Cadillac GM tests limits of Cadillac’s brand power with $300,000 Celestiq electric car

The vehicle launches General Motors into the ultra-luxury segment against the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

• Cadillac will test the limits of its brand allure and pricing power with the 2024 Celestiq.
• The hand-built, bespoke electric car will start at more than $300,000.
• The car launches the General Motors brand into the ultra-luxury segment against the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

DETROIT – Cadillac is testing the limits of its brand allure and pricing power with the 2024 Celestiq – a large, bespoke electric car that will start at more than $300,000.
The vehicle – unveiled Monday night – launches the General Motors brand into the ultra-luxury segment against the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce. It’s something no American brand has successfully done in modern times.

Executives say the vehicle is more about creating a “halo car” that helps burnish Cadillac’s image, rather than fueling overall sales or profits. But, if successful, it could create a new two-unit business model for the company: one focused on hand-built, high-end vehicles and the other on mass-produced models.
“It is a brand builder. It’s a halo vehicle. It will lift people’s perception of the brand,” Rory Harvey, global vice president of Cadillac, told CNBC. “The business case has and continues to evolve, but it’s not just purely about the car. It’s about what it does for Cadillac and how it lifts the other Cadillac variants.”

Harvey declined to discuss the vehicle’s profit margins or whether the company plans to add additional hand-built models.
Customers will be able to customize nearly all aspects of the vehicle’s interior trim, exterior color and other nonmechanical elements. They’ll be able to work with designers and a Cadillac concierge to customize their vehicle.
“I don’t want to see this as a Mary Kay car, but the reality is, if you want to do an outrageous car, that’s the point,” said Michael Simcoe, GM vice president of global design, citing the unique “santorini blue” of the Celestiq unveiled Monday night.

Despite growing concerns around the demand for new mass-market vehicles due to rising interest rates and record prices, ultra-luxury buyers have continued to spend.
Low production
GM plans to only produce hundreds of Celestiq cars per year. It will only have capacity to build fewer than two vehicles per workday, Harvey said. The car will be sold globally, with the largest markets expected to be the U.S. and China.
The Celestiq will be available by request only, with “a significant deposit” needed to begin the build process, according to Harvey. Ordering for the car will start as early as later this year, followed by production beginning in December 2023, according to GM.


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[duesy]

Pick a struggle man. Every time one argument is debunked you move to something even more ridiculous. Now it’s a deflection to Mercedes? Another brand that dog walks Cadillac any day of the week. I said that Cadillacs are majority reskinned family brand vehicles and your response is that a S-class looks like a A-class? You know a car from the same brand? You have no clue what you’re talking about and this post proves it vividly. My knowledge isn’t much? This from the person that is trying to argue Cadillac’s “credibility”? Another joke perhaps? Any person off the street knows Cadillac ain’t squat beyond the Escalade. Try again man.

M

I've been patient with your hostile and asinine comments, but you can't even read. Though, the joke is on me for even trying. Consider yourself excommunicated, which isn't the first time for you on this forum.

 

[duesy]

Hell no! It was a Posh Passat. Just like near every Caddy is posh built on junk.

Also, since I keep reading Tesla here in this thread....it's quite possible Tesla sold more cars in Europe just this year than Cadillac did in the last 50 years. I don't think an average EU person born after 2000 even knows that Cadillac exists. No hyperbole.

I highly doubt Celestiq's target customers are "22 years old and younger." Lexus targets 41; Caddy is probably even higher.

 

[Merc1]

A world class flagship needs to be two things. A world class product with a strong luxury badge.

The VW Phaethon was a bloody brilliant car, possibly better than what BMW or MB had to offer at that time, but sales went down the drain because of the VW badge.

Cadillac's brand cache is a joke lately. They need to fix their image and the rest of their line up before trying to conquer the high end luxury segment.

Exactly. This.

M

 

[Merc1]

You can't change everything in one day. You have to look at the trend. it shows that the situation is changing. Their last products Escalade/Lyriq are no bad at all.

This is true, but you don’t go from 100K to 300K overnight either, which is exactly what they’re doing. Bizarre looks aside this would have made a brilliant 100-150K car. 300k is nuts no matter what anyone paying for an Escalade. You get creamed in the market by the Germans and to an extant Lexus only to turn around and go after Bentley and Rolls Royce? It makes no sense. Cadillac simply isn’t there yet.

M

 

[Merc1]

I've been patient with your hostile and asinine comments, but you can't even read. Though, the joke is on me for even trying. Consider yourself excommunicated, which isn't the first time for you on this forum.

It’s not my fault that you can’t keep to a subject long enough to grasp anything man. Forget me, nearly everyone else is saying the same thing here. My take on it is about as irrelevant as your take on Cadillac is misinformed to put it mildly. You can’t present a factual rebuttal about Cadillac. That you revert to Tesla and then Mercedes speaks volumes. So sure make it about me, doesn’t change Cadillac’s feeble status in 2022.


M

 

[Gianclaudio]

The car is fugly and the price absurd, but I give one to Cadillac: not trying to hang on heritage nor americana/their country idiosincrasia, for marketing

Just look how many pathetic examples there are on the industry: Citröen/PSA with the ridiculous DS brand, Alfa and Maserati with the most preposterous sounding italian names and mentioning “design” on every sentence of their marketing releases, Lotus and McLaren with Senna and Fittipaldi editions, Aston with a imaginary, novel/film character and the worse of them all, Pagani citing -the 500 years ago dead- Da Vinci on every press release of every different color of their cars

 

[Sunny]

You have to look at the trend.

This trend?

Or this trend?

Sorry, don't mean to pile on. I have nothing against Cadillac, but it is a f#cking dead brand. A silly 300k car, even one where you can put your dog's hair in the dash (and I love dogs) is not going to change that trend.

ps. If GM had any sense they would kill Cadillac and spin off Escalade as it's own thing. And made an EV Escalade instead of this glorified bread van (and I like bread vans).

 

[duesy]

The car is fugly and the price absurd, but I give one to Cadillac: not trying to hang on heritage nor americana/their country idiosincrasia, for marketing

Just look how many pathetic examples there are on the industry: Citröen/PSA with the ridiculous DS brand, Alfa and Maserati with the most preposterous sounding italian names and mentioning “design” on every sentence of their marketing releases, Lotus and McLaren with Senna and Fittipaldi editions, Aston with a imaginary, novel/film character and the worse of them all, Pagani citing -the 500 years ago dead- Da Vinci on every press release of every different color of their cars

I don't agree that the car is fugly, but this ^^ was a hell of a pithy rant! We want more!

 

[Ghost1]

This trend?

Or this trend?

Sorry, don't mean to pile on. I have nothing against Cadillac, but it is a f#cking dead brand. A silly 300k car, even one where you can put your dog's hair in the dash (and I love dogs) is not going to change that trend.

ps. If GM had any sense they would kill Cadillac and spin off Escalade as it's own thing. And made an EV Escalade instead of this glorified bread van (and I like bread vans).

I'm talking about about their last models. As far as I know the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq sold out a mere four hours after orders opened on May 19.
And the 70% Of Buyers were new to the brand.

I'm not here to argue with anybody.

They showed the good product and they got good results. If they continue like that they will continue selling them.
The brand new Escalade/Lyriq/Celestiq thats the trend. Now they need to replace the rest of the model line plus add some new models and the sales will go up. And I'm pretty sure they will do it.
I had my doubts 3-4 years ago. But now I see they are slowly coming back. That's my opinion based on their last products.

 

[duesy]

I'm talking about about their last models. As far as I know the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq sold out a mere four hours after orders opened on May 19.
And the 70% Of Buyers were new to the brand.

I'm not here to argue with anybody.

They showed the good product and they got good results. If they continue like that they will continue selling them.
The brand new Escalade/Lyriq/Celestiq thats the trend. Now they need to replace the rest of the model line plus add some new models and the sales will go up. And I'm pretty sure they will do it.
I had my doubts 3-4 years ago. But now I see they are slowly coming back. That's my opinion based on their last products.

Indeed. More from the article linked:

"It's safe to say Cadillac is planning a production run of more than 20,000 vehicles for the 2023 Lyriq, especially since GM told suppliers earlier this year to prepare to build 25,000 Lyriq electric SUVs in 2022."

"Speaking about Cadillac Lyriq customers, the brand’s first-ever production EV appears to be quite an effective conquest vehicle, as approximately 70% of buyers are new to the brand. The percentage was reportedly communicated by Cadillac in a recent media presentation, according to Cadillac Society."

20,000-25,000 preorders add up to about a 10% increase in Cadillac's annual sales in the US.

2023 Cadillac Lyriq Sold Out, 70% Of Buyers Are New To The Brand

Cadillac has opened a waitlist that will give members the first opportunity to preorder the 2024 Lyriq or the chance to get a 2023 Lyriq based on availability.

insideevs.com

 

[Ghost1]

The car is fugly and the price absurd, but I give one to Cadillac: not trying to hang on heritage nor americana/their country idiosincrasia, for marketing

Just look how many pathetic examples there are on the industry: Citröen/PSA with the ridiculous DS brand, Alfa and Maserati with the most preposterous sounding italian names and mentioning “design” on every sentence of their marketing releases, Lotus and McLaren with Senna and Fittipaldi editions, Aston with a imaginary, novel/film character and the worse of them all, Pagani citing -the 500 years ago dead- Da Vinci on every press release of every different color of their cars

Hahaha. That was good. Reminded me of the scene:

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Haha

 

[Merc1]

Sold out is the most hollow boast in the business regardless who uses it. Literally means nothing until actual delivery. The bar is really low for Cadillac.

M

 

[Ghost1]

Nah, this will be impressive in person. I have just checked their website.

I would buy it in a heartbeat.

This, big Range and the 992 are in my dream garage now. Oh and the 812's replacement must be good too lol

 

[Sunny]

I'm talking about about their last models. As far as I know the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq sold out a mere four hours after orders opened on May 19.
And the 70% Of Buyers were new to the brand.

I'm not here to argue with anybody.

They showed the good product and they got good results. If they continue like that they will continue selling them.
The brand new Escalade/Lyriq/Celestiq thats the trend. Now they need to replace the rest of the model line plus add some new models and the sales will go up. And I'm pretty sure they will do it.
I had my doubts 3-4 years ago. But now I see they are slowly coming back. That's my opinion based on their last products.

"Sold out", "orders" mean jack.

Like I said before, the problem is not the product, it is the brand - it is dead. You can take the hottest Ferrari and slap a "Cadillac" on it and watch it sink like a cinder block. No one I know, not a single soul aspires to own a cadillac. Neither is it anyone's practical sane choice. It is not even that they dislike it, it is just a non entity.

Which is how I feel too, I am indifferent to Cadillac's plight. I don't care either way. Just sharing my 2c. Guess, time will tell.

 

[dalab]

This, I interpreted as it would be a serious alternative to the A8, 7, S and I am very glad that it exists, it is a bit like the intent and effort that Cadillac has to put in to compete there, which it has not done for decades, much more than the new Genesis, this one has that bling, that offer "more" for equal or lower values, it loses part of its charm when they tell you the price, more than double that of the Germans, I don't think so

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

They say its pricetag is 300 k USD but secretly they will sell it for 120-130 k USD and everybody will be happy - the owners, because the other people will think that they've paid 300 k for a car and GM, because they will achieve the announced unit sales.

 

[tristatez28lt1]

"Sold out", "orders" mean jack.

Like I said before, the problem is not the product, it is the brand - it is dead. You can take the hottest Ferrari and slap a "Cadillac" on it and watch it sink like a cinder block. No one I know, not a single soul aspires to own a cadillac. Neither is it anyone's practical sane choice. It is not even that they dislike it, it is just a non entity.

Which is how I feel too, I am indifferent to Cadillac's plight. I don't care either way. Just sharing my 2c. Guess, time will tell.

I agree with you almost completely... because I'm always astounded how many people buy and love these brands such as Cadillac in primis but also Maserati, Alfa, DS. You go in certain southern states in the US and Cadillac still has a pull that surprises me. Without the Escalade they'd be dead. Let's see how fast this Celestiq "sells out" should be fast with such a low production.

 

[Rolf]

Cadillac has ZERO brand quiche nowadays as a luxury brand. Cars like Volvo, Lexus and Genesis are recognized more as a luxury/premium brand alternative to the 3 Germans. For USS 300K to 400K if given the choice of the Celestiq or the RR Ghost or new Sceptre, probably 99% would choose the RR models.

 

[Merc1]

GM is a grade A bullshitter though, they will proclaim this car is a success no matter what the sales numbers are. If this had looked like one of their previous concepts and been priced 100-150K they would have rocked the segment. For 300K+ its a Spectre hands down. They picked a terrible week to introduce a 300K Cadillac.

M

 

[Merc1]

Cadillac has ZERO brand quiche nowadays as a luxury brand. Cars like Volvo, Lexus and Genesis are recognized more as a luxury/premium brand alternative to the 3 Germans. For USS 300K to 400K if given the choice of the Celestiq or the RR Ghost or new Sceptre, probably 99% would choose the RR models.

All Genesis needs is their own dealerships. The product is there already. I’m a big fan of the brand.

M