General Motors has been concentrating its efforts on the upcoming plug-in electric Volt and has been working to refine its on-board technologies as well as prepare the necessary infrastructure with its partners. While the Volt was originally due to become available to consumers in November of this year, GM CEO Ed Whitacre ambitiously moved up that schedule and decided to make it available even earlier. Unfortunately, that may not be working out as well as GM would have hoped.
Sources inside GM have noted that the company has seen hurdles and challenges arise due to its expedited launch. Interestingly, the problems don’t appear to be related to the car itself.
Much of the concern revolves around public relations aspects. Ultimately, the launch of this vehicles, which GM has been advertising and hyping for years, is absolutely crucial for the company’s success. The image of the brand has been impaired due to bankruptcy, but successfully marketing itself as an environmentally friendly and technologically advanced company could make all the difference. Unfortunately, rushing the car to market before all the pieces of the puzzle are in place could end up backfiring, and cause even more problems.
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