Cadillac's ELR is bold move into the electric auto market Detroit News
January 11, 2013
by Doug Guthrie
Tuesday's unveiling of the plug-in electric 2014 Cadillac ELR at Detroit's North American International Auto Show will herald a return of innovation to the luxury brand that has until now rebuilt its image with aggressive-looking performance vehicles aimed at the dominant German luxury marquees.
Car guys like former General Motors executive Bob Lutz had a lot to do with that bold strategy.
Robert E. Ferguson, appointed in October to lead Cadillac on its next steps, isn't a car guy.
His experience is all about relationship building.
His mission is to grow Cadillac as a global luxury brand and expand its network of dealerships.
The 53-year-old son of a missionary grew up in several Asian nations and has lived in China. His new mission is to grow Cadillac as a global luxury brand and expand its dealership network.
The ELR and its high-tech cachet are part of a different approach. With the proven powertrain and compact platform of the four-door Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac's independent designers put interior opulence in a dramatically styled two-door coupe body. Ferguson said the ELR restores Cadillac's century-long reputation for technological leadership.
Most Volt buyers actually have been Cadillac's target market all along: progressive, educated and affluent. The Volt also has sold best on the West and East coasts, where Cadillac hasn't fared well. "(ELR) is the car that so many have dreamed of," Ferguson said. "The propulsion system is sound, the interior is as good as I've seen in any car, and the styling is cool. You feel like you are driving a sports car, but you have the piece of mind that you are environmentally progressive."
Ferguson warned that the ELR will be a "limited edition model," with production probably lasting no more than four years and not exceeding 10 percent of total vehicle production at the plant in Hamtramck, where it will be assembled on the same line as Volt in late 2013.
very low expections, for an all new design. they need to talk up this car and need to sell a lot more then 10% of the total.
I reread the artical and it said 10% of Hamtramck assembly and if this is the case then that will include the Malibu, Volt, Ampera. if they can sell 10% of all these models then I'm happy
Hamtramck made just over 39K cars in total last year, 10% of that would be about 325 ELR's a month.
Now I know the Malibu and Impala can/will be made there next year, but how many?, seems other plants have all the production GM needs for those two models.
If the plant were to have a 50% increase in total production, then 10% ELR's would be about 485/month.
1) If the Volt buyers today, are really Cadillac buyer, then isn't the ELR going to steal sales from the Volt?
2) If the Volt is really not a "gussied-up" Cruze, and has the fit/finish and quality of a Cadillac, is the ELR going to actually be nicer, or is it just a 2-door version with more expensive badge-branding?
I do think, that by selling it as a Cadillac, price, cost, break-even and all the other "economical" metrics become minimized, which I think GM realizes is the only way it can sell the car and get its money and investment out in the form of profits.
Thats part of the mystique, before it really started chasing sales numbers over everything else, Cadillac used to intentionally limit production, in the grand scheme of things, they still sold about 180K cars in the 60's, but they could have sold more, limiting production just a little does help to add an air of exclusivity to the product. Plus after 4 years I imagine that they will be ready with the next gen ELR.
Ok so it will be like the Allante and XLR and will fade into the sunset after just a few years leaving a whole in the line up. Ok maybe it is not completely fair but to be honest this car should have come out first but you can not rewrite history.
Ok so it will be like the Allante and XLR and will fade into the sunset after just a few years leaving a whole in the line up. Ok maybe it is not completely fair but to be honest this car should have come out first but you can not rewrite history.
My first impression of Robert Ferguson is positive, with him understanding that it takes the car guys to build great cars, CEOs to point the car guys in the right directions, and marketing to attract the buyers. It takes a team to build a winner.
The ELR and its high-tech cachet are part of a different approach. With the proven powertrain and compact platform of the four-door Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac's independent designers put interior opulence in a dramatically styled two-door coupe body. Ferguson said the ELR restores Cadillac's century-long reputation for technological leadership.
Most Volt buyers actually have been Cadillac's target market all along: progressive, educated and affluent. The Volt also has sold best on the West and East coasts, where Cadillac hasn't fared well. "(ELR) is the car that so many have dreamed of," Ferguson said. "The propulsion system is sound, the interior is as good as I've seen in any car, and the styling is cool. You feel like you are driving a sports car, but you have the piece of mind that you are environmentally progressive."
All the more reason why ELR should have launched first.
"Interior opulence" is an interesting term. I'm interested in seeing what designers actually did.
Ferguson warned that the ELR will be a "limited edition model," with production probably lasting no more than four years and not exceeding 10 percent of total vehicle production at the plant in Hamtramck, where it will be assembled on the same line as Volt in late 2013.
The VaporVolt has been an absolute failure. Got a chance to sit in another one at a car show today an what a wretched product it is - cramped and just weird - poorly designed interior - that rear seat area is horrific - your head hits the rear hatch and there is no room in the thing.
Now Cadillac wants to build a coupe version for itself? No market. No profit. Outrageously priced and worthless. There is precious little to like about a VaporVolt considering the price and this makes the Cadillac one even more worthless.
Cadillac's ELR is bold move into the electric auto market Detroit News
January 11, 2013
...Car guys like former General Motors executive Bob Lutz had a lot to do with that bold strategy.
Robert E. Ferguson, appointed in October to lead Cadillac on its next steps, isn't a car guy.
His experience is all about relationship building.
His mission is to grow Cadillac as a global luxury brand and expand its network of dealerships.
The 53-year-old son of a missionary grew up in several Asian nations and has lived in China. His new mission is to grow Cadillac as a global luxury brand and expand its dealership network.
Luxury cars that are actually exclusive who would have thought? What manner of sorcery allows a person to purchase a luxury car, and not see one in every driveway?
The volt is capable of being every mans car with an average price of 40 grand and a 7500 dollar rebate brimging it to 33 grand which coinidently is the average cost of a new car today....
Americans want fuel efficiency but the crave performance.
Hope the ELR has a performance mode....now that would be cool.....
It's really easy to do yet I doubt GM has the nuts for it. Basically a switch to say mileage range be dammed and set blistering acceleration even if it's just to 80 mph....
I think that would have been a hot ticket for American luxury buyers. I doubt most owners of the new beautiful ELR would have used the performance setting that often but it would have offered the ELR tesla S cool in 2 door body style....
It's the two door body style that will ultimately limit sales of the stylish coupe as well. That's one reason why GM is setting the bar so low on production volume.
This should sell better than the Volt. I hope that "limited edition" talk is just a mistake. At least by giving the Volt a 3 year launch lead, there were learning ands shoftfalls that could be addressed before launching a luxury edition via Cadillac. A very good idea.
I wish him luck at his new job as head of Cadillac. But, frankly, I would have preferred a Bob Lutz. A "car guy". Yes, growing global market share is important, and he may know his stuff so to speak, but a non-car guy making the final decisions at Cadillac makes me nervous.
On another note, the new CTS will be the next launch from Cadillac, then the Escalade....okay! I can't wait to see the "spy shots", leaked photos, whatever iof the new, bigger sedan, he mentioned, which I'm assuming is the ULS. Not a niche vehicle, but a great car huh! I can't wait...............
Fingers crossed it is not slab sided but retains the aggressive sculpting of the Converj.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
GM Inside News Forum
3.5M posts
83.7K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to GM owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about General Motors news, concepts, releases, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!