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Cadillac exec realizes ELR pricing was stupid high

At least one Cadillac exec has finally started to come to terms with something we knew all along: the initial $75,000 price for the ELR plug-in hybrid was way too high. The bad decision in part led to the model selling just over 1,000 units last year. Company marketing boss Uwe Ellinghaus recently gave an interview to Bloomberg where he discussed what went wrong. "The MSRP was, indeed, a mouthful," Ellinghaus said to Bloomberg. "We overestimated that customers would realize our competitors were naked at that price." People balked at the ELR's price from the very start, and dealers were receiving $5,000 at one point just for getting customers to test drive the PHEV. Later, some incentives for buyers were as high as $14,000. Cadillac planners saw a conundrum when it came to the ELR's price. Too low of a figure was thought to bring the model close to the Chevrolet Volt, and $75,000 was also believed to signal Caddy's PHEV as something special. "We just wanted to make this a statement for the brand of how progressive we are," Ellinghaus said to Bloomberg. Cadillac is now working to rehabilitate the ELR's reputation with a host of updates for 2016. Buyers get a 25-percent boost in powertrain output, additional standard features, and the whole package comes with a $9,000 drop in price. The tweaks should help the luxurious PHEV make a better second impression. Related Video:

GM might lose 90-year U.S. sales crown over chip shortage

Automotive News editor Nick Bunkley tweeted on October 1 that according to AutoNews data, General Motors "has been the largest seller of vehicles in the U.S. every year since passing Ford in 1931." With automakers having turned in light car and truck sales data for the first three quarters of 2021, GM's 90-year-run might not reach 91. According to AN figures, Toyota was 80,401 vehicles ahead when the October workday started. Worse, GM is so far behind its historic pace that it might only sell enough light vehicles in the U.S. to match its numbers from 1958.  Meanwhile, the New York Times put a few more salient numbers to the pain GM and Toyota are enduring alongside the the rest of the industry. GM sold 33% fewer cars in Q3 2021 than it did in Q3 2019 during the dark days of the pandemic, 446,997 units this year as opposed to 665,192 last year. GM's Q3 2020 was only down 13% on Q3 2019. Over at Toyota, the bottom line showed a 1% gain in Q3 2021 compared to 2020, with 566,005 units moved off dealer lots. The finer numbers show two steps forward and one step back, though; Toyota's September sales were down 22% compared to last year.  GM remains optimistic about what's ahead, GM's president of North American operations telling the NYT, "We look forward to a more stable operating environment through the fall." We'd like to see that happen, but we don't know how it happens. The chip shortage said to have been the inciting incident for the current woes isn't over, and not only can no one agree when it will be over, the automakers, chip producers, and U.S. government still can't get on the same page about who needs what and when. Looking away from that for a second shows articles about "No End In Sight" for supply chain disruptions in early September, before China had to start working through power supply constraints, global supply chain workers started warning of a "system collapse," and roughly 500,000 containers sat waiting to be unloaded at Southern California ports — a record number seemingly broken every week. And back to chips, we're told just a few days ago the chip shortage is "worse than we thought."   For now, the NYT wrote that GM dealer inventory is down 40% from June to roughly 129,000 vehicles, and down 84% from the days when dealers would cumulatively keep about 800,000 light vehicles in stock. However, GM just announced it would have almost all of its U.S. facilities back online next week, although some would run at partial capacity.

Cadillac Lyriq infotainment system will be 33 inches of something totally new

It’s screen day! Mercedes was first up with the EQS screen. Now, Cadillac just dropped more information on the massive infotainment screen going in its upcoming Lyriq EV, and the details are intriguing.  GM asked for some rather nontraditional help when designing and developing the LyriqÂ’s infotainment system. Both Territory Studio and Rightpoint were brought in to help Cadillac put something together that is hopefully nothing like the disaster that CUE was. The 33-inch LED screen spanning the width of the dash gave them plenty of real estate to get creative. Territory Studios is a global (originated in London) creative agency known for its expertise in user interface design, and itÂ’s worked on a number of video games, too. Rightpoint is a digital consultancy company that does a whole lot of everything in the digital world. Cadillac says the two companies were “focused on artfully integrating aesthetics, purpose and technology.” We wonÂ’t know how successful they were until we give it a shot, but Cadillac emphasizes that itÂ’s trying a fresh perspective for what an infotainment systemÂ’s user interface should be. Customizability and flexibility are two elements Cadillac is highlighting. There will supposedly be display themes “to fit the driverÂ’s mood and personality.”  The short 25-second video clip above preview shows a scaled-back and simple interface with a bottom row of essential function buttons. A menu list appears above this, and while there are likely many color themes available, the one shown is mostly dark with blues and blacks dominating the screen. One icon weÂ’ll point out is the colorful Google Maps icon in the menu list. Will Cadillac actually use Google Maps as the navigation system from the factory in the Lyriq? Perhaps. It tends to be exponentially better than any manufacturer-designed navigation system. Cadillac says more in-depth info will be available on January 12, so check back for a deeper dive then. You can peruse photos of the car getting this infotainment system below. Cadillac Lyriq View 8 Photos