GM Finally Puts Cadillac ELR Out Of Its Misery

NLPC ^ | February 3, 2016 | Mark Modica

[jazusamo]

Here's one that wasn't hard to see coming. General Motors has announced that it is ending production of the Cadillac ELR , which was essentially a gussied upChevy Volt at twice the price. You can call this one a mercy killing as the overpriced, pseudo-green, government-subsidized vehicle was doomed for failure as low sales figures reflected the lack of value offered by the vehicle. That failure was predicted here back in December of 2013 when the ELR was rolled out.

As with the sales-challenged Chevy Volt, most of the media bought into the Cadillac ELR hype, calling it a potential "Tesla Killer." Priced at about $76,000, the ELR ran a 0 to 60 time in an embarrassing 10 second range. Despite that, GM CEO Mary Barra had high hopes for the car. That is a fact that should make GM shareholders nervous.

Here's what I said over two years ago in a piece titled Cadillac ELR: Mary Barra's First Embarrassment?

...Ms. Barra was previously the head of global product development. As such, she already has to take partial responsibility for the over-hyped and low-selling Chevy Volt along with the upcoming Cadillac version of the car. With Consumer Reports now stating that the new Cadillac ELR (a glorified Chevy Volt) gave them "sticker shock," will the ELR be the first major embarrassment for Ms. Barra?

...Anyone who has followed the Chevy Volt story could have guessed at what the prospects for a gussied up and rebadged Cadillac version of the car, for over twice the price, would be. The vehicle may well be GM's worst idea in history. I cannot imagine what the motivation for GM to manufacture such a car might be. The decision to produce the car should scare the bejeezus out of GM shareholders.

It is obviously a reflection of GM management's lack of vision if they believed that a car like the Cadillac ELR really had a chance. GM threw good money after bad by spending big bucks on TV ads for a car whose value could be measured more by the political goals met than by the profit potential for shareholders. Taxpayers lost out as well as affluent buyers of the $76,000 vehicle were rewarded with a federal tax credit of $7,500 each.

The failed Cadillac ELR experiment should renew the calls to question our government's attempt to choose winners and losers instead of allowing the free markets to work. The political influences at GM, along with poor management vision, forced a car onto the public - a car that wasn't wanted. GM shareholders and taxpayers had to foot the bill for the failure. While GM shareholders should think about what the obviously poor decision to manufacture the ELR tells them about management, Congress and Republican presidential candidates should consider another mercy killing; that would be to end tax credits that go to the wealthiest Americans who buy high-priced electric vehicles which do nothing to help everyday Americans.

Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.

[jazusamo]

Yep, the $7500 tax credit should be put out of its misery also.

[meatloaf]

They never learned anything from the Cimarron debacle.

[blam]

[ETL]

Damn shame what has happened to American cars, at least in terms of styling. They all basically look alike today. You can barely tell the difference between a Lincoln and a Caddy, or for that matter some foreign car of the same class.

[doorgunner69]

Did not know it existed.

Now that I do, it reminds me of that wretched Cinnamon they tried to foist off on the rubes decades ago. Taking some POS Chevy Cavalier economy box or something and trying to sell it for twice as much as a luxury car. I can still hear the laughter every time I saw one drive by.

Of course, they were having success doing the same with the Impala type barges for years, so why not?

[Darksheare]

Ah yes, “Cimarron, by Cadillac”
A Chevy Cavalier with a caddy badge, inflated price, and somehow a lower quality build.
I still don’t know how they pulled off the last one as the cav was a solid car initially.

[Flick Lives]

They never learned anything from the Cimarron debacle.

Bingo! I was trying to think why this sounded oh so familiar. The Cimarron was Caddilac's 1980's version of this same fiasco attempting to upmarket a low-end Chevy Caviler.

[TexasGator]

“Damn shame what has happened to American cars, at least in terms of styling. “

OTOH, the family sedan of today runs circles around a 60’s muscle car.

[jazusamo]

Yep, but this was the lamest of all. They took a $35,000 Chevy, dolled it up a little and put a base price of $76,000 on it. You can’t fix stupid.

[Darksheare]

True.
I wonder how long it will be until they try claiming the Volt is “all electric” again.
Or try this Cimarron/ELR idea again.

[jazusamo]

LOL! You’d think they’d learn from their mistakes but they don’t, the “all electric” thing was quite a fiasco.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon or click above to donate or become a monthly donor!

[sparklite2]

Thanks to government intervention, American cars today all have to look something like scarab beetles to pass muster.

[meatloaf]

It wasn’t stupid when you consider it from GM’s POV. They were counting on the stupid to attach that much worth on the Cadillac badge no matter what they put it on.

[varyouga]

“Bingo! I was trying to think why this sounded oh so familiar. The Cimarron was Caddilac’s 1980’s version of this same fiasco attempting to upmarket a low-end Chevy Caviler.”

They were mandated to offer it due to mpg “average” standards. Where a make’s entire line of vehicles was averaged.

Typically stupidity from government lawmakers who know nothing about the industry

[AFreeBird]

Not a bad looking car, only two problems with it:

It doesn’t have DOC aluminum V8 with supercharger and....

It a Government Motors vehicle.

[Darksheare]

I still recall the shrieking when it was proven that the beast wasn’t “all electric” as claimed.
Yet, I don’t think they list it as a hybrid yet.
At least not that I noticed?

[headstamp 2]

People are opting instead for the new Fujitsu Eczema sedan or Seborrhea sport coupe.

[jazusamo]

LOL

[cyclotic]

I’ve always maintained that the technology for the Volt/ELR is sound but way too expensive.

I thought that GM would have been wiser to intro the tech in a class A luxury car rather than the $36K econobox.

Now we’ll never know if I was right and the Volt destroyed any credibility for the ELR or if I was wrong. I’m good with either.