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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:

2014 Cadillac ELR wears a suave suit with Volt underpants

The Cadillac design and engineering teams were smiling like a bunch of proud papas here in Detroit this morning, as the Wreath and Crest crew pulled the curtain back on their 2014 ELR. The house was packed for the ELR's coming out party, and reaction was enthusiastic amongst the murmuring media, as far as we could gather, while the flashes were firing.
In fact, we think that the sleek styling and aggressive proportions of the Voltec-powered ELR looked even better in the metal than they did in the first official images we saw earlier. Further, the leather-lined interior seems custom made for serious driving, even if the ELR is slightly less than rocket-ship quick.
The new Cadillac makes good use of the basic running gear from the Chevrolet Volt, including the 1.4-liter range-extending gas engine, a 15.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and an electric drive motor that offers 295 pound-feet of torque, and a total system output of 207 horsepower. All-electric range is down by just one mile versus its Chevrolet forebearer, for a total of 35, and Cadillac speculates that the total range with the gasoline generator figured in will top 300 miles.

2014 Cadillac XTS Vsport

Not long after bombing around the Milford Road Course in the new CTS Vsport, Cadillac invited me to try out its other new-for-2014 Vsport model: the XTS. And despite using the same twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 from the CTS, the Vsport package takes on a whole new meaning here in Cadillac's softer flagship.
In the CTS, this trim perfectly bridges the gap between the standard models and the hardcore CTS-V, and is focused on being the best-driving version of the range without a standalone V badge. The XTS, however, has no proper V model, so the Vsport becomes the new range-topper for that line by default. But unlike the CTS Vsport, which uses rear-wheel-drive architecture and is focused on driving dynamics above all, the XTS is geared toward a much different customer.
The entire XTS experience is far more concerned with plush comfort than handling prowess, and while this Vsport model certainly ups the ante with more power and some mild suspension and steering tweaks, it's not exactly what we'd call a particularly engaging experience. But that doesn't mean it isn't good.