General Motors has begun offering a $5,000 incentive to dealers to offer test drives of the Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid, Automotive News reports.
The offer, called the Demonstrator Allowance Program, is supported by the same idea as the test drive events being held for the car on the west coast. It is a tactical move to help get more consumers in the seats of the car and sign more people up for test drives. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told AN it expects consumer awareness about the ELR to take a while to ramp up, and this offer should help with that.
“We want to do it because of the newness of the ELR,” Caldwell said. “It’s a different brand.”
ELR inventories have been consistently growing since the plug-in hybrid first went on sale in December. According to AN data, GM had 1,700 ELR coupes on hand at the end of April, a stratospheric 725-day supply. Cadillac believes the high inventory can be chalked up to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant’s production schedule, which calls for heavier production at the beginning of the year than in the summer or fall.
However, industry analysts believe ELRs are staying on dealer lots due to its $75,995 asking price. The price has been criticized for being more than twice that of the Chevrolet Volt, which it shares it’s Voltec powertrain with.
The Demonstrator Allowance Program will pay dealers $5,000 for each ELR they assign to a test fleet. If a dealer has less than seven unused ELR models in stock, they may sign up one vehicle for the program. Those dealers with more than seven ELRs on hand can sign two vehicles up for the program if they wish. Each test vehicle must accumulate at least 750 customer test drive miles.
GM is currently offering a $3,000 incentive to customers towards the lease or purchase of an ELR. Additionally, dealers can collect an additional $2,000 for every ELR sold in July and an extra $1,000 for every one sold in August.
Comments
We all know the ELR should not be a penny over 55k. Sometimes i do wonder what GM is thinking. Did they really think they were going to sell more than 50 to 60 of these a month?
Whoever approved this car, at this price, should be fired. It may have been Akerson, so at least he’s gone, but if there is anyone else, find him/her and can him/her.
Going forward, for the 2016 ELR, Barra & co need to come up with some story that lowers the price by $10k, if they hope to sell more than 1-2,000 a year (and if they don’t, why does this car exist?). $75k is a non-starter, I don’t care how much they push test drives.
A complete misfire by Cadillac from a marketing perspective.
I think $65,000 should have been the original starting price. It is a nice car, but it is missing some things. How about a solar roof and other luxury options?
That’s what they get for building a FWD econobox, throwing in an electric engine and some leather and pricing it like a supercar, which it is nowhere even close to being. This is classic pre-bankruptcy GM.
A GM Edsel