2013 Audi A3

First Chevrolet Volt engines will come from Austria

 
12 3,714 views Feb 4, 2009

2010 chevrolet volt live paris 010

$10.3 billion is waiting in the wings for the Volt if GM clears the hurdles

$10.3 billion is waiting in the wings for the Volt if GM clears the hurdles

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General Motors has confirmed that the first batch of its upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids will feature an internal combustion ‘back-up’ engine sourced from Aspern, Austria, and not from Flint, Michigan, as originally planned. The announcement comes just a week after it was revealed that GM’s contract to build a new engine plant in Flint to supply the necessary 1.4L four-cylinder units for the Volt had been canceled.

The decision to source the engines from overseas will not add any extra cost to the car’s eventual sticker price, which is expected to fall some around the $40,000 mark. The information comes from GM spokesperson Sharon Basel who told Ward’s Auto that GM is simply leveraging its global footprint and that there was nothing unusual about the decision.

Basel also stressed that Flint will remain the target for North American sourcing of the 1.4L engine, and that GM may consider using an existing plant instead of building something new.

The engine in question is a new 1.4L petrol unit from an engine group called the ‘Family 0’, which includes powerplants displacing between 1.0 and 1.4L. Family 0 engines first appeared as far back as 1997 and have been in production in Europe since then. A naturally-aspirated version of the 1.4L unit was destined for the Volt, while the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze was to use a more powerful turbocharged version.

The Austrian engines will be sent to the Volt assembly plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, and the Cruze facility in Lordstown, Ohio.

GM is still committed to investing $30 million to build a new battery plant in Michigan together with LG Chem. It hopes to build about 10,000 Volts in the first year of production, eventually ramping up to about 60,000 units per year.
2011 Chevrolet Volt Production model
2010 Chevrolet Cruze

HI-RES GALLERY: 2010 chevrolet volt live paris 010

HI-RES GALLERY: chevrolet cruze interior 001




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Comments (12)

  1. ma_amcarzjosh avatar amcarzjosh Posted: 1/28/2009 5:24am PST

    So they screwed themselves!
     
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  2. ma_drobert avatar drobert Posted: 1/28/2009 7:19am PST

    Hurry up and die, Chevy. Your brand is permanently marred. It's time to produce something that looks like it was made in 2009, not 1990. And while the volt is nice looking, it's not too far off from the Chrysler "cloud cars" of the late 90's. Dodge stratus, anyone? Bleh.
     
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  3. ma_NoNameDenton avatar NoNameDenton Posted: 1/28/2009 2:57pm PST

    Yes, lets hope thye die and make people loss their jobs in a down market when having a job is great and looking for one is hard, ass.
     
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  4. ma_drobert avatar drobert Posted: 1/28/2009 4:25pm PST

    Name calling? Mature.

    Time to put chevy out of it's misery. Seen their new SUV out yet? Fug.
     
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  5. ma_NoNameDenton avatar NoNameDenton Posted: 1/28/2009 7:44pm PST

    Don't make stupid comments like that, there are people with jobs trying to support families and your saying they should lose their jobs because you do not like what the company did in the past, that makes you an ass.
     
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  6. ma_burke avatar burke Posted: 1/30/2009 4:04am PST

    In the end, it's all about lower taxes and cheap labor; it's an old capitalist formula. Bye Bye the hope that creating new technologies would bring more jobs to the American people...the mighty get the bailout money, and the laborers bite the dust...
     
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  7. ma_NoNameDenton avatar NoNameDenton Posted: 1/30/2009 3:56pm PST

    And we just gave them a bailout for them to export jobs elsewhere, how nice.
     
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  8. ma_jota avatar jota Posted: 1/30/2009 4:57pm PST

    I heard LG was supplying the batteries...because they are leaders in that right now.
     
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  9. ma_Countach avatar Countach Posted: 1/31/2009 12:06pm PST

    Looks better than the Mitsubishi Lancer! This is going to be another hit in Asia!
     
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  10. ma_azlan avatar azlan Posted: 2/4/2009 3:51pm PST

    how does it look better than a lancer? it looks like a little box with cool lights strapped on it, and the biggest ass in the world.
     
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  11. ma_Rice1 avatar Rice1 Posted: 2/4/2009 10:18pm PST

    The back is horrendous, but the front reminds me of the Acura TL
     
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  12. ma_sumo43 avatar sumo43 Posted: 2/14/2009 8:01am PST

    We are also pouring samples weekly for Family Zero at GMPT Defiance. We used to be the largest foundry , but we are progressively getting smaller . We make the best crank shafts in the world .Cheaper, faster, and at the best quality .We could use some business . GM has decided the aluminum engines need forged cranks , but they cost more. I'm not sure the cost outweighs the benefit . Especially intimes of cost cutting .Care to comment ?
     
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