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Cadillac ad boss is happy controversial Poolside TV ad created debate

Remember Cadillac's controversial commercial for it ELR plug-in hybrid? Did you find it provocative? If so, that's a good thing according to the brand's advertising director, Craig Bierley. First aired during NBC's coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony, the minute-long spot returned to the tele again this weekend, bookending the Academy Awards on ABC. Titled Poolside, the bit was meant as "brand provocation" and whether you enjoyed it or not – sentiment is said to run 3:1 on the pro side – we can probably all agree it fulfilled its role as such. If you were one of those who felt the ad erred on the side of nationalistic consumerism (or what have you), your anger might be somewhat assuaged after reading this article from Advertising Age in which Bierley addresses most of what he believes are misconceptions about the message. For one, the spot isn't aimed at the One Percent, just those who make $200,000 a year. Or, as Craig Bierley, Cadillac's advertising director, calls them, "people who haven't been given anything." Bierley told Advertising Age that the spot doesn't celebrate workaholicsm, instead, "We're not making a statement saying, 'We want people to work hard.' What we're saying is that hard work has its payoffs.'" While our commentors seemed mostly to enjoy discussing the value proposition that is (or is not, depending on your point of view) the Cadillac ELR, the majority appeared to enjoy the commercial. If you were one of those offended, however, let us know if your opinion has changed upon reading Cadillac's defense. If you don't remember what all the fuss was about, scroll below to take another dip in Poolside.

GM to accelerate its EV strategy — Cadillac could be all-electric by 2025

General Motors will roll out details of an expanded and accelerated electric vehicle strategy on Thursday in an effort to convince investors it can be a serious competitor to Tesla, people familiar with the plans said. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who is scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by Barclays, is expected to say the automaker is ready to spend more on electric models by 2025 than the $20 billion previously outlined, the sources said. Supplier sources said previous plans to make the Cadillac brand all-electric by 2030 are being sped up, possibly to 2025, and other sources said that acceleration will be repeated in other brands and in segments such as commercial vans. Asked about the Thursday appearance, a GM spokeswoman called talk of increased spending speculative and declined to give details. The Detroit automaker is also expected to discuss a new timeline for many of the EVs to follow those already identified, such as the GMC Hummer EV pickup and Cadillac Lyriq crossover, people familiar with the plans said. Lyriq (shown above) is slated to go into production in late 2022, but GM officials have been stung by criticism the automaker was bringing the vehicle to market too late, one source said. "The pull-ahead in programs is real and the organization is really doubling down on speeding up product development," the source said. Barra and other GM executives have been signaling the automaker's EV acceleration plans. She said earlier this month GM would boost capital spending over the next three years to speed EV development and was talking with other automakers about partnerships to develop more vehicles using GM's battery technology. Last week, a GM executive said the company had pulled forward the rollout of two "major" EV programs, and GM officials have touted the faster 18-month development time for the Hummer truck. Tesla's soaring market capitalization, and growing pressure from regulators to phase out carbon-emitting engines, has put pressure on established automakers to respond to investors who view their internal combustion lineups as outmoded and doomed in the long run. A critical part of GM's pitch to investors has been its new Ultium batteries, which it estimates will offer an electric driving range of 400 miles or more on a single charge. It is building a battery plant with Korean battery maker LG Chem in northeast Ohio.

Cadillac ELR update delayed over autonomous drive systems issues

Rumors had been circulating that the 2016 Cadillac ELR would bow in Los Angeles recently, featuring, in Cadillac's own words, "engineering enhancements." The rumors and that quote are as far as it got – the updated ELR pulled a no-show in LA, and no one outside of the brand appears to know when it will appear. GM Inside News says its sources at Cadillac pinned the ELR's absence on some autonomous driving features not being ready to reveal. According to GMI, Cadillac insiders say the upgraded ELR will be a "highly autonomous vehicle," and the company needs more time to gets its systems polished. The site says "it's not unreasonable to assume that ELR will be [the] vehicle" that gets Cadillac's Super Cruise technology, but that seems a lot more involved than "engineering enhancements," and in September Cadillac said we'd see it sometime in the next two years. It's possible the wait for the 2016 ELR and its secrets might only be a couple of months: the next-generation Chevrolet Volt, which shares a platform with the ELR and whose engineering updates we know quite a bit about, is scheduled to appear at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January.