Sales of the Chevrolet Volt dropped to just 603 in January, far below GM’s best-ever sales month in December, when the carmaker sold 1,529 Volts.
Last week, GM North America President Mark Reuss said sales of the Chevrolet Volt have been hurt by bad publicity.
“Bad publicity from the government’s investigation into fire risks of post-crash Volts is definitely a component” of the decline in sales, “Reuss said.
On Jan. 20, NHTSA closed its investigation into potential fire risk in the Volt’s battery pack, concluding that it doesn’t appear to outweigh the risk of fire in gasoline-powered cars.
Deliveries of the all-electric Nissan LEAF totaled 676 in January, less than the 954 LEAFs sold in December.
GM sold about 7,700 Chevrolet Volts in 2011, below GM’s target of 10,000, while Nissan sold 10,369 LEAFs since the December 2010 launch.
