GM Announces Electric Chevy Volt Pricing

General Motors (GM) announced Tuesday that its highly anticipated electric Chevy Volt vehicle will be priced at $41,000, before tax credits. A Reuters report notes that "GM said Tuesday it has begun taking orders for the Volt and would also provide a leasing option for the vehicle as it launches in a handful of U.S. markets starting with California." "Every day we've been asked a single question: How much will it cost?" said GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick on a conference call to announce the pricing. Reuters reports that "For analysts and green car enthusiasts, the biggest question surrounding the Volt has been its price and profitability given the cost of the lithium-ion battery pack supplied by Korea's LG Chem and the engineering resources that GM devoted to the project." General Motors is rumored to be mulling an IPO filing sometime in August.