GM tries to reboot Cadillac with $60,000 electric Lyriq SUV
General Motors Co. has promised to recast the Cadillac brand with electric drive, and it’s in a hurry to do it: The Cadillac Lyriq EV will go into production almost a year sooner than originally planned when it hits showrooms in early 2022.
The Lyriq will go on sale with a price of just under $60,000 with most options included and will kick off the GM luxury brand’s plan to go all-electric by 2030. If the market keeps embracing electric vehicles, Cadillac will ditch gasoline five years before the rest of the company.
The quicker push to sell the Lyriq is part of GM’s strategy to take a leadership position in EVs and sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. In recent months, the company has announced a battery plant in Tennessee, a stake in a battery tech startup, and a Chevrolet electric pickup.
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“The industry is at an inflection point," said Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey. “We wanted to start the journey sooner. We will be leaving this decade as an EV brand, which means we will not be selling internal combustion vehicle by 2030."
Cadillac has grown in China but has had a tougher time regaining old glory in the U.S. Harvey said the brand will rebuild itself with technology like the Super Cruise hands-free driving feature, fast charging and a large interior touch screen. The crossover SUV can go more than 300 miles on a charge. A fast charger will be able to top up the battery by 76 miles every 10 minutes.
New technology gives Cadillac a chance to remake itself, but it’s going to be difficult with so much competition coming, said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a consulting firm in San Diego.
“Everyone is trying to reboot the brand with EVs," Edwards said. “Is it going to reboot the entire brand and make them No. 1 again? No. It can regenerate interest and they will have a short window of time to share their story and turn that interest into sales."
