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[extract] The 2013 Chevrolet Volt will benefit from a battery with larger capacity that will allow the hybrid car to go three extra miles when driven solely on battery power. Volt

The Chevrolet Volt has now earned the right to call itself the 2012 European Car of the Year. The award adds to the long list of notable awards that the electric car has earned so far, such as the North American Car of the Year and the World Green Car of the Year awards for 2011. The panel of 59 automotive journalists came together and awarded a total of 330 points to the Chevrolet Volt. Second place was claimed by the Volkswagen Up! with 281 points and the Ford Focus came in third in the voting with 256 points. "It is a proud moment for us and an honor to receive this award from Europe's leading jury of automotive journalists," said Susan Docherty, President and Managing Director of Chevrolet Europe. "Our car demonstrates that electric driving can be fun and reliable without ever compromising the owners' lifestyle." The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by General Motors. The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its plug-in battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge, at which point its gasoline engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle's range. However, a multiple-award winning car may not translate to equally successful sales result. As a result of rising inventory and poor sales, General Motors made the decision to halt the production of the Volt for five weeks from March 19 to April 23.

It looks like the Chevrolet volt fails to create that spark with consumers. Low sales volume and high inventory, which stands at 6,300 vehicles at end of Feb 2012, caused General Motors to make the decision to halt the production of the Volt and Opel Ampera (European version of the Volt) for five weeks. At the current buying rate for the Volt, the current inventory can last for 154 days. The shutdown will cause 1300 employees to be temporarily laid off. The production hiatus comes after a retooling break that only ended in early February. The upcoming shutdown is scheduled to last from March 19 to April 23. As a GM spokesman commented, "We're matching our production levels with demand and building to market." If the sales is so poor at the moment, it seems like a poor business decision to spend money to retool the plant. Or, they could have scheduled the retooling to coincide with the plant shutdown. In 2011, the GM moved 7,671 units of the Volt, which is far short of the 10,000 unit sales target. In January 2012, GM only sold 1,023 Volts, the lowest in the past five months. It looks like GM needs to do a lot more to promote the Volt if the company wants to meet the sales target of 45,000 Volts in US this year. President Obama has personally endorsed the Volt by saying that he intends to buy one when he leaves the office in five years

The Chevrolet Volt has become a political punching bag as the Republicans accused the Obama administration of hiding fire risks from the public. In response, General Motors (GM) says that the administration has no seat on the board and no influence over business decisions. The automaker added that its signature electric vehicle got unfairly caught in political crosswinds. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Oversight regulatory subcommittee, said it was disturbing that U.S. safety regulators waited six months to open a formal investigation after their own crash tests uncovered fire risks. He speculated that the administration may have been preserving its own interests as President Barack Obama has heavily promoted electric vehicles like the Volt, and his administration oversaw a U.S. government bailout and bankruptcy restructuring of GM in 2009. GM Chief Executive, Dan Akerson, told the hearing that the Volt got "disproportionate scrutiny" because it became a surrogate for election-year politics and commentary on GM's business and Obama administration policy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation on 25 November 11 into the safety of the Volt's battery pack after its own repeated tests uncovered fire risks. The fires occurred after NHTSA crash tests or other tests where the car's lithium-ion batteries were purposely damaged, and GM has stressed that no "real world" incidents have been reported. General Motors has sold more than 8,000 Volts, including 1,500 in December 2011, its best month so far. Another 6,500 units have been manufactured. All will undergo retrofits to provide better protection for the battery in event of a crash. GM will also take steps to reduce chances of coolant leaks, which can trigger fires.