Could the $54,000 Cadillac Optiq Be a Huge Hit?

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Might the Cadillac Optiq be the subsequent large factor within the US EV market?

Cadillac is an attention-grabbing model. Way back, when my dad and mom and grandparents had been younger, it was the luxurious model in the US. It was king of the hill. However, step by step, new choices got here onto the market and Cadillac turned increasingly more related to … grandparents. It just about appeared just like the model was dying. Nonetheless, the Escalade got here onto the scene, rapidly turned probably the most outstanding automobiles of rappers, celebrities, and nation golf equipment, and the model has completed fairly effectively for itself. (To be sincere, I used to be stunned to search out out the Escalade first hit the market in 1999 — I believed it was a bit older than that.)

In recent times, Cadillac’s XT line (XT4, XT5, and XT6) has been fairly in style. One thing form of between and XT automobile and an Escalade, however electrical and much more luxurious, is Cadillac’s first totally electrical mannequin, and it’s been kicking butt. In actual fact, no other auto brand in country has more of its sales coming from pure electric vehicles than Cadillac — and that’s all of the Lyriq. Within the first quarter, 16.4% of Cadillac’s US gross sales had been gross sales of the Lyriq. Now, Cadillac is popping out with a barely extra inexpensive EV, the Cadillac Optiq, beginning at about $54,000. It’s a little bit smaller, and appears extra like a competitor to the XT line.

Notice that sells about 50% extra of its XT automobiles than Escalades. The Escalade has about double the gross sales of any single XT mannequin, however the three of them collectively add as much as about 50% extra. Naturally, a part of that positively comes from the truth that the Escalade is considerably costlier than the XT4, XT5, or XT6, however that’s also the case for Cadillac’s electrical automobiles. The Lyriq and Optiq are a lot nearer in value to the XT line than the Escalade. (By the best way, there’s an electrical Escalade coming, the Escalade IQ, and it’s estimated to start out at about $50,000 greater than the the traditional Escalade — $130,000 versus simply over $80,000. I’ll come again to that in a minute.)

Bringing the Optiq to market tells me a few issues. For one, it tells me that Cadillac is severe about promoting EVs (if that wasn’t already clear). If Cadillac wasn’t severe about this, it might simply promote the Lyriq. Bringing one other EV to market that’s only a couple thousand {dollars} cheaper doesn’t make sense for those who’re attempting to maintain EVs to a distinct segment class and nook of your dealerships. Having the Lyriq and the Optiq, like having the three XT automobiles, tells folks Cadillac is behind EVs and supplying you with choices, with even pretty small variations to be able to jack up the mannequin rely, have extra EVs on tons, and attraction to extra market segments. Frankly, Cadillac may have simply rolled out one other model of the Lyriq — however that is advertising, it’s attempting to promote EVs!

Additionally, whereas the worth of the Optiq is presently estimated to start out at $54,000, one has to assume that it may come down in value afterward when it’s being mass produced. Decreasing its value may stimulate extra purchases and create extra of a distinction between it and the Lyriq to be able to push patrons into the segments they’re extra drawn to.

Tech Crunch even notes that the Optiq could also be focused at hipsters! “The latest is the 2025 Optiq, a mid-size crossover that could finally snag the young, hipster customers Cadillac has longed for. With a base price of $54,000, it’s the cheapest in the EV lineup, and its design has enough special touches to stand apart from the rest of its portfolio.” Notice that that is near the worth enviornment of a Tesla Mannequin Y. If a reasonably rich “hipster” needs an EV that stands out a bit greater than the hundreds of thousands of Mannequin Ys on the highway, or doesn’t need to purchase an EV from an organization CEO who has endorsed Donald Trump, growth — the Optiq is staring them proper within the face.

And let’s come again to that Escalade IQ. You don’t roll out a brand new mannequin that’s $50,000 greater than your top-end mannequin with out considering, and much more so when that is an EV and is constructing on the enormous legacy model of the Escalade. Cadillac 100% needs to be seen as an EV chief and an organization that’s going all-in on EVs. (It most likely additionally needs a few of these sweetly insane revenue margins out there up in cloud territory.) Cadillac is telling folks: Oh, you need the fanciest new factor on the block? That’s an EV. However even for those who can’t afford the Escalade IQ, we’ve acquired this Optiq over right here you’ll love.

Oh yeah, and we haven’t even talked about the Celestiqwhich doesn’t have a listed MSRP and it’s a must to inquire about if you wish to purchase it.

By the best way, the Optiq is being produced in Mexicowhich, it seems, recently elected a female climate scientist as its next president. Discuss progress! Am I jealous? Am I most likely very jealous? Don’t ask me if I’m jealous! “The automaker’s Mexican subsidiary has finally confirmed that the all-new Cadillac Optiq will be manufactured at the GM Ramos Arizpe plantthe company’s most advanced factory in the country that was modernized to produce next-generation fully electric vehicles,” GM Authority writes. “A pair of GM Mexico executives confirmed to Cluster Industrial that the Mexican plant is preparing to begin production of the Cadillac Optiq in the last quarter of the year.”

“The Ramos Arizpe Complex received a $1 billion investment in 2021 for the production of electric cars, as the fifth General Motors North America plant to produce EVs,” stated GM Mexico’s Communications Division to native press. “Recently, Cadillac announced in Paris the launch of Optiq, which will also be produced in the Ramos Arizpe plant in the last quarter of the year.”

I’ve to offer large kudos to Cadillac on the Optiq. It’s a lovely EV filled with the options and luxe you’d count on from a Cadillac and at a considerably inexpensive value. I look ahead to seeing them throughout my Florida suburb as an alternative of all the XT4, XT5, and XT6 crossovers I see, and I look ahead to monitoring its quarterly gross sales progress.

All photographs courtesy of Cadillac.