Tag: Strategy

Cadillac electric crossover SUV based on GM BEV3 modular platform
General Motors' announcement last week that Cadillac will become its lead brand for electric cars is a radical change in strategy.

When America's largest automaker launched its first electrified car, the Chevrolet Volt, company leaders said their electric cars would have to be sold under the Chevrolet brand, reasoning that electric cars would have to be mainstream, and thus sold under GM's largest, most mainstream brand.

DON'T MISS: Long-range Cadillac SUV to lead GM's next electric-car push, in 3 years

Now, seemingly feeling the pressure from Tesla, the company has changed tack and plans to focus its electric cars efforts under its most expensive brand, Cadillac. At the Detroit auto show on Monday, Cadillac showed its first electric-car concept, a largish mid-size SUV that looks likely to seat five passengers, though details from the company were scant.

The new electric Caddy SUV will be GMs first electric car to use GM's new third-generation electric-car architecture, with a versatile “skateboard” chassis and a battery-pack design that can accommodate different capacities in the same format. As with Tesla, the high-end vehicle is designed to allow GM to spread the costs of converting to electric drivetrains over more expensive models that can absorb the cost, after federal tax credits for the auto giant's plug-in cars run out.

It isn't expected to go on sale until 2022, however, and by then more automakers will be bringing a wider selection of more affordable electric cars to market.

CHECK OUT: GM president dashes hopes of future Volt, says no more hybrids

That led us to wonder whether our readers would be likely to buy an electric car from Cadillac. A key question is whether the Cadillac name still carries enough cutting-edge cachet to attract high-tech early adopters, or whether those are even the buyers who might be looking for an electric luxury car by 2022.

Certainly, Cadillac will face no shortage of competition among luxury electric SUVs by then, with new models hitting the market from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz this year.

So, our Twitter poll for this week asks readers simply: “Would you buy an electric car from Cadillac?”

Some may answer, “Absolutely.” Others may have grown weary of the brand's repeated stuttering revival efforts and answer, “Never.”

In between, we expect many readers might consider it only if they don't have Tesla as an option (“Not over a Tesla”), or if the price is cheap enough to compete with the host of more affordable options that will be on the market by then: (“Only if it's cheap.”)

As always, remember that our Twitter polls are unscientific, as our respondents are self-selected and too few in number to constitute a nationally representative sample.