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De Nysschen: Financial Performance Of Cadillac ELR Was Catastrophic

In a candid interview with Automobile Magazine, former Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen addressed all sorts of different topics with regard to his tenure at General Motors – including the ill-fated Cadillac ELR.

The well-known automotive executive, who was ousted from Cadillac last spring, joined GM’s luxury sub-brand just as it was launching the luxury plug-in hybrid. Essentially a content-rich, coupe version of the Chevrolet Volt, the ELR was launched for the 2014 model year with a whopping price tag of $75,000 before government incentives. Paltry sales led GM to drop the price to $65,000 for the 2016 model year, but customers weren’t enticed and sales fell to just 545 units, down from 1,049 in 2015.

Johan de Nysschen

Johan de Nysschen

Automobile quizzed de Nysschen on the ELR, saying the magazine was actually quite fond of the way the car drove and was disappointed it was so expensive. It therefore may have been an interesting entry into the plug-in hybrid segment if it were priced competitively, but according to de Nysschen, this just wasn’t possible. For some reason or another, the ELR was extremely expensive for Cadillac to make and next to impossible to turn a profit on.

“All I can say is that the financial performance for the car was catastrophic,” he said. “Even at that price point.”

Cadillac EV Concept

Cadillac EV Concept

This wasn’t enough to ruin de Nysschen’s confidence in the future viability for Cadillac EVs, though. It was his idea to make Cadillac the EV technology leader in the GM portfolio (it was formerly Chevrolet) and remains confident in the brand’s oncoming EV onslaught, despite his sudden departure last year.

“Cadillac has got some really compelling electrification entries that I think are going to dramatically change people’s perception of the brand and in particular give it a far more progressive image than it somewhat unjustifiably has in the minds of a lot of young people today,” he told the publication.

You can red the full interview over at Automobile.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. The ELR was just the wrong car at the wrong price point at the wrong time. I recall the day Cadillac announced the price of the “all new ELR”. Our sales floor was buzzing as we had just gotten our first one in the day before. The car (for a smaller 2dr) was a very nice looking car with an amazing interior. We were all excited, and then they announced the price. Even the dealership GM was hard pressed to swallow that price! I said from that second that the car would never succeed. The ELR needed to be introduced at about $49,900 for the standard model. Yes they would have lost money for sure, but it would have given the car a fighting chance. Maybe a non-Cadillac client would have come in and purchased the ELR and loved it. That would hopefully have led that same client into an Escalade or something else where there would be profit with more repeat and referral business.

    Reply
  2. This was a sharp looking car. It should been a gas engine in it instead of the Volt’s setup. If it had 2.0t with 300 hp it would have sold in much higher numbers. But I think they were so determined to get a Cadillac version of volt out they missed a great opportunity.

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    1. @joe:

      Although not a bad idea, the problem would have been an all gas ELR going up against the CTS Coupe at that time. They both had similar lines and design, but the CTS was bigger.

      Reply
  3. What happened to the plug in CT-6 – never see any in the nyc area?

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  4. Pretty sad on Cadillac’s part.

    This car was not on a unique chassis. It shared running gear, propulsion system, drive train, and suspension with a car that costs half as much. It had the proportions of a front drive economy car with the body of a sports car, so it was never in a position to feature an MSRP of over $50K.

    Other than the bodywork “cap”, what the heck was in the ELR that made it lose money at over $70,000 per? If they couldn’t make that work, GM must have lost its shirt on the Volt.

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  5. Apparently, a beautiful, $75K Chevy Volt wasn’t a valid concept. Imagine that! There were some awful decisions made at GM in regards to Caddy back then.

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  6. Also, I get the vibe from this interview that De Nysschen wants to make sure he’s at least partially credited for whatever happens with the upcoming Cadillac EV.

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  7. Doesn’t the ELR pre-date Johan’s arrival?

    If memory serves, the xenophobic, polarizing launch commercial (Super Bowl? Can’t remember) was meant for another vehicle.

    Uwe arrived first, and switched it to the ELR.

    The $75k+ pricetag only exacerbated the problem.

    ‘Comme ças?’, as the on-camera spokesman said…

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    1. @Captain Carl:

      Yes. The ELR was introduced just before (only by months) De Nysschen arrived. We had the first ELR in early 2014 and he came along to Cadillac in mid-2014. I couldn’t tell you about any behind the scenes stuff going on or who was helping make decisions, but on an actual time-table, he came after the ELR.

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  8. Poor management lead to the demise of Cadillac’s ELR as the car didn’t have enough of the right components like an electric motor that would allow for faster acceleration than a gas powered car and a larger battery for longer range; these two features could have offset the price of the ELR.

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  9. Price to high for a Chevy Volt Base,
    Interior was more of a Two Seater,
    Trunk Space was deplorable.

    When Cadillac’s get to small the sales fail. Quality was also a factor. GM never learns from the mistakes of the past.

    The Chevy Cavalier & Cadillac Cim Moron was a prime example of the failures of the past. In the 1970 Cadillac developed the Seville which was an example of one of there successes. Built on a lengthened Chevy Nova chassis, high quality, and nobody at the time took it for a Chevy.

    When I bought or buy a Cadillac I wanted unique styling, high quality, and a decent price. I wanted plenty of room inside and trunk space. This whole design of Cadillac’s in recent year have been none of that. So what have I done switched to Buick. My La Crosse has proved reliable, high quality, roomy, and better designed. Cadillac just does not seem to be able to compete like they once did. Looks whats selling in China mostly Buicks.

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  10. Interestingly, I just saw one in person for the first time this week on I-95. I knew there weren’t a gazillion of them, but didn’t realize how few it really was until reading this.

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  11. It would have been extremely interesting to see what they could have done with a second generation of the ELR. They completely re-engineered the car for 2016, solving many of the issues people have complained about here. Fit and finish, reliability, comfort, and efficiency are really good. Supposedly, they took $10K worth of cost out of the second generation Volt. Maybe they could have broken even with a more compelling product. They might also have sold better if they were introduced in the reverse order—if the 2016 ELR went on sale in 2010 and was followed up with the cheaper Volt. Unfortunately, we’ll never know. As the owner of a 2014 Volt, I’ll be the first to say the 2014 was overpriced, but I bought a 2016 ELR at the reduced price and still absolutely love it. It’s truly a great car, both for commuting and long road trips.

    With the crossover craze, both the Volt and ELR ultimately ended up being the wrong bet. I think what the ELR showed was exactly the opposite of what de Nysschen said in the article, though—New GM actually seemed to be more willing to take a chance on unique new vehicles. We’ve seen them throw various things at the wall (ELR, Cascada, SS, etc.) to see if they’ll stick, and I think that’s really admirable. Where they fall down, though, isn’t the unlikely specialty vehicles like the ELR—it’s their mainstream product inconsistency and poor marketing. They kill off vehicles that are mediocre, come up with a new name, launch something else mediocre, and cancel that. Instead, they should be constantly iterating and making bread and butter models that are—little by little—the best they can possibly be.

    Many Americans seem to want generic, bubbly, four-door vans (i.e., “crossovers”) and they still don’t seem to care much about efficiency. I’m the odd man out wanting a reasonably sized, great looking, luxurious *car* that’s efficient and easy to park. I got exactly what I wanted with the 2016 ELR and I plan to keep driving it until Cadillac launches a pure electric car.

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  12. The ELR is a beautiful car at the wrong time.

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  13. Cadillac has been trying to reinvent itself and has done pretty good with the larger 4 door vehicles but ever since the big personal luxury cars like the Eldorado went away, no other two door has succeeded. The last twenty years Cadillac has been trying to measure up the the European luxury vehicles such as the Mercedes and BMW but has not really put a dent in their sales. Cadillac should stick to what they were born for, large luxury comfortable sedans that can be converted into limo’s. If I ever wanted a sports car I would go with Mustang, Camaro, Supra, 300ZX and others but not a GM Cadillac. When they tried in the past, it’s another GM parts bin build.

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    1. and sadly it won’t happen anytime soon, although the Cadillac ct6 came close, it doesn’t have the same charm and that style that the Fleetwood, brougham, Eldorado and the series 60 to 75 era, although the escalade is nice,

      Reply
  14. Don’t think y’all have driven ATS or ATS V. Drive it like you’d drive a BMW, them let’s talk. No tech, fancy equipment but power and handling better than anything. Trust me!!!

    Reply
  15. If U ask me The whole batte

    Reply
  16. Not only was the ELR a heartbreak for Cadillac people, how about us car folk? It was a nice looking car and being on the VOLTEC platform you would think it couldn’t miss. But it did. Way too small. Our dogs, who have loved our 3 Volts, would resist this little car. AND…like you all said…far to much money.

    Reply

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