The 2024 Cadillac Celestiq has yet to be seen, but according to The Wall Street Journal, the flagship Ultium-powered electric sedan will be more than just a show car, it will feature equal amounts of flash and excess.
Cadillac believes it is ready to compete with the big dogs of automotive luxury. An exclusive story in the Wall Street Journal reveals Cadillac's ambitious aspirations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Cadillac's forthcoming EV, the Celestiq, would start at $300,000, citing unidentified sources. Now we're talking Lambo prices here. Also, different packages and choices may raise the price of the Celestiq even further.
Let's not forget that this is a General Motors vehicle, a company not known for playing in the ultra-luxury end of the automobile market where the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini call home.
The Celestiq will be shown to journalists at the forthcoming Monterey Car Week. The objective is to only develop about 500 homes every year. According to CNBC, the most expensive car GM now provides is also a Cadillac: the 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V, which starts at $150,000.
Production is expected to begin in late 2023, with a gigantic pillar-to-pillar touchscreen that will outsize the 33-inch one shown in Cadillac's Lyriq in terms of size and pixel density. Otherwise, we know the Celestiq will have all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and a full-glass top with adjustable transparency for each passenger. The wheels, lights, and door hinges have been teased, but we'll have to wait to see the full thing.
What else could you get with that kind of bread? Consider the Aston Martin V12 Vantage or the McLaren 620R, both of which start at $299,000 USD. A Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid, for example, begins at $210,000 and may go up to $388,000. In reality, any Bentley will cost the same or less. Lamborghinis are also available.
Cadillac used to be the king of luxury sales, but those days are long gone. The luxury sales market in the United States is now dominated by German brands such as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. GM is putting a lot of effort, money (about $81 million), and technology into the Celestiq EV, and if it's going to compete with similarly priced vehicles while showing its electric credentials, GM better come correct.
The halo car will also debut the latest generation of GM's driver-assist technology, Ultra Cruise "hands-free" technology, which the firm claims will function in 95 percent of driving scenarios and on over 2 million miles of paved highways in the United States. GM chief engineer Jason Ditman told The Verge earlier this year that "we're hoping to have this capability be sort of a door-to-door autonomous operation," operating on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Ride platform.
GM stated earlier this month that it will invest $81 million in equipment for the Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, where the Celestiq will be built, and that the show vehicle prototype will be unveiled in July.
