We’ve known for some time that the top rung of General Motors is all in on electrification, a decision that has elated some and caused others to flee. Set to serve as the brand’s flagship is the Celestiq, a slinky fastback with an expected price tag north of a quarter million dollars.
What’s your take on the specter of a $300,000 Cadillac?
It would be possible to ruminate for hours on the direction in which decision-makers are taking the storied brand. With electrification serving as something of a reset button for the entire industry, is Cadillac’s smartest play one in which it seeks to reclaim its ‘Standard of the World’ label? A large-and-in-charge four-place fastback costing $300,000 could do much to erase sins of the past – provided it has a mouth to match its trousers. Those answers will come later. For now, we’ll have to be content with these teaser photos.
According to Cadillac, each Celestiq (technically CELESTIQ but we refuse to play the ALL CAPS marketing game) will be hand-built from globally-sourced parts at GM’s Global Tech Center in Michigan. Prior to assembly, there will apparently be an opportunity for “creative collaboration” between customers and the brand, a notion which sounds markedly like Audi Exclusive or the services available from Mercedes-Maybach.
If Cadillac is planning on charging 300 large for a Celestiq, they’ll need to play even above that rarified air, since that sum sits squarely in Rolls and Bentley territory.
“Every Celestiq will be instantly identifiable as one of a kind, giving each client a personal connection to Cadillac’s newest flagship,” said Erin Crossley, a design director at Cadillac. While that is certainly a bowlful of PR word salad, it is these types of experiences that are expected by customers plunking down this type of money.
While this is still being billed as a show car and not necessarily a production concept, we will nevertheless permit ourselves to make a few observations about the machine in these images. Those tail lamps take much from the Lyriq, suggesting this design is going to appear in some form on all Cadillacs for the next however many design cycles. The shot of the Celestiq’s rear seat shows a Rolls (and Maybach, et al) style center console with plenty of tech toys, plus German-esque seat controls on the door and snazzy light signatures behind its trim panel. The shot from its cargo area shows seats with integrated high backs and a dashboard that stretches across the car like that found in the Mercedes-AMG EQS. Is this $300,000? Again, we’ll have to see the real thing.
Also, while we rarely read too much into the simulated images placed on the screens in these types of photos, if the Celestiq can actually juice its battery from 80 percent to full in just ten minutes then it is packing one hell of a charging system. That last twenty percent is the slowest to accumulate, generally taking as much time as the first four-fifths of the recharge combined.
Longtime readers will recall Jack Baruth drove a 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman down to Houston and correctly opined in his review that its original price was less about the product itself and more about one’s place on the social ladder. This is an accurate and nuanced assessment of how Cadillac operated in its day. The car he drove stickered in the mid-1970s for about thirteen grand, a sum he estimated to be roughly five times the asking price of a basic compact car at that time, and the Talisman could apparently be opted up to $17,000. When accounting for inflation, that’s poking its nose into six-figure territory – quite a ways from $300k but Jack’s point is still valid.
How about it? Are we seeing a return of that Standard of the World swagger? Or is this a think-of-a-price-and-then-double-it marketing exercise?
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news , features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter .
I’m cool with a 300k Cadillac so long as it is built like 300k cars. At that price point I’d better not see a single part from a Chevrolet in that interior. But sure, IMHO they should be selling stuff at that level.
I am not sure the Cadillac brand is capable of providing the social status cred that buyers would want to get from spending $300k on a vehicle. But an Escalade V is over $150k, so who knows
There’s just no way they’ll invest the development money to net a $300k car. They have tried this many times (special halo) post 1950 and it’s never worked. XLR, Allanté, Reatta.
“hand-built from globally-sourced parts at GM’s Global Tech Center in Michigan.”
Ah, the British Leyland construction approach. That’ll work.
Also this Ultimate Cadillac should absolutely be called Fleetwood.
I don’t think that the Tech Center even has a pilot line. GM used to use a facility in Pontiac for pilot assembly, not sure if they still do.
“They have tried this many times (special halo) post 1950 and it’s never worked. XLR, Allanté, Reatta.”
Their try at XLR was less of a financial failure since it used C6 bones and was assembled at Bowling Green (as opposed to Allanté’s insane assembly process) whereas there was actually a dedicated assembly plant specifically for the Reatta. Had GM not gone insolvent XLR probably would have continued for several more model years along with C6 and could have broken Allanté’s 21,430 sales figure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lansing_Craft_Center
So there is a way to do this without spending billions on engineering. It basically what they still do in the yacht world and what RR and Bentley did before current ownership. You go all in on build quality material quality and customization. The base would be GM (Batteries drive train) and GM should spend money on suspension ( I have a feeling they have a way to do this and maybe even existing designs it’s just always cost cut) Then you source the best materials from suppliers and put them in a shell built like a tank. Some of the best yachts in the word had engineering done by someone in a shed, the key is being willing to spend the money to make everything as high end as possible. I mean take a look at a Hinkley yacht,they use off the shelf engine and propulsion systems, lots of the parts can be found on cheaper boats, but things like the varnished wood are perfect and feel expensive (they are) The paint will be perfect upholstery will be perfect etc, a 6″ cleat will do better put on a 10 and make sure it weighs 10 pounds.
Just make sure the charging port is on the driver’s side like my CT6 2.0E plug-in!
Hilarious that you think driving a ChinKom-built Caddy is something to brag about.
He’ll get that Trifecta Tune though so watch out lol.
Because of my dad, I have always had a soft spot for GM. But old habits die hard, if the Escalade V has a few parts here and there from the ‘ole parts bin, then why shouldn’t this? IIRC Aston Martin used Volvo parts under Ford.
Car to come in a 20’ Conex Box. Made in China some assembly required.
Those instructions are in Chinese and the assembly pictures are hand drawn. I am sure at some point a you tuber will do a series of videos on how to assemble your Cadillac. Just kidding couldn’t resist some assembly required. There are actually videos on some small EVs showing how to unbox them and how to do the little assembly required.
In order to be taken seriously, you have to establish a reputation for serious cars. All caddys in the last 30-40 years have been blah to terrible. My sister ‘s 3 – leased XT5 were all. PFFFF. Dressed up Equinox. Hard Plastics. Kitschy touches. Same with the XT4. CT 5 et al. There is a certain harshness, shrillness to the drive.
Escalade is Good. But so is the Denali. Blackwings are excellent, but the volume is so low – it doesnt matter.
Why would you drop 300 large on a Caddy when you can get a bentley, aston, porsche, for much less.
GM. Start drug testing of 7-9+ levels. You all r mad AF!!!
If they’re going to make everything Cadillacq a glorified golf cart, change the spelling to the one I posited here, and be done with it!
Nobody has taken Cadillac seriously since the Cimarron! Why would they start with this?!
Apparently some of the Hudson River water got into the coffee they were schlepping at the former NYC headquarters of the former Standard Of The World!
Conceptually, I’d say Cadillac is on the right track. A halo car makes tons of sense for them. But the styling here…yikes. And three hundred large? Nope. One fifty seems about right if this was executed and styled correctly.
I think GM is dreaming. They may have some “special edition” that they can show off to the automotive press at the $300K price point, but those will largely find themselves next to celebrities who will buy them at an unpublished “sweet deal” price in exchange for the publicity. The topper will be the eventual photo of the interior with some easily recognizable cheapie GM part like a steering wheel. An aspirational vehicle is still a good idea, if they do it right but we are talking about GM here.
I wish Cadillac success but I am skeptical of the 300k price as well. This will be a rare bird out on the road might see more Edsels on the road than this and the last Edsel was made over 62 years ago.
As Niles Crane would say…. They gave me something called a hunchback.
Passengers and cargo belong in separate compartments in proper circles. This is my complaint with all the wagons that so many people drive.
When Niles bragged about working out to impress Daphne (and dammit, I couldn’t remember that character’s name), he stated “I’m pumping iron!”
To which Frazier replied “you don’t even pump your own gas!” :-D
Ahh, the ever evolving legendary Cadillac hallo car that have been proposed for decades. This mythical metaverse Cadillac has been a fountain of free advertisement, but as the saying goes “The emperor has no clothes”.
The ghost of that senile dingbat Bob Lutz lives on. Remember his wet dream otherwise known as the Cadillac Sixteen?
Cadillac will be lucky to sell 10000 of these. While Cadillac wastes its time with these overpriced and impractical vehicles, second-tier luxury carmakers like Infiniti and Acura will pull further ahead in sales. Cadillac only sold 118,000 vehicles in the US last year.
Cadillac will be lucky to sell just 1000 of these. Who is going to spend Bentley money on a brand that hasn’t had even the whiff of prestige in nearly a half century?
You must be logged in to post a comment.