Cadillac thinks it’s ready to run with the really big dogs of automotive luxury. An exclusive report in the Wall Street Journal shows just how big Cadillac plans to go. Citing unnamed sources, WSJ says Cadillac will price its upcoming EV, the Celestiq, at $US300,000 ($431,532) to start. That’s right, different packages and options might make the Celestiq even more expensive.
Just a reminder, this is a vehicle built by General Motors. The General is set to share the Celestiq to journalists at the upcoming Monterey Car Week. The plan is only to build around 500 or so every year. Currently the most expensive vehicle GM has offers right now is also a Cadillac; the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V, which starts at $US150,000 ($215,766), according to CNBC.
What else could you buy for that much cheddar? How about an Aston Martin V12 Vantage or a McLaren 620R, both of which starts at $US299,000 ($430,093)? Or a Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid, which starts at $US210,000 ($302,072) but can go up to $US388,000 ($558,114). Really, any Bentley will be in the same price range or lower. Lamborghinis too.
There was a time when Cadillac was king of luxury sales, but those days are far in the past. It’s now mainly German brands like Porsche or Mercedes-Benz who rule the luxury sales market in the U.S. GM is investing serious time, cash (around $US81 ($116) million) and technology into the Celestiq EV and, if it’s really going to butt heads with similarly priced vehicles while proving its electric bona fides, it had better come correct. We know it has a ridiculously opulent dash-to-axle ratio, and GM released a few more interior shots as teaser this week, but we don’t know much else. As Cadillac plans to go all in on EVs (Cadillac said the CT4-V Blackwing, CT5-V Blackwing and Escalade-V are the last new internal-combustion vehicles Cadillac will make) it needs an electric vehicle that will make a splash. For that price, GM better hope it has a home run on its hands.
