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Cadillac ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition Can’t Sell With Big MSRP Knock-Off

When Cadillac first launched the ELR, it debuted with the limited-run $89,500 Saks Fifth Avenue Edition. Much like the fashion-oriented Neiman Marcus Edition Cadillac XLR before it, the ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition came with an exclusive trim level, and commanded a price quite a bit beyond that of the base model, which in the ELR’s case, is arguably already too high.

But this eBay listing for a mint, one-of-one hundred Saks Fifth Avenue ELRs asked nearly $20,000 less than the $70,000 MSRP.

Nobody bought it.

Update: the Monroney of this ELR is listed at $85,565, below the official price (listed above) Cadillac announced in 2013.

Former staff.

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Comments

  1. What the Hell was they thinking????? The ELR is a Great looking Car, but they Priced a 2 door small coupe with a Volt Power Train and Gussied Up Interior which should’ve came out before the Chey Volt, in the Tesla realm, I expect Waaay More from the Crest, I hope they don’t Murder it but rethink it as an Entry Level Luxury Electric, Drop the Price another $15 – 20K n start from Scratch like they have shown 2 do and get this program back on Track!!!!!! 😉

    Reply
    1. The ELR is going to die. Cadillac will not offer a dedicated hybrid model in the future, after the dud that the ELR was, instead they’ll just make hybrid versions of their normal models.

      Reply
    2. It’s a perfectly fine car. Just showed up way too late to the party. It could have gotten away with its price and drivetrain in 2009, not 2014. If Cadillac is going to do another PHEV, it has to be a moon-shot and five years ahead of its time. Not five years behind.

      Reply
      1. Thank u Manoli, That’s Exactly what I’m Talking About and we know they can get it Done!!! 😉

        Reply
  2. Greetings Mr. Katakis,

    Being the Motor City Greek I would had expected you to avoid the hysterical hen house. GM attack frenzy, so common in the modern watered down cyber media.

    Your take on the eBay listing of a 2014MY Cadillac ELR Extended Range Electric Luxury Coupe talkes a negative attack approach right from the first stance.

    Your headline reads, “Cadillac ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition Can’t Sell With Big MSRP Knock-Of”

    You then go on to make statement that are not accurate and further tarnish the product such as:

    “ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition came with an exclusive trim level, and commanded a cost quite a bit beyond the base model. Which, in the ELR’s case, is arguably too high.”

    No, it is not arguably to high.

    The closest competitor to the ELR ERELC in the Electric Fueled Vehicle Super Luxury Car category is the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid PHEV.

    The Porsche sells for $25,000 more then the ELR at $99,000 with performance to justify the price difference.

    The Cadillac ELR is current outselling the Porsche, YTD, as of the end of July, 578 vs 544 in US Sales.

    The market has spoken.

    Source-

    Link Goes To InSide EVs-

    http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2014-sales-chart-Jul-vfinal2-750×481.png

    In contrast, the BMW i8 PHEV, another Electric Fueled Vehicle, Super Luxury Car, at twice the M.S.R.P. of the Cadillac ELR ERELC is spared from pricing criticism.
    .
    You then go on to state that the ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition ELR, “~debuted with the limited-run $89,500 Saks Fifth Avenue Edition”

    You link to your earlier story on GM-Authority.

    A little more research of the eBay listing and a look at the posted Monroney shows a true M.S.R.P. of $85,565.

    That is just $15,856 off of full price, not your click bating “~near $20,000 off MSRP” statement.

    Link Goes To eBay Listing Posted Monroney-

    http://www.use.com/showoriginal.pl?set=65fd250d9e5ffd50c25e&p=13

    The GM Global Connect, VIN look up I just did, confirms this.

    The GM Employee Discount on this VIN matched invoice is $78,677.70.

    Add in the usual year end incentives and additional rebates and this Stunning Cadillac ELR Extended Range Electric Luxury Coupe Saks Fifth Avenue Edition could routinely sell out of dealer inventory for less the the spec sale price posted on eBay and this is before the Fed. $7,500 tax credit is factored in!

    While the Cadillac ELR ERELC competes with the likes of the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid PHEV and the BMW i8 in the Electric Fueled Vehicle Super Luxury Car category, no competitor can return fuel economy even close to current results achieved by some ELR owner’s and lessee’s based on current OnStar Data.

    Miles driven vs gas used plus about a buck a day Electric Fuel.

    400+ MPG?

    Link Goes To Volt Stats/ELR-

    http://www.voltstats.net/elr

    ps. Give my best to Alex if he is still with you!

    Best-

    Thomas J. Thias

    517-749-0532

    Twitter.com/AmazingChevVolt

    Reply
    1. We discussed extensively on Twitter, but I’ll bring the points up here, as well.

      – The market has indeed spoken, the ELR is not a sales champion. For a multitude of reasons. Such as: poor marketing, a clueless pricing strategy, lack of a mission, not enough range/tech for the money, late timing, and wrongful media comparisons to models such as the Panamera SE and Tesla Model S.

      – The closest thing to the ELR is perhaps the BMW i3. Which is significantly more affordable, while providing better electric range, and with the BMW brand cache it brings, it’s the better deal. Sales also reflect that. Meanwhile, the BMW i8 represents the cutting-edge of EREV offerings. It’s allowed to be expensive, and it’s what the ELR should have been. Or the ELR simply should have launched at a far lower MSRP. It simply doesn’t possess the hardware to stack up with what the competition is putting out around the price range. And the ICE vehicles you can get for that price, such as a Corvette, Jaguar F-Type, and some luxury SUV models, are also great offerings for consumers.

      – US News and World Report needs to stick to rating schools. Any list that puts the S Class in the same category as the ELR, and makes up its own market segment (there’s no such thing as “Electric Fueled Vehicle Super Luxury Car category”), loses any shred of credibility it could have had. They might as well compared pickup trucks with hatchbacks.

      – Talk about price all you want, but when Cadillac announced the Saks Fifth Avenue ELR in 2013 it came with the price of $89,500. If Cadillac reduced the MSRP shortly after it was done so without notification. And it seems even with all the discounts and rebates, the ELR still can’t move. So it really doesn’t matter all that much, does it?

      Reply
  3. It’s a shame because the ELR is, in my opinion, the best looking car in the GM portfolio at the moment. Such a beautiful design, but they completely overpriced it. A starting price in the low $50,000 range would have been much more suitable for this car. I hope they rethink this car before killing it off.

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    1. I say keep the car as it is so sexy beautiful. Just rethink the powertrain to a normal vehicle as well. They could use a coupe like this but not the Volttech that nobody seems to want at this outrageous price. How about an ELR-V series instead to replace the CTS-V. 🙂

      Reply
      1. I completely agree. I don’t think this was the vehicle for Cadillac to make an EREV. Put this car on the Alpha platform with the TTV6 and you have an beautiful coupe with great power and dynamics.

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    2. Agreed, the ATS Coupe should look this good!
      The design is a more refined interpretation of the CTS, and is the right stylist direction for Caddy.

      Reply
  4. Unfortunately, when you produce a car that nobody cares for, or even know exists, really demonstrate significant weaknesses in the GM organization.

    This car was a complete mystery for me, the minute I saw it as a concept vehicle. It will disappear without even a hint that it has ever existed. Price isn’t the issue. It’s just not desirable. By comparison, the desire to own a Tesla transcends demographics, earnings or even the level of interest in automobiles in general.

    Reply
  5. I have not even seen any kind of advertising for this vehicle. But for the MSRP. I could buy a decked out Silverado and Tahoe.

    Reply
  6. I like how so many try to make this car into what it really isn’t. To be honest inside GM I don’t think they all agree on what it is either.

    Lets take this at face value here.

    The car is a recalibrated Voltec package nothing more nothing less and that is not a bad thing.

    The car styling it’s self is nothing but a show car that really was well accepted but nothing more than a show car that was turned into a low volume production car. It is not much different than the SSE truck as it was a show car turned production with all the ergonomic issues included.

    The Reality is the Tesla caught most MFG off guard and they never expected a larger electric sedan to sell at $105,000 in the numbers it has while the segment is not large it is a show case area and that is what Cadillac is tying to do her is show case technology in a sharp looking package. There was never any profit here for this car and it was more a break even at low volume. Also the GM pricing structure was upheld and hurt the higher price here.

    The only thing GM really did wrong here is not clearly outline the mission of this car and market it properly but that may have been due to the changes in Cadillac leadership and changes in marketing while this car was coming to market.

    Even in 2009 this car would not have been sold in great volume or to any profit either.

    Cadillac’s only goals here was to buy time and show case electric technology in a great looking package and nothing else. It was to buy time till they get the car they are now working on out. It was a risk and the down fall of poor marketing of what the car really was has hurt it more than anything. It was not a direct challenger to the Tesla sedan and it was never expected to sell I great numbers.

    This is just another example GM needs to get their marketing program at Cadillac together. They are looking foolish over there with great cars but seemingly unable to get the word out about them to the people that need to be tempted to take a look. I think it is time to take the challenge right at the competition. Challenge them in public and show that you do not have to be German anymore to e the best.

    I think we are nearing the end of seeing cars like this being done. GM is to the point where they are getting caught up and working on the second gen of many of the cars and these gap fillers will not be needed anymore.

    This whole marketing thing is still left over damaged GM culture. It has been in the process of being fixed but there is still much more to do.

    Reply
    1. There’s a lot to those last 3-4 paragraphs, and I couldn’t agree more.

      Reply

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