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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:

Cadillac ELR regen on demand brakes win 2014 Green Car Technology award

Just like the Oscars, Green Car Journal decided a few years ago to up the number of nominees for its annual award. For the annual "Green Car of the Year" award, given out at the Los Angeles Auto Show each year, there are five finalists. For the "Green Car Technology" award, there are a fantastic ten. At the 2014 Washington Auto Show today, the Cadillac ELR and its regen on demand brakes managed to beat out the nine other finalists to claim the second annual "Green Car Technology" award. What is the purpose of the "Green Car Technology" award? Green Car Journal says it wants to reward "technologies that enable significantly improved environmental performance in vehicles today," which is why only fuel-saving technologies that were "in use on American highways during the award year" can be considered. The Caddy's brakes beat out the Acura Sport Hybrid SH-AWD powertrain, the Audi 3.0-liter turbodiesel engine, the BMW carbon-fiber passenger shell from the i3, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine used by Ford, the plug-in hybrid powertrain in the Honda Accord, Hyundai's hydrogen fuel cell technology, the regenerative brakes in the Mazda i-ELOOP, the plug-in hybrid powertrain used in some Porsche models and, finally, the Ram 3.0-Liter EcoDiesel engine. Last year, Green Car Journal gave Mazda's Skyactiv technology the inaugural Green Car Technology award. Cadillac ELR Regen On Demand Wins 2014 Green Car Technology Award Green Car Journal Lauds Cadillac's Electric Car Tech at Washington Auto Show WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cadillac's innovative Regen on Demand technology has taken top honors as the winner of Green Car Journal's 2014 Green Car Technology Award™. The prestigious award was presented at a Green Car Journal press conference during the Washington Auto Show's second Policy Day. "Cadillac has cleverly evolved a common electric-drive efficiency system into an intriguing feature that adds a new dimension to the driving experience," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com. "Ever-increasing efficiency is crucial to our driving future, yet efficiency itself is not an attraction for a great many car buyers.

Best sport sedans for 2022 and 2023

SUVs dominate the car industry at every size and price level, but some people still prefer the looks, and more importantly, the performance and comfort, of the traditional sedan. With a lower ride height, lighter weight and generally smaller size, they often are much more fun to drive, and can even be more comfortable. Sport sedans of course lean harder on the performance side of things, and are among the best options for sheer speed and fun, thanks to those inherent characteristics. We've rounded up the ones in the segment that do the sporty dance better than any others in 2024 to give you a handy guide when you're shopping for one of your own. You'll find a wide array of cars here including gas, electric and hybrid powertrains. They'll have manual and automatic transmissions and drive the front, rear or all four wheels. Technically a few hatchbacks have slipped in, but they're close enough in look and feel that we wanted to include them. And excluding them means you might miss out on some of the best-driving options available. You wouldn't want that, would you? Alfa Romeo Giulia Why it stands out: Punchy four-cylinder; astounding power from Quadrifoglio; light and nimble character; awesome shift paddlesCould be better: Clunky infotainment; sub-par switchgear Read our Alfa Romeo Giulia review We start this list with one of the most predictable inclusions: the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Yes, it's a stereotype that the Italian sport sedan is fun to drive, but the fact is, well, it is. The Giulia comes standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 280 horsepower, making it one of the most powerful four-cylinders in the segment. It's paired with a snappy and smooth eight-speed transmission and either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive.  The engine is lively and torquey, if a little short of revs, and the chassis feels super-light. The steering is eager and the car jumps into corners. We also highly recommend getting a version with the enormous and superb aluminum paddle shifters that make clicking through gears much more entertaining. And on the topic of the interior, it's attractive, but the various switches and knobs feels a little cheap, and the infotainment system is clunky. Of course there's also the incredible Giulia Quadrifoglio at the high end. It gets a Ferrari-derived twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 making 505 hp, and it's rear-wheel drive only.