Cadillac Global Vice President John Roth delivered a business update today, reiterating the brand’s commitment to being a luxury EV leader by 2030, but also confirming that its pledge to have a fully electric lineup within five years has been abandoned. He also shared some insights on the state of demand for electric cars, specifically as it relates to luxury vehicles.
Cadillac has been on an aggressive revitalization plan spanning 2015 to 2030, with the goal of improving the customer experience through a more polished dealership network (there are 567 Caddy stores in America right now) and, of course, enticing younger and wealthier people to buy its cars. The brand’s leadership is very proud of the recent success it’s had in racing, specifically citing LeMans as a driver of brand caché in Europe.
Another point of pride is the success it’s had in converting people who used to drive rival cars into its EVs, and the fact that its flagship Celestiq simultaneously represents tradition and new tech for the brand.
“Celestiq is not about sales targets,” Roth said, answering a question about how many have been sold so far. “This is all about delivering a bespoke, one-of-one vehicle. It allows us to elevate what Cadillac stands for in the marketplace. We haven’t hand-built vehicles in over 50 years; this is an opportunity for us to get back to our roots, but at the same time, deliver a modern ultra-luxury vehicle that can compete with any ultra-luxury vehicle.”
Fair enough, but unless you’re pivoting to be a purely small-batch business, you do need to move units to keep the lights on at a car company as large as Cadillac. So, how is GM’s luxe brand planning to weather the storm of softening EV demand and the end of federal tax credits on electric cars?
“The general market has shifted a bit, but the luxury market hasn’t changed as much. We haven’t seen any slowdown in our growth. If anything, year on year, our EVs are up,” Roth said. He also noted that Cadillac has the “largest U.S.-based manufacturing of anyone in the luxury space,” which insulates the brand somewhat from import tariffs. The Optiq is made in Mexico and China, but the majority of the brand’s lineup is built at one of four Stateside facilities.
So while public interest in mass-market electric cars might be waning, Cadillac appears confident that the upper end of the segment will continue to grow. Makes sense, to a degree—people looking at lower-priced items are far more likely to be price-sensitive, whereas a $7,500 rebate doesn’t seem as big of a deal when you’re ringing up a $130,000 Escalade IQ.
Cadillac’s crew declined to comment on the possibility of adding pricing incentives to compensate for the soon-to-disappear federal tax credits on electric cars, but maintained staunchly that the growth of EV model sales is expected to keep going up and to the right into the future.
As for the future of its gasoline-powered products, I think everybody already figured they weren’t going away within five years, and Roth confirmed as much. “The auto business is not a straight line, the EV business is certainly not, and you’ve got to make sure you’re working your strategy [as in: remaining adaptable], but also make sure you’re consistent with your strategy.”
The idea of consistency is one he hit hard in his presentation. “Luxury is all about consistency in the marketplace, and those who are the most consistent will win,” Roth said. So, at least publicly, Cadillac is remaining committed to having luxury EVs be a critical component of its catalog. Though the sentiment was couched just a little with: “These are great Cadillacs, regardless of propulsion system.”
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