Photo: @JayinShanghai | Edited
You know that Cadillac is desperate when you see its sales teams trying to convince Tesla owners to test the Lyriq. Doing it on Tesla’s turf at a Supercharger station in Shanghai paints an even more awkward picture.
GM frequently bragged about how soon it will overtake Tesla as the number one EV maker in the U.S., not to mention the whole world. GM’s CEO Mary Barra first declared that in February 2022, using the famous words, “We want to lead in EVs. Full stop.” GM’s CEO then reiterated her resolve to surpass Tesla at least three more times before forgetting about it altogether by August 2022. Even so, Barra was confident GM would have a production capacity of 1 million EVs in North America alone by 2025.
Considering that we’re only two years away, and GM is still struggling with EV production, we seriously doubt that. GM sold around 40,000 Chevrolet Bolts and less than 1,000 Ultium-based EVs in 2022. Most of them (854) were GMC Hummer EVs, although the production doesn’t seem to be going that great, at 12 units per day. But even if the entire Ultium production would be Cadillac Lyriq, it’s still a ridiculously low number.
GM shouldn’t have problems finding buyers for its EVs. The waitlist is long, at 80,000 for the Hummer EV and more than 200,000 for the Lyriq. Or so GM claims because we seriously doubt these numbers are real. If that were the case, GM wouldn’t have to resort to desperate sales tactics to get people to test their shiny new EVs. At least, that’s what’s happening in China right now.
According to a report by @JayinShanghai, a Cadillac marketing team parked a Cadillac Lyriq at a Supercharger station in Shanghai, trying to convince Tesla owners to test their EV. The fact that Cadillac sees current Tesla owners as their potential customers is interesting. The Lyriq is almost as big as the Tesla Model X, but the Cadillac electric SUV is positioned much lower, at nearly half the price. Of course, the Model X’s price was not affected by the price war Tesla started in China.
Cadillac is still a successful brand in China, at least judging by its ICE sales in the country, surpassing the U.S. numbers. Cadillac had mixed results with electric vehicles, though, just like other traditional carmakers. The Chinese market is flush with startups that make very compelling electric vehicles, and people see the “old brands” even more contemptuously than we do in the West.
Cadillac’s story in China is telling for legacy carmakers struggling to assert themselves as worthy contenders in the EV arena. Until they get the production at high enough levels, the world would’ve moved on, and nobody would want to buy their products anymore.
Considering that we’re only two years away, and GM is still struggling with EV production, we seriously doubt that. GM sold around 40,000 Chevrolet Bolts and less than 1,000 Ultium-based EVs in 2022. Most of them (854) were GMC Hummer EVs, although the production doesn’t seem to be going that great, at 12 units per day. But even if the entire Ultium production would be Cadillac Lyriq, it’s still a ridiculously low number.
GM shouldn’t have problems finding buyers for its EVs. The waitlist is long, at 80,000 for the Hummer EV and more than 200,000 for the Lyriq. Or so GM claims because we seriously doubt these numbers are real. If that were the case, GM wouldn’t have to resort to desperate sales tactics to get people to test their shiny new EVs. At least, that’s what’s happening in China right now.
According to a report by @JayinShanghai, a Cadillac marketing team parked a Cadillac Lyriq at a Supercharger station in Shanghai, trying to convince Tesla owners to test their EV. The fact that Cadillac sees current Tesla owners as their potential customers is interesting. The Lyriq is almost as big as the Tesla Model X, but the Cadillac electric SUV is positioned much lower, at nearly half the price. Of course, the Model X’s price was not affected by the price war Tesla started in China.
Cadillac is still a successful brand in China, at least judging by its ICE sales in the country, surpassing the U.S. numbers. Cadillac had mixed results with electric vehicles, though, just like other traditional carmakers. The Chinese market is flush with startups that make very compelling electric vehicles, and people see the “old brands” even more contemptuously than we do in the West.
Cadillac’s story in China is telling for legacy carmakers struggling to assert themselves as worthy contenders in the EV arena. Until they get the production at high enough levels, the world would’ve moved on, and nobody would want to buy their products anymore.
WTF look what's happening Cadillac sales team are currently parked outside of Shanghai Jinqiao Supercharger.
— Jay in Shanghai ?? Jay (@JayinShanghai) March 16, 2023
Approaching Tesla Owners and trying to offer free test drive.
Competition is great but this is Tesla’s territory. Shameless cold calling by Cadillac. @Tesla @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/bmvoC7aVj9
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