Drivers have not exactly been swarming dealerships with demand for the electric Chevrolet Volt, and General Motors recently announced that it will be temporarily stopping production of the vehicle until sales pick up.
The automaker has ordered a five-week shutdown of the factory that makes the Volt, temporarily laying off an estimated 1,300 workers, reports MLive.com. Sales of the electric vehicle have been well below the automaker's initial projections. In 2010, Chevrolet hoped to sell 10,000 Volts, but only hit 7,761.
The new year hasn't brought much of a change in that trend, with GM selling 1,626 Volts through the first two months. When the car was first introduced, the automaker said that it expected to sell 45,000 Volts in 2012.
Since dealers already have Volts that they haven't sold and there's plenty of supply for the car backed up, it doesn't make financial sense for GM to continue making the car for the time being. That doesn't mean the Volt is dead, however.
"We're matching our production levels with demand and building to market," GM Spokesman Chris Lee told the news source.
Whether you have a brand-new Volt or have been driving the same car for years, auto maintenance is critical to ensuring that the car stays on the road.