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Confident new Cadillac marketing boss ready to take on Tesla, BMW

When there's a former BMW executive heading Cadillac's efforts to boost sales of its only plug-in, it's a pretty safe guess that the marketing emphasis won't be on environmental friendliness and tree-hugging tendencies. The General Motors luxury brand has appointed ex-Bimmer executive Uwe Ellinghaus to be its marketing chief late last year, and the German-born Ellinghaus is now saying that he's targeting potential customers of Tesla Motors, in addition to BMW, for potential growth in sales of the Cadillac ELR extended-range plug-in. Appointed to Cadillac's head of marketing last November, Ellinghaus recently told Advertising Age that GM needs to highlight the Cadillac's looks and performance. He complimented Tesla for putting more emphasis on those attributes in the Model S than on its lack of emissions or lack of refueling costs (but Tesla hasn't shied away from highlighting the EV's savings). Ellinghaus says that trying to gear advertising "for people who are tree-huggers and green-wash an entire brand" won't be successful. You don't say. So far, the ELR hasn't made much of a dent in US car sales. Through May, Cadillac, which spent about $280 million on all of its US marketing last year, sold 293 units, whereas Tesla had been approaching the 11,000-unit figure for the Model S. With that in mind, Cadillac may be working on a sportier version of the ELR, as spy shots of a test vehicle from May revealed larger brakes and wheels. You can read our First Drive impressions of the ELR here.

2020 Lamborghini Huracan Evo has the biggest price discount in America

Right now, buyers of the 2020 Lamborghini Huracan Evo are paying an average of $248,000 to drive the brand-new supercar off the dealer lot. That's a hefty chunk of change, but it represents $16,269 off the car's average $264,969 retail price, according to data provided to Autoblog by Truecar. That's the largest discount in America on a new vehicle for the month of April, 2020 when judged by the dollar amount in savings off the sticker. It's not all that uncommon to see a lot of money taken off the sticker price of expensive luxury cars. This month, right behind the Lamborghini sits the 2019 BMW 8 Series with a few bucks shy of $11,000 in savings, which is hardly surprising. Though it's a very sleek and entertaining car in some of its various incarnations, it hasn't exactly proven to be a hot seller for the German automaker. The fact that there are a total of 15 (!) possible configurations probably doesn't help. Two other BMWs, the 2020 7 Series ($10,164 in savings) and the 2019 i8 ($10,145) are also on the top 10 biggest discounts list. In between that BMW sandwich are the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Acura NSX. It doesn't really matter which one a buyer chooses to drive off the lot, either way lopping off more than $10,000 off the sticker price means the electrified supercar will cost just under $150k. For a look at the best new car deals in America based on the percentage discount off their suggested asking prices, check out our monthly recap here. And when you're ready to buy, click here for the Autoblog Smart Buy program, which brings you a hassle-free buying experience with over 9,000 Certified Dealers nationwide. Related Video:

BMW considering building 3 Series in North America

There might be even more BMWs coming from North America soon. The company recently announced plans to build a flagship crossover called the X7 at its Spartanburg, SC, factory. Now, rumors are emerging that the Bavarians might be thinking about building a second North American factory that could build its quick-selling 3 Series.
According to Bloomberg, the German luxury giant is considering several possible locations for a North American factory, including two in Mexico, that may build the 3. "We will decide this in the next months. On the North American continent, there's still potential," said BMW production boss, Harald Krueger, in an interview meant for company staff obtained by Bloomberg.
If BMW decides to open a plant in Mexico, it would be following its rival Audi, which already announced construction of a factory there. Mercedes-Benz has been rumored to be working on a deal with Nissan to build its cars South of the Border as well. Rumors of Bimmer considering Mexican production have also cropped up in the past, so it wouldn't come as a total surprise to hear it made official.