272 IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON One of the Volt's major drawbacks was that it cost more than $40,000. Even with buyers receiving a federal tax credit of $7,000, the price was high enough to make many Americans pause before purchasing a car that depended on a relatively new technology-- especially with the U.S. economy showing unprecedented volatility and Wall Street analysts pondering the likelihood of a double-dip recession. GM was initially hoping to sell up to 10,000 Volts in the U.S. market. To any realist in the automobile business, though, the real market to aim for was China, where enthusiastic drivers had purchased 17 million cars in 2010. The China market looked even more attractive to GM because the Chinese government, anxious to wean itself from imported oil, was offering subsidies of up to $19,300 for each new electric vehicle, which promised to cut the Volt's selling price in half. The dilemma that GM faced, however, was that the Chinese government was demanding