Chevrolet Volt sales continue slow, GM cuts price by $5,000, but was already losing money on each sold before price cut

$7,500 tax credit, pricing it so low that they are losing money on each car, and they still couldn't sell more than 30,000 in 2012.  From Bloomberg:

GM loses money on each Volt it sells while not disclosing a specific figure. The model, which is eligible for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, was introduced in 2010 and has struggled to meet some sales targets. Volt is GM’s flagship car for its efforts to have about 500,000 vehicles on the road by 2017 with some form of electrification. The car can travel 38 miles (61 kilometers) on battery power before a gasoline engine engages. . . . 

Leaf sales accelerated this year after Nissan Motor Co. (7201) in January added an S version of the Leaf that’s cheaper than the SV and SL models. Unlike the Volt, the Leaf has no extended range engine. Leaf sales more than tripled to 11,703 through July from 3,543 during the same period a year earlier, outselling Volt in the U.S. by 60 vehicles. . . . 

Even with the accolades, the car struggled to garner the kinds of sales sought by Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson, who had forecast global Volt sales of 60,000 in 2012, before settling for about half that amount. 

In late April, Akerson said GM was working to cut the price of producing the Volt by as much as $10,000 each without removing features for the next-generation version which he indicated could come out in 2015 or 2016. . . .

Whatever one thinks of electric cars the Volt has been a waste of taxpayer dollars with government subsidies and a product of government control following the bankruptcy.