Chevy Volt Helps Cruze Sales

That’s because the Volt acts as an important catalyst for the Chevrolet Cruze, one of the top-selling vehicles in the country since its launch last fall. Chevy has sold 187,524 Cruzes year-to-date through September.

“The Volt is leading to a lot of Cruze sales,” said Mark Reuss, GM’s CEO for North America. Customers are coming in to see the Volt, but “not everyone can buy a Volt,” Reuss said. The Volt has a starting price that’s nearly two and half times greater than the Cruze’s price.

In that respect, you can think of the Volt as more of a marketing device for GM than a revenue generator. In the automotive industry that’s often referred to as a halo vehicle. Even so, GM still plans to put 10,000 Volts in the hands of American consumers by year’s end and wants to build more than 60,000 Volts in 2012. The plan is for the Volt to be its own market force, too.

Chevrolet Volt’s magic rubs off on sales of cheaper Cruze (USA Today)