That could be one of the reasons why GM is massively expanding its loaner fleet program. While many Chevrolet and Buick-GMC dealerships have an on-site rental car location operated by a third party like Enterprise (which may or may not provide a GM vehicle), others manage their own loaner fleets. But while the range of dealerships operating such fleets was once small, reports Automotive News, the number has been growing rapidly: from the locations responsible for only 20 percent of those brands' sales two years ago to about 90 percent today. The impetus for that growth comes down to a massive expansion of GM's Courtesy Transportation Program. The initiative encourages dealers to ramp up their loaner fleet to a maximum size determined by GM, with a mix determined by the dealer itself, so that a showroom in Texas can be bolstered with a fleet of pickup trucks and a dealer in California can employ more Volt and Camaro Convertible loaners. The dealership gets a $500 credit for each vehicle its puts in its fleet, and can use those vehicles as loaners for service customers, as multi-day test drivers or to rent out separately. The vehicles remain in the dealer's fleet for 90 days or 7,500 miles, then they can be sold as used, but with new-car incentives. The dealer gets a fleet of loaners, customers get to use the loaners, try out a new car overnight or buy a barely used car with attractive incentives, and GM gets to clock more sales. But therein lies the kicker: the automaker counts the dispatch of the loaner new vehicle to the dealership as a new-car sale, which could end up distorting its sales figures. Counting loaner vehicles as sold vehicles is something of an industry-standard practice, but given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. One dealership - Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore, NY, for example - had no loaner fleet two years ago, but now runs a fleet of 50 vehicles. Multiply that by the 4,000 or so dealers GM has across America and you're talking about the potential for hundreds of thousands of these sorts of sales.

Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt have best sales month of 2015

Things are trending upwards for the two best-selling plug-in vehicles in the US. Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf had their best sales month of 2015 in May, with the Volt selling 1,618 units and the Leaf moving 2,104. The upward swings come at an interesting time, with lots of excess first-gen Volts waiting for buyers and some buyers already ordering their second-gen Volts. So far in 2015, the Leaf has outsold the Volt 7,742 to 4,397. While 7,700 Leafs is respectable, it's nowhere near the numbers that Nissan will have to hit to reach the 50,000 annual sales that CEO Carlos Ghosn says is possible in the US. Still, the Leaf had its best sales month since December 2014 (when it sold 3,102 units) in May, but last month was still down 32.5 percent compared to May 2014. Despite the smaller overall number, May represents a big positive for Chevy, which has seen sluggish sales for the Volt for a long while now. The 1,618 Volts sold last month are only 3.9 percent lower than the 1,684 sold in May 2014 and May 2015 was the best month for Volt sales since August 2014. Perhaps salesmen are ready to make deals, what with thousands sitting around on dealer lots right now. The next-gen Volt is due this fall, and the order books (in California, at least) opened up this week. Like every month, our full wrap-up of green car sales in the US is coming soon (the VW e-Golf, for example, hit a best-ever high of 410 sales). Until then, feel free to discuss the Volt and Leaf sales figures in the Comments. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales

Europeans ask Chevy to bring Volt back to Europe

A group of French fans is asking for a jolt of support from General Motors to get the 2016 Chevrolet Volt across the pond. The Association Amperistes et Amis des Vehicules Rechargeables is running a Change.org petition that currently has 383 signatures out of a goal of 500. While the attempt is admirable, it's probably going to take a lot more than several hundred people for the model to make a return to the continent after the poor showing of the Opel Ampera – first-gen Volt's European cousin. The group's major argument for bringing a version of the second-gen Volt to Europe is that consumers need "an intermediate choice between expensive or range-limited pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids with a miserable electric range." Furthermore, such a vehicle would prod the competition to produce similarly efficient electrified models. They also lavish praise on the abilities of the Ampera for its long EV driving range. The supporters aren't entirely kind to GM in the petition, though, and claim the company excluded the original car from marketing efforts there. The Ampera actually enjoyed a strong European launch with more orders than initially expected and briefly topped the best-sellers list among EVs there. It was even named 2012 European Car of the Year. Those halcyon days didn't last long, and by 2014 sales fell off to a trickle. The waning reception caused GM's decision not to introduce a version of the new 2016 Volt there or in Australia. Related Video: