GM’s Cadillac Celestiq EV costs $300,000 and can be customized
2024 Cadillac Celestic
Cadillac
DETROIT — Cadillac is testing the limits of its brand appeal and pricing with the 2024 Celestiq, a large bespoke electric vehicle that will start at $300,000.
The car unveiled on Monday evening launches General Motors brand into the ultra-luxury segment compared to the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce. This is something that no American brand has done in our time.
Executives say the car is more about building a “halo car” that helps polish Cadillac’s image rather than fueling overall sales or profits. But if successful, it could create a new business model for the company, consisting of two divisions, one focusing on hand-built cars and the other focusing on mass-produced models.
“This is a brand maker. This is a halo car. It will increase people’s perception of the brand,” Rory Harvey, global vice president of Cadillac, told CNBC. “The business case exists and continues to develop, but it concerns not only the car. It’s about what he’s doing for Cadillac and how he’s elevating other Cadillac options.”
2024 Cadillac Celestic
Cadillac
Harvey declined to discuss the car’s profit margin and whether the company plans to add additional hand-built models.
Customers will be able to customize virtually every aspect of the car’s interior trim, body color and other non-mechanical elements. They will be able to work with Cadillac designers and concierge to customize their vehicle.
“I don’t want to see this as a Mary Kay car, but the reality is that if you want to make an outrageous car, then the most important thing,” said Michael Simcoe, GM vice president of global design, citing the unique “santorini”. blue” model Celestiq, presented on Monday evening.
Despite growing concerns about demand for new mass-market vehicles due to rising interest rates and record prices, ultra-luxury car buyers continue to spend.
Poor performance
GM only plans to produce hundreds of Celestiqs a year. Harvey says he will be able to produce less than two cars a day. The car will be sold worldwide, with the US and China expected to be the largest markets.
The Celestiq will only be available on demand, Harvey said, with a “significant deposit” required to begin the build process. Orders for the car will begin as early as the end of this year, with production starting in December 2023, GM said.
2024 Cadillac Celestic
Cadillac
In June, GM announced it was investing $81 million in its technology center in suburban Detroit. hand-assemble the Celestiq, which will be the first time the company has built a vehicle for commercial sales at its massive campus in Warren, Michigan.
The vehicle features technologies such as adaptive air suspension, magnetic ride control and rear steering to balance vehicle comfort and performance. It also includes 115 3D printed parts, including the metal center of the car’s steering wheel.
Cadillac did not sell hand-built cars for decades, but its competitors around town offered such cars as custom-spec models. stellantisIn 2015, Dodge offered a custom vehicle build for their Viper sports car. Since 2016 supplier and contract manufacturer Multimatic Inc. handcrafts a GT sports car worth Ford Motorwhich stops production of the car at the end of this year.
The Celestiq is Cadillac’s second all-electric vehicle after the Lyriq crossover, which will go on sale earlier this year. They are the start of a new range of electric vehicles and SUVs for the brand as it aims to produce exclusively electric vehicles by 2030.
Technology
GM says the car is expected to go over 300 miles on a single charge, with 600 horsepower, 640 lb-ft of torque and a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds. Range and performance are lower than some modern, less expensive luxury EVs like the smaller $169,000 Lucid Air.
The Celestiq noticeably lacks exterior door handles. Instead, owners can open the doors by pressing a button, or have the doors open automatically when the driver approaches the car with the key fob, according to GM.
2024 Cadillac Celestic
Cadillac
The Celestiq is equipped with five LED interactive displays, including a 55-inch screen covering the front cab of the vehicle; “smart glass roof” with customizable transparency settings; and Ultra Cruise, GM’s next-generation advanced driver assistance system that the company says will be capable of driving the car on its own in most situations.
“When we started this process, the challenge we gave the team was to develop the most epic Cadillac ever,” said Brandon Vivian, Celestiq’s executive chief engineer. “But the result is a car like no other… It’s a personalized expression of the customer’s personality.”
Vivian said Ultra Cruise’s capabilities will expand over time. He declined to discuss how the system would differ from GM’s current Super Cruise system, which allows users to keep their hands off the wheel while driving on pre-mapped highways.
Ultra Cruise should be much more capable than the current system as it is expected to build on Super Cruise’s software and sensor suite, adding lidar or light detection and ranging systems that can sense surroundings and help vehicles avoid obstacles.
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