DETROIT – General Motors on Friday previewed what its most expensive Cadillac ever will look like as the automaker attempts to redefine the quintessential American luxury brand into an electric vehicle leader.
The Detroit automaker unveiled a “show car” version of the Cadillac Celestiq, an upcoming hand-built sedan that will cost about $300,000 or more when it’s expected to go into production by late 2023. Cadillac is calling the vehicle its new “all-electric flagship sedan.”
The car marks a pivot for Cadillac into hand-built vehicles, which are typically reserved for high-end sports cars and uber-luxury vehicles such as Rolls-Royce exclusive models. Cadillac aims to exclusively offer EVs by the end of this decade.
GM did not release any technical details about the Celestiq such as its electric range, performance or other metrics.
The vehicle will feature five LED interactive displays, including a 55-inch-diagonal screen spanning the front cabin of the car; a “smart glass roof” that includes customizable transparency options; and Ultra Cruise, GM’s next-generation advanced driver-assist system that the company has said will be capable of driving itself in most circumstances.
GM confirmed such technologies will be part of the production car, however declined to provide additional details. The Wall Street Journal first reported the expected price and production of the Celestiq, which CNBC also confirmed through a person familiar with the plans who spoke anonymously because they haven’t been made public.
A show car is meant to preview an upcoming production car. As opposed to a “concept car” that automakers typically use to preview certain elements or design direction of a car or brand that may or may not be produced. Cadillac leveraged a similar launch strategy with the electric Lyriq SUV, which recently went into production.
GM said designers drew inspiration from well-known cars such as the bespoke V-16 powered “coaches” of the era before World War II and the hand-built 1957 Eldorado Brougham.
“Those vehicles represented the pinnacle of luxury in their respective eras, and helped make Cadillac the standard of the world,” Tony Roma, chief engineer of the Celestiq, said in a release. “The Celestiq show car — also a sedan, because the configuration offers the very best luxury experience — builds on that pedigree and captures the spirt of arrival they expressed.”
GM is investing $81 million at its tech center in suburban Detroit to hand build the upcoming Cadillac Celestiq. It marks the first time GM will produce a vehicle for commercial sales at its massive tech campus in Warren, Michigan.
