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Cadillac confident attitude will attract the elite to ELR plug-in hybrid [w/video]

Cadillac is not going to pull any punches when it comes to promoting its plug-in hybrid ELR. In the real world, the company is showing off the Wreath And Crest's coupe with Chevy Volt technology at exclusive events with "groups whose members are affluent, green-minded and have an appreciation for design and innovation," says Automotive News. That evidently means young Hollywood celebrities and other well-to-do demographics. As Cadillac global chief Bob Ferguson recently told the industry publication, "If you live on the West Coast and you're an architect and you've given to environmental causes, you're probably going to hear about the ELR. We have sliced and diced who is likely to buy this vehicle." "We have sliced and diced who is likely to buy this vehicle" - Cadillac's Bob Ferguson In the realm of advertising, Cadillac evidently thinks a fast-talking, USA-USA-USA! Type-A personality is just the kind of guy who will convince those celebrities and architects to buy one. For proof, look no further than the star of this new ELR ad called Poolside that Cadillac is airing during the Olympics. There are almost no details about the ELR in this ad, just a whole lot of attitude mixed with humor (the "We got bored" line is funny). In fact, there's almost no indication that the ELR is an extended-range hybrid at all. Short of a brief moment where our hero, actor Neil McDonough, unplugs his car from its charging station, you'd probably never know it's got an EV mode at all. That's undoubtedly a calculated bet by Cadillac, whose ad execs have undoubtedly noted that most electric cars are not selling well with an eco-first message, so they appear to be going with style and swagger instead. Scroll below to see what we mean. The ELR has a starting MSRP of $75,000, and at that price, it's already out of reach for most Americans. Automotive News suggests that annual ELR production is likely to be just shy of 5,000 units, so Cadillac could be on stable ground trying to appeal to such a limited number of buyers. What type of buyers? Well, that remains to be seen. Related Gallery 2015 Cadillac ELR: First Drive View 25 Photos News Source: Cadillac, Automotive News - sub. req. via YouTubeImage Credit: Gallery images copyright 2014 Michael Harley / AOL Green Cadillac Electric Hybrid PHEV cadillac elr elr poolside

2020 Cadillac XT5 is barely being refreshed

Cadillac has been making a serious effort to expand its crossover offerings with the all-new XT4 and XT6. With them has come slight changes to Cadillac's design language, leaving the existing XT5 looking a little out of the loop. Well, it appears that's about to change ... sort of. One of our spy photographers caught a 2020 Cadillac XT5 out testing, and it has some changes that suggest a refresh. You do have to look closely to tell anything has changed, though. And even then, the only noticeable change is to the grille, which is now dotted with little quadrilateral shapes similar to those on XT4 and CT5. You can see one of the two current designs below. Otherwise, the bumpers and lights haven't been changed at all. View 21 Photos We suspect there will be other small changes in store for the crossover. It could switch from an eight-speed transmission to a nine-speed unit like the one the XT6 will use. This would be likely considering they both use the same V6 engine. We wouldn't rule out adding an optional turbo four-cylinder engine borrowed from the XT4, but that would be a fairly significant and less likely change. The interior could see some updates, and Cadillac could possibly try to shoehorn in its new infotainment system from the new batch of cars. Then again, changes could simply be limited to new materials and some extra features. With such a light update, we expect the updated 2020 XT5 will make its debut sometime this year with sales coming shortly after.

About 150 Cadillac dealers would rather leave the brand than sell EVs

Dealerships might hamper GM’s plans to electrify its cars. Wall Street Journal tipsters claim that roughly 150 GM dealerships in the United States have decided to drop the Cadillac brand and accept a buyout (ranging from $300,000 to over $1 million) rather than spend about $200,000 to upgrade the dealerships with charging stations, repair hardware and other equipment needed to sell EVs. Many of these dealerships only sell a few Cadillacs per month versus more for Buick, Chevrolet and GMC, but itÂ’s still a significant blow when GM has 880 Cadillac dealers in the country. Cadillac brand leader Rory Harvey confirmed to the WSJ that GM was offering buyouts, but didnÂ’t say how many dealers took them or how much they were worth. The exodus underscores the challenges for conventional car brands as well as the potential advantages for alternatives like Tesla. As brands like GM are heavily dependent on dealerships, they have to please owners to have a chance of strong sales — and thatÂ’s difficult when theyÂ’re not certain about demand, even without the pandemic. Tesla and other direct-to-customer EV makers arenÂ’t bound by physical stores and already have the infrastructure in place for service centers. Dealers might not have much choice in the future. California is banning sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035, and that will likely force automakers to electrify no matter how dealership owners feel. The buyouts now arenÂ’t necessarily temporary, but we wouldnÂ’t rule out some shops having a change of heart as the effective EV deadline approaches. Related video: