GM to pause Chevy Volt production Auto giant General Motors Co. is pausing production of its Chevrolet Volt and temporarily laying off about 1,300 employees because of slow sales of the plug-in hybrid. The automaker informed employees at its Detroit Hamtramck plant Friday afternoon that they would be without work for five weeks - from March 19 to April 23. The move comes despite a jump in sales of the car in February. GM sold 1,023 Volts last month, compared with 603 in January. The temporary halt is necessary because the company has surplus Volts waiting to be sold, GM spokesman Chris Lee said. We're going to build to meet market demand, and while we're optimistic, we're not able to maintain regular production. Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at the auto research site Edmunds.com, said that the manufacturer had set "aggressive target" of selling 60,000 Volts in this year, and that it's not a surprise sales are falling short. The Volt runs on a combination of battery and gasoline power, and owners are urged to buy a home charger to power the car overnight. The sedan comes has a price tag of about $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. "It was a niche vehicle using technology people were not familiar with," Caldwell said. I don't think it has appeal to a large enough audience. Company officials say they hope a special version of the Volt that qualifies for a $1,500 California state rebate and a carpool lane sticker will boost sales. To Aaron Bragman, an analyst with IHS Automotive, the move to stop production is another sign that GM has emerged with stronger operating practices after receiving a government bailout in 2009. Bragman said that in the past, GM would keep plants open and keep building cars even if there was no demand for them. Then the company would sell the cars at greatly reduced prices. "That they're willing to do this shows that this is a new GM," Bragman said. The Volt "is still something of an experiment as to who the car is for and who is going to buy it. They want to make sure they roll it out carefully and roll it out perfectly. They're being really cautious. Last fall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into why Volts had burst into flames after the car underwent after test crashes. In January, the agency determined that the cars posed no safety risk, but GM pledged to make modifications to the coolant system and the car's battery pack, which had malfunctioned and caused the fires. Bragman said "inventory corrections" like the one GM announced are "not unusual at all." He said the buzz surrounding the Volt makes routine decisions newsworthy. "The only reason this is making headlines," he said, "is because it's the Volt."