On May 16, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially opened GM (GM) – Get General Motors company report Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, at a national television ceremony.
At that time, the facility was the largest corporate building project in the world, costing more than $125 million, and Life Magazine dubbed the center the “Versailles of Industry.”
And now GM is investing more than $81 million in the center so it can build the company’s premium brand Cadillac Celestiq, another vehicle in the automaker’s effort to topple Elon Musk’s EV titan, Tesla. (TSLA) – Get the report from Tesla Inc..
‘Future flagship Sedan’
“As Cadillac’s future flagship sedan, the Celestiq signifies a resurgent new era for the brand,” said Mark Reuss, president of GM, in a statement. , and today’s investment announcement underscores our commitment to providing a world-class Cadillac with nothing but the very best in craftsmanship, design, engineering and technology.”
The Celestiq will be built on the Ultium platform, a modular configuration that will serve as the basis for all types of vehicles in the GM family.
The vehicle is expected to retail for $200,000 and is scheduled to be officially unveiled next month. It will be assembled at extremely low volumes – around 400 units a year, Reuters reported, citing AutoForecast Solutions.
Celestiq will use more than 100 3D-printed components, including polymer-printed structural and cosmetic parts and metal parts.
Other luxury EVs include Tesla’s Model X, which costs around $114,900, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which costs $102,310. and the lucid (LCD) – Get Lucid Group Inc. Air Grand Touring, which costs around $154,000
‘Stay tuned’
“Availability for @Cadillac CELESTIQ will be announced at a later date. Stay tuned!” GM tweeted.
Celestiq got the usual range of opinions on social media.
“@GM investing $81 million to hand-build $200k unique #Cadillac #Celestiq electric car”, a person tweeted. “Absurd. #Cadillac has always been about affordable mass affluence, not hand-built to lose money #Bentley copies. Shareholders must revolt.”
“I’m excited to see this car,” another person said.
“I say this with some glee, but all of you Tesla fans who made Musk a little tin god are going to get what you ‘deserve’, a tweet read.
scroll to continue
“This is beyond silly,” said another, who tweeted a clip from the movie “Dumb and Dumber.” “GM will be in the grave in less than 5 years.”
‘The biggest investment in its history’
Last month, GM announced new details about its 2023 Lyriq RWD with Cadillac Global Vice President Rory Harvey promising that “Cadillac will define the future of luxury transportation through its range of future EVs, and it all starts with Lyric”.
Lyriq is Cadillac’s first all-electric offering and the company, which targets an all-electric portfolio by 2030, said its luxury SUV/crossover has an EPA-estimated range of 312 miles on a full charge.
GM said in January that it would equip the Celestiq sedan with the company’s Ultra Cruise autonomous driving assistant, making the vehicle one of the first to have the feature.
Celestiq will share battery cells, motors and other components with Cadillac Lyriq
On March 1, current US President Joe Biden said during the State of the Union Address that “GM is making the biggest investment in its history – $7 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan.”
‘Unprecedented volatility and uncertainty’
Building a car that costs six figures can seem a little daunting in times of economic uncertainty.
On June 14, the Luxury Institute released the results of a survey that found that 59% of respondents believe the current downturn is leading to a downturn in luxury, while 41% predicted it will lead to a full-blown luxury recession.
“Most participants believe that we are living in a modern period of unprecedented volatility and uncertainty,” the group said. “Those who see only a slowdown cite the strong cash balances of consumers and businesses in more developed markets that can help them weather negative economic forces and the impact of war.”
Recession predictors, the institute said, believe that aggressive rate hikes by central banks, implemented to fight runaway inflation, will create white- and blue-collar unemployment, especially in technology, with consumer spending sharply tightening at all levels. of income.
For North America, experts predicting a slowdown mostly see a medium impact effect, given America’s relatively stronger economy, including greater energy self-sufficiency and its distance from the war in Ukraine.
However, the survey found that those predicting a global recession said many companies are already warning that American consumers are rapidly losing momentum in purchasing power, and point to the Federal Reserve’s stated commitment to aggressive interest rate hikes. as shock effects on housing and loans, while inflation continues unabated.
“The confluence of factors, they believe, leads to an inevitable recession,” the institute said.