General Motors is making big moves in the all-electric vehicle segment, announcing plans to introduce 30 new EV models globally by 2025, two-third of which will be sold in North America. Cadillac will be at the forefront of the EV deluge, with battery-driven luxury vehicles like the Cadillac Lyriq leading GM’s new EV charge. However, some GM dealers are reluctant to take the plunge, electing instead to dump the Cadillac brand over investing to accommodate the new EV models.
In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal reports that roughly 150 GM dealers will drop the Cadillac brand to avoid costly upgrades designed to support the sale of all-electric vehicles.
As GM Authority covered previously, the nearly 900 Cadillac dealers located in the U.S. were notified recently that a $200,000 investment was required to prep for the arrival of new EV products. The investment would be used for new tooling, employee training, and the installation of EV charging stations.
Alternatively, Cadillac dealers were offered a buyout ranging between $300,000 and over $1 million to exit the brand.
Now, citing “people familiar with the effort,” the Wall Street Journal reports that roughly 17 percent of the GM dealers agreed to the buyout that would end their franchise agreement with Cadillac. Some of the GM dealers were uncertain of the automaker’s turn towards all-electric vehicles, pointing to relatively low adoption rates among U.S. buyers.
“The future dealer requirements are a logical and necessary next step on our path towards electrification,” said Cadillac global brand chief Rory Harvey in an interview. Harvey added that those GM dealers reluctant to make the new investment would receive fair compensation.
General Motors has set aside $27 billion in investments for new all-electric vehicle technology and autonomous vehicle technology through 2025. The automaker plans to allocate more than half of its capital spending and product development team towards EV and AV programs.
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Comments
Good riddance. I’ve they can’t look to the future, they’d be holding up Cadillac. Time to move toward an exciting new future.
Now hopefully Cadillac will put forth some of the best product on the market and be a true leader.
Why GM is awarding this rats, they don’t want to sell Caddy so suit yourself i don’t have pay you extra to dump me, you didn’t pay a goodwill to sell Caddys in fist place ,did you? It ridiculous i don’t know any other company do this, and celebrate winding down! And It’s also bad optics, the customers will perceive this news as another failure, and nearing the bankruptcy for good. So they will not look to Caddy for their next purchase.
This decision by GM dealers to dump Cadillac borders on insanity especially when GM’s entire fleet is scheduled to be nearly all electric vehicles by 2035; this morons need to adopt the transition as a 5-10 year lead over foreign competitors who will not have an EV fleet until possibly 2035.
Because not all GM dealers has $200k to invest in a stand alone facility. Only 17% of dealers agreed to the buyout leaving 560 Cadillac Stores in the end. Thats over twice as many as Lexus who outsells them 2 to 1 so their dealers outsell them 4 to 1. And probably 10 to 1 in profit.
Stand alone Cadillac dealers might want to take the payout. The sales numbers for the brand have been steadily going down in North America over the last few decades. Ev turning the brand around is a pretty big gamble.
Hate to say it but i think the brand is going to die regardless of EV or not, take the money and run, or convert to a brand that isn’t dying.
The decline of the Internal Combustion Engine is upon us. European countries are implementing bans on Petrolium fueled new vehicles. Mary Barra sees a huge market being locked out if they don’t adapt.
I don’t like banning gas cars.
With the price of Zero Emissions gas coming way down I think that a better way to improve the environment would be to impose a carbon tax (on all carbon taken out of the ground) that slowly gets larger until it equals the cost of removing the carbon from the air. Then gas will cost more than it does now (because of how expensive carbon capture is) but it will let us decide whether to buy a gas car (and pay for more expensive gas) or buy an EV. In this plan you the consumer would decide what is best (most economical, most fun, ect.) car to buy for your self and not let the government control you as much. And it would save the environment because all the carbon will be removed from the air.
What will the truck lovers do when their engines say WRRR instead of FAROOM!
Europe is an entirely different market than the US.
I just turned 75, just took delivery of my C-8 Corvette,
and I’ll never own an electric vehicle. Just sayin’
Joe Russo,
You may be right, because based on statistics, you’ll be dead in the next 5 years. US male life expectancy is 76.61 and dropping quickly with Covid.
__https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/
Yeah right Bert and you may be dead tomorrow.
I am curious how many of those dealers that are dropping Cadillac are of the combined dealership type. The ones that combine other GM brands with Cadillac. The way it is worded it appears to me that is the case. With that said I actually think that is a good thing for Cadillac. Cadillac should only have standalone dealerships.
I do not agree with how GM is managing this situation. They have did a terrible job with managing Cadillac with its ICE vehicles for a while now. Only recently they have tried to turn it around with fumbled plans. Like you I think that EVs are a big gamble to turn the brand around in North America. The brand needed a halo car a long time ago similar to what the V10 R8 did for Audi in the movie iRobot. That got people paying attention to Audi then they took off more. I do like Cadillac because of its heritage but GM really has mismanaged them. I hope they do not die as if they do the only American “luxury” left is Lincoln.
I’m 63 years old and have had Cadillacs since high school and still have one always have been a GM buyer these companies don’t care about us only the tree hugging morons when this happens by 2025 goodbye forever to Cadillac and General Motors I will buy from whatever company gives me my God given right to choose as an American and I won’t look back absolutely no sense!
Personally I’m not a fan of these car companies forcing the dealers to spend a lot just to sell a model (Catera, Allante, etc). It just seems silly to me that Cadillac/GM would ask the dealers to pony up every time to just sell the product. But….this time is different to me.
Doesn’t matter if we/I like it or not, the direction of the automobile is electric or electrified in some way. At Volvo, they are telling us they will be all electric or electrified within the next few years. It’s not coming, it’s here already. So I find it sad that there are 150 dealers just willing to kick the can down the road. What will these same dealers do when the other brands they have also go electric? I remember back many years ago (can’t recall the years exactly) when I was selling at the Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda store. GM went through a purge then and cut the number of Cadillac dealers way down. The idea was that doing so would give the bigger/stronger Caddy dealers more sales and better profit. Not sure how that worked out, but losing another 21% of your current dealer network is a lot. Let’s hope this works.
I did the math a little bit ago counting the number of Cadillacs sold in the states last year vs the number of dealerships. If each Cadillac dealer sold the same number of cars it would come to just about 200 cars per dealership.
That is not many at all and you know dealerships on the coasts in the larger cities will be selling more.
There are tooooo many Cadillac dealerships for the amount of cars sold.
Those dealers won’t be able to sell gas powered lawn mowers much less cars. A very short sighted move on their part. Everybody is chasing Tesla.
they are not chasing tesla they are chasing people with money to buy stock that they need to finance the new models. profits keep the factories running but they need stockholders to finance the new models
You make it sound like GM is the only company forcing dealers to modernize and upgrade. If it wasn’t for some kind of franchise requirements there would still be dealers selling cars out of gas stations and blacksmith shops.
For those shared stores that are getting rid of the Cadillac brand, those stores more than likely will invest for the bread-n-butter brands easily due to more volume they can easily sell compared to luxury brands when that time comes. Also, the shared stores in the most remote or less populated part of the town are willing to take the buy out.
What I don’t get is why is this a Cadillac only deal ?
If the first GM EV we see in the USA is the hummer, why is this not a GMC thing ?
And if GM is moving to ALOT of EVs, again, WHY is this a Cadillac only thing ?
I really don’t think it is going to matter for Cadillac anyway.
It is my opinion that Cadillac will be a China vehicle and GM might import a few to the US as needed.
For me its a GM vehicle option deal.
I still feel GM is just too disconnect from the potential customer, or real customer for that matter.
GM is still spit balling vehicles off the wall and people buy most GM vehicles because they need a vehicle not because they want a CM vehicle .
This is a GMC thing. My GMC dealership investment for Hummer was $150K. The difference is, GMC dealers are profitable. Most standalone Cadillac dealers bleed money and the low maintenance cost of EV’s will make it even more difficult for standalone Cadillac dealers to make money.
Taking the buyout is a no brainer.
The first GM EV is the Chevy Bolt.
David Moody, I realize the Bolt is the first GM EV.
But that EXACT thing is what I mean by my comment on GM is just to disconnected from their customer or potential customer.
I can’t believe someone at GM thought ” we should make this Bolt as our first EV ”
So what do you get, a good vehicle nobody wants,
So now, how many years after Tesla did this, GM is copying Tesla, or trying.’
So now at GM ” we should try to produce the highest priced EV we can ” Hummer.
Sure again a good vehicle but nobody will be able to afford it.
Remember on this very site how much slack Elon/Tesla got when they were going to make a $35,000.00 EV profitable ?
This site and GM said they would go broke in months.
Well here we are GM !
Where the hell is your $35,000.00 EV that customers really want ?
Will you be able to make one ?
GM, still all talk and not a single EV that a customer asked for !
A good looking $40,000.00 to $60,000.00 EV, mid-sized, sedan – mid-sized SUV, with an interior worthy of 2021 and not some black ” plastic fantastic” cheap junk, and customers would be standing in line !
But not for the Bolt !
And NEVER for the Bolt looking EV !
And it does not and will not matter how GM refreshes it !
Its NOT an EV that ———— CUSTOMERS ———- WANT !!!!!!!!!!
I thought the Saturn EV1 was the first GM EV
It was never sold, only leased. And GM took them all back to shred them.
that’s a technicality, point being is consumers consumed the use of EV1’s. a lease is a form of purchase, its just for a portion of the vehicle. None of those high priced Cadillac EV’s will get purchased. Almost none. Those will all be leased.
Extremely limited in distribution. It was more of an experiment just like the Chrysler turbine car which was also leased and returned to Chryco to be destroyed.
I think it would be helpful to see a comparison of how many dealers companies like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Lexus have. Going from 900 dealers down to 750 seems like a big drop, but how many dealers do the competitors have?
About 250 a piece
@Chris and Gm213:
The way I see it is that the other brands (Lexus, MB, BMW, Audi) are mostly just stand alone stores with no other brands (new) sitting on the lot next to the product. However, Cadillac has a lot less stand alone stores (not sure how many??) and most every Cadillac dealer also has the Chevrolet or even Buick and/or GMC with them. This is how GM used to sell so many vehicles years ago, by having a GM brand store on nearly every corner in both large cities and small towns. So the real way to look at the 250 stores for the other brands vs how many stand alone Caddy stores are out there. Anyone know the answer to how many Cadillac only stores are in the US?
There’s 4 dealers in my area that’s only Cadillac, one its Cadillac/GMC, 2 are Cadillac Chevy. FWIW 2 Lincoln only dealers are here too.
Cadillac sold about 156k vehicles last year, that’s under 200 cars per dealership.
Cadillac has too many dealerships for the number of cars sold.
2019 numbers:
Mercedes: 383 Dealerships and sold 357,729 vehicles
BMW: 341 Dealerships and sold 165,549 vehicles
Audi: more than 300 dealerships and sold 224,111 vehicles
Lexus: over 200 dealerships and sold 80,975 vehicles
Based on having been a GM Dealer for 25 years No way in hell would I trust GM to elevate the brand in tune to what they are asking for an investment. They could care less about their Dealers. Solely focused on stock price as their product erodes. If it wasn’t for the Escalade caddy would have nothing.
Oh and GM has done so well with marketing electric cars they’ve had? Volt and Bolt did squat and the caddy sibling even less. GM has ducked at marketing their products. Right, another invest $200k is some goofy bs or take 300k to a Million and turn your store into a Mazda or Suburu or maybe the most profitable brand Land Rover jag. I’ll take the cash thank you!
Anthony, I understand what you are saying. But it seems as if you are saying GM should not be concerned about profitability and yet the dealers are really all about profits. I know, I’ve been working at them for nearly 19 years now. Most dealers I know would step on their mother’s back to get to a buck. And, if you think this is specific to GM, you are wrong. I’ve been at a Mazda and Volvo store for 6 years now and they are every bit as bad if not worse.
LR/Jag is so profitable because of all the repair work.
GM should float the expense of the conversion with a delayed investment and payback from the dealers. If the market is receptive to Cadillac’s EV offerings, then the dealers can reimburse GM. There’s been way too much mishandling of the Cadillac brand that asking for another investment after a string of flops is a bit much.
In the grand scheme of things, 200K isn’t a huge investment but in the bigger picture with Cadillac, I wouldn’t be willing to come up off the money – zero faith in how they execute operations.
A brand already struggling for sales is losing nearly 1 in 5 dealerships. That’s a pretty big deal. GM should have provided the $200k investment cost for the dealers if they’re so confident their direction for Cadillac will be a fruitful one. The buyouts say to me they aren’t confident at all. Kind of like when a company offers people money to quit their jobs. A company doesn’t do that when business is booming and the future looks bright.
GM has 900 Cadillac dealerships that is way way way to many for the number of cars they sell, all the other competitors have between 200 and 400 max.
I just love the way all of you are all about eliminating jobs…If each dealer has about 200 employees, do the math…more people in the unemployment lined, and less earning a paycheck. I had an MB, and you waited forever for a service appt. ,and they treated you like you didn’t count because they had sooooo many customers. You waited forever for a part, and the bill……$1900.00 for a 15,000 mile checkup. Many of these dealerships, including Cadillac, no longer have loaner vehicles available when you bring your can in for service because they simply have too many customers………
Another angle to look at is its still GM, you can still get your Cadillac serviced at thousands of GM dealers.
Each dealer does not have remotely close to 200 employees. They’re talking about how average dealer only sells about 200 Cadillac per year. Cadillac just simply has to much dealers which is hurting the other dealers. I’m on a Cadillac dealers website right now and the majority of them are loaners. They even have inventory from 19’. They’re just giving people to much options for dealers which isn’t a bad thing for the customer, but it is for the dealer. They should get rid of all those big dealers like Morries and just stick with their own or family owned.
Cadillac has way to many dealers and they know it. M/B and BMW both outsell Cadillac , with about 25% the dealer body. Cadillac has about 900 dealers, while the 2 Germans have about 250 each. The same could be said for Chevrolet, Toyota and Chevy sell pretty much neck and neck, but Toyota does it with about 1200 dealerships while Chevy does it with 3000.
GM would probably happily just forgo dealers and sell directly to the consumer if they could. Way more profitable. Losing the short sighted ones who cannot see that electric is the future is a start.
This could very well be the future.
Problem is that GM don´t have real product line but only ugly concept with stupid name. Mary just talking about future EV product line and GM prosperity but we can see only 2 expensive concepts (GMC Hummer a Lyriq). Tesla even Ford have real product and another carmakers (Hyundai/Kia/Genesis, MB, BMW, Volvo, Jaguar) are ready to deal with a lot of interesting models in near future. So why you should wait for Mary´s promise.
Hopefully, my local dealer has chosen to take the buyout. Their service and sales departments are dinosaurian. With any luck a forward thinking customer service oriented franchisee will pick up the local Cadillac brand.
Why are the future electric models from other brands real and the ones from GM fake? Why don’t you believe in whatever Mary Barra says? Finally, Are you familiar with the term “confirmation bias”? I feel like it applies to you directly.
Andy,
I will give my 2 cents worth an your question, Why don’t I believe Marry Barras promises.
Because the last 20 years or MORE, GM/Marry has been promising a ” New Onslaught ” of GREAT Cadillacs !
WHERE ARE THEY ?
Even just the last 4, XT4-XT6-CT4-CT5 !
What are these vehicles ?
Cheap GM ” Good Enough ” Chevrolets
NOT Cadillacs !
Now the Escala was a nice concept !
And the Escalade is a great Cadillac built on a great GM platform !
However AGAIN the rest of the Cadillac line is just cheap Chevrolets !
Even the new Lyriq, in the US it went over like a lead balloon.
Why do you think it will be released in China first !
Now the Hummer went over great in the US, so did the Escala, yet in the Cadillac line we get a China Lyriq.
Put the Escala front on the Lyriq, now we are talking !
Put the ( what we were showed ) Lyriq interior in the CT4 – CT5, again we are talking !
Put the CT6 platform under the XT4 XT5-XT6 we are talking !
But again, GM has showed the Cadillac customer so many great products and released so many POS vehicles, its like the boy who called wolf ! Do you know that story ?
As long as I can buy the CT5-V Blackwing in a few years I will be good. It is the only interesting Cadillac with a soul coming out to me. If I had a family the Escalade would be perfect. The Blackwings will likely be the last of their kind from Cadillac.
The market will ultimately decide. Those dealership owners have made their choices for their own business. Likely what is best for them. It is not the end just yet. If the demand for EVs and in particular Cadillac ones is high then these dealers can buy and pickup Cadillac again in the future. The consumers will decide.
In the meantime they should not be forgetting about the current slate of ICE vehicles. I reckon the future in a decade or so won’t be what people are mandating it shall be. ICE still prints the money at Cadillac. So continue to market these types of vehicles on their current slate. I don’t see any CT4 or CT5 adverts. They are great cars and it is sad because outside of this site and other car sites people do not know of these vehicles.
@dblezy:
I saw 2 ads for CT4 and CT5 just yesterday.
If demand will be high for future Cadillacs, what if GM don’t want those dealers to own the Cadillac brand again? Those stores should had not cancelled the Cadillac brand in the first place. For a luxury brand, 750 in the future is still way too many stores compared to the brand’s ratio of sales versus the more established competition with less stores.
it will be interesting to see how much cleaner the world’s atmosphere will be in 10 years after spending all this money on EVs.
You’ve got to get people to adopt the idea first. Making fewer dealers especially in rural areas where you already have to drive 30 miles or more to get to a dealer is not a great idea to push the switch.
If GM expects it’s dealers to come aboard the EV ‘revolution’—which IMO is a LONG way from being universally-accepted by the American motoring public—it’s the parent company that should bear the cost. Is Cadillac possibly on a path to follow Olds and Pontiac down the tubes?
GM just has too much brands. The more you look you can see how similar they are. Just the other day I was driving on the highway when I thought it was just another Chevrolet Equinox but it was actually a Cadillac XT5. They also really need to stop with that alphabet soup stuff. They really just need to get rid of Buick and focus on their main profitable brands such as Ford did with Mercury. Let’s face it. Buick’s were legendary, but now all they are is just Chevrolets with a bit softer leather and a Buick badge. And they make a big deal about things that have been out on Fords since 2015. The more time GM has to focus on the other brands, the better the car is going to be.
GM only have four brands here in the states. Buick is a FWD CUV lineup now and more models will be added. As long they are popular by the general public, there is no reason for them to get cancelled. Unlike Mercury, Ford cancelled them because they were the exact copies of Ford models that were not popular while Buick are not exact copies of Chevys with nicer leather as you put it. And if you can’t tell the difference between the Equinox and XT5 from within a driving distance, you need a better pair of glasses or contact lenses.
I only thought it was just a average Chevrolet for a few seconds until I saw the badge. Ford and Lincoln has changed their brands and quality of their vehicles drastically in the past few years and it’s time for GM to do the same. And Buick’s main customer age is definitely on the older side. Buick also needs to appeal to younger buyers if they want to survive. I mean when was the last time you saw someone younger than 50 driving a new Buick?
JOHN,
Like so many people here, you don’t know what you’re talking about. All the new SUVs from Ford and Lincoln have horrible reliability and are killing Ford.
Another poor idea. They don’t need to make it less convenient for customers to reach a dealer. The company should pay at least fifty percent of the cost to provide good customer service.
Trust me. The costumer doesn’t have a problem finding a dealer. Where I live they have one GMC/Buick dealer, another GMC/ Chevrolet dealer, and a Cadillac dealer, and in addition to that they have a Chevrolet dealer/used car. And that’s just within 15 miles of each other. Trust me. People don’t have a issue. And I live in a place with a population of 15,000 people and it’s barely in the metro area
If electrics are going to take over, then the death of the RV market is not far behind. It’s pretty hard to tow a trailer with an electric vehicle. The travel trailer / RV is going to be a fond memory like in the movie The Long, Long Trailer, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball made in the 50’s.
No it is not . They will have electric trucks that can tow. Ford 150 electric truck . Hummer ev.
Tesla cyber truck as of now
How can I travel 400 or 500 miles a day while towing with an EV? And not everyone wants a GD pickup truck.
Face it Cadillac is dead, very boring trim levels and the prices are out of sight !! I hope Everett Chevrolet/ Buick/GMC/Cadillac in Hickory, NC drops the line ,a dealer who puts numbers before customer service !!
How do the states like CA, MA, and others replace the gas tax revenue on EV’s?
Wait for it………. from EV’s “road tax”, “battery disposal tax” and other taxes/charges
yet to be dreamed up.
Don’t think EV’s will be any cheaper to drive than ICE vehicles after the Government
gets through with them.
(And don’t forget the Electric Companies when they increase residential rates.)
It costs $30 to get Tags where I live but I get charged $225 for my EV Tags.
That is one way. And I have no problem with that at all. I think that is pretty reasonable.
I can’t believe the negativity that is coming through this venue. Can’t anyone say something positive?
Joe,
Something positive !!!!
There I said it for you !
Speaking only for myself, I simply call ’em as I see ’em. Auto manufacturers have traditionally soaked their dealers for costs of upgrades, whether those upgrades are for facilities, service equipment or technical training. IMO, we’re going to be seeing backlash from more and more dealers as the parent corporations attempt to extort them for the cost of changeover to EVs.
Times—and technology—are changing, and not all the changes will be good for the motoring public. How all this plays out over time, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Or do like Tesla and remove dealers entirely and keep the money for the corporation. Tesla sells, maintains, sells you the fuel and insurance and will take your trade-in when you’re done. Making all the money for itself. That’s why they are the most valuable auto company on earth.
How can you defend dealers who try to screw you at every opportunity?
I suppose Cadillac gets beaten up because it claims to be a luxury brand but GM continues to manage the brand as something other than. So it has a big target on its figurative back that is hard to miss.
Lets go back to 2018/2019 when we were told about the new product onslaught from Cadillac that would bring a new model to market every 6 months. We are on the other side of that plan and not one product – save for the Escalade – introduced has moved the figurative needle forward. The competitive CT6 is gone and CT5/CT4 are re-skinned models moved downmarket. What supposed luxury marque does these things???!!!
Sooo, with disappointment after disappointment, it’s difficult to garner enthusiasm or excitement about Cadillac or any of its reinvention announcements and plans. Been there done that too many times already.
Thing is, I’d say many of us would hope that someone at GM reads these forums and gains insight into how the brand is perceived and then goes back to headquarter and pulls some strings to make real change take effect.
“Thing is, I’d say many of us would hope that someone at GM reads these forums and gains insight into how the brand is perceived and then goes back to headquarter and pulls some strings to make real change take effect.”
We could only hope.
However, I don’t think GM cares all that much about what any of us—the motoring public in general, as well as posters on this site, in particular—has to say about ANYTHING. If they did, there wouldn’t be so many class-action lawsuits (transmissions, engines, ignition switches, etc) against GM currently pending.
The Chinese market is what drives GM’s Cadillac line to go all electric. If it wasn’t for the Market share in China, Cadillac would have the way of Pontiac and Oldsmobile in the US already!
More and more countries are going electric and banning ICE vehicles by 2030-2035. All automakers are effected and it not a China thing.
I believe many of these dealers took the buy out in order to better fund their Chevy/Buick/GMC electric transition. Most of these dealers are selling 5-50 Cadillac’s per year.
Here in Illinois, the state revenue folks upped the annual vehicle registration fee from $25 to $1000 for EVs “because EVs don’t buy enough gasoline”; the price of which is higher than most states due to high state gasoline taxes. But the EVs are saving the environment when they charge their batteries with coal and gas produced electricity.
They’re probably making the sweet buyout offer to avoid spending $millions on lawsuits from dealers stating ‘breach of contract’.
They obviously want to end up with all Caddy dealerships spending the $200,000, and they are giving a fair disposition to legacy dealerships that do not share that vision…. Well done GM.
I don’t quite understand why the dealerships need to spend this much money – specifically, and investments in Level 2 ‘EV Charger’ docking stations, or DC fast charger (“Level 3”) units. To me it is rather like insisting the dealership also have next door a gasoline/diesel station.
I hold this view even though I’m on my 6th EV (5 of them have been GM), and I have 3 GM ev products currently. Just as I have always fueled my vehicles at non-dealership establishments, I fuel my plug-ins elsewhere also. Caddy dealers in my area have avoided the charging issue in years past by sending any customer over to another dealership under the same umbrella owner that has a charging facility…
Now, the profit-center of the Rental Business that a dealership runs (loaners, etc), are most economically charged back up at the dealership so I could see a minimal investment for that kind of thing as it improves their bottom line.
Other comments wary of Machete Mary’s Rosy Promises are spot on…. Its interesting to note that most of the EV products GM has manufactured in the past are gone – they’ve prematurely cancelled SIX otherwise fine, potentially profitable vehicles; (the only one currently sold in the states (BOLT EV) has 3 of its 4 model years having a cobbled battery charging system since they haven’t identified why they tend to catch fire if filled to the brim – I owning one of these).
Well….I guess I will be back in ownership of a car dealership. Please idiots by all means..HOLD OUT WALK AWAY! That way some of us can get in and make some $$$$ I guess this is what happens when you get fat cat and lazy…You forget why you originally were invited to the dance.
As I have been saying for years, Dealerships want absolutely nothing to do with EV’s and I was laughed at.
They all know they will most likely never see that customer again after the sale. Especially for leased vehicles.
Maybe tire rotations. And once in a while to fix some service issues.
Cadillac dealerships are the first to go through this. Just wait until more Automakers have to do the same. Wonder what Lexus Dealerships will do in 5 or so years when most Luxury Customers will be looking strictly for EV’s.
Still cannot believe Toyota sold their Stock in Tesla way back back in the Day. They cannot be Happy about that Decision especially as Tesla might become the Reason that they might become a huge irrelevant Company in 10 years as they are the last Major Auto Maker to start the Shift to EV’s
till you can recharge your battery in the same length of time it take to fill your gas tank EVs will not be mainstream. home charging would be a plus but what about people who do not have their own home or rent a home.
Those who rent out their homes will add chargers to increase the value. It’s already happening from what I hear from other EV owners.
Also people who live in apartments are starting to get success in asking for wall plugs or chargers to be installed at their parking locations.
Yeah so many SINGLE HOME ownership is in European Metropolitan Cities oh and in China too.
Ford and Lincoln dealers had to basically get certified and that was all about it. Why would GM actually think that dealers would actually spend that much money. A environmental conscious person who really cares about that stuff isn’t going to buy a electric car from GM. They just dropped out of a lawsuit to get rid of emission regulations very recently and they completely destroyed Flint Michigan. GM is going to fall hard at this EV stuff. They’re already off to a bad start for sure. The last thing you want to do is irritate the people who sell your cars.
The Dealers who update to Electric training and equip their Dealership at their cost might better stay without that cost when GM shuts them down to recover their cost is a big court cost. The Dealers might hold out for GM to train and equip their dealerships.
my wife was an office manager in a small family owned chevy dealership and she told me of the costs put on them by GM every time a new product came out.
As a Volt owner I love the electric drive around town, but also having the gas engine made 700 mile a day trips an easy proposition.
Electric, I have no interest….so long Cadillac.
Keith,
So you’ll stick to your 1997 Sunbird? 🤣😂
I can see that in 1921 GM wanted to drop Cadillac but today it profit on every Cadilac sold was $35,000,00 and every Truck $17,000.00 Drop the poor mans Cadillac today for Profit sounds fair? Dealers in the places that can not afford let alone cover the cost of a Cadillac in their town. I understand after 32 years if working as a Reliability Auditor GM looks at the big Picture but most Dealers can not afford to place Cadillac only on their lot. The facts Canada had Dealers sell Buick Pontiac GMC on their lots. and Cadillac Chevrolet Dealers carried the other lines worked in Canada then SATURN was a dealership unto its self by GM and where is it today ? The facts every car built by GM might just be Cadillac your lines are gone for the buyers of Oldsmobile Chevrolet has become Saturn of today. Pontiac was a great car but GM has sold its less fortunate buyers to other well known North American Companies. This History of GM removing its core purchasing public will not last.
If nearly 20% of your dealer group says “no thanks” this should be a sign of what’s coming. They are like the canary in the coal mine and its not singing at this point. If I was GM I’d be reevaluating this entire game plan. I know a few want to say these dealers are just not getting it. But consider that to be a GM dealer takes a lot of money and the vast majority don’t get to those levels without having some understanding of what does and doesn’t sell in their local markets. Not saying this is an absolute analysis of the dealers who are leaving but at nearly 20% it’s a safe assumption that more than a few know what they are doing here.
No this is an overall good thing. GM has nearly 900 Cadillac dealers they are on average selling under 200 cars per dealership per year. That’s if all things were equal but we know it’s not. We know there are dealerships that sell far more than that and those that sell far fewer, the ones that took the deal are likely the dealerships that were underperforming and this was easier to cash out.
GM needs to get the dealership count under control. BMW and other competitors are selling equal or more cars with over half fewer dealerships.
With the move to EVs GM can cut costs on dealerships and also reduce production costs over time.
GM has been wanting to reduce the number of Cadillac dealerships since 2016.
I was a GM dealer for 47 years, after spending millions to meet “Brand imaging” requirements , because they did not Terminate us and for GM after their 2008 bailout, I thought GM was worth the investment.
But as usual they just don’t “get it”. GM people are just not car people, if you know what I mean. They keep chasing their competition like Oldsmobile and Pontiac tried. They need to walk the walk and talk the talk and stop looking at what everyone else does, like they use too. Yes we bailed “everything” it just not worth the investment anymore. My Dad was an uneducated immigrant and worked his a*** off for GM. GM use to listen to their dealers and the customers, now they just spy on their competitors. Introduce a stand alone EV franchise, build it for the people and stop fooling around. Mixing and matching won’t work. GM seems to shove tools, training, cars everything down our throats we don’t need or want. We all need one thing – to make money! The bottom line is GM make their $$$$ from the dealers not the customers. Get refocused! All my years in business (75 total) they never listened to us, why start now!
This is a reply to the likes of Peter Audia !
You see that right there, your GM makes their money from the dealers not the customer !!
What the h3ll does that even mean ?
If you honestly believe that please explain !
You do know GM would have ZERO money if the CUSTOMER did not buy anything , RIGHT ?
You do know the GM dealer would have ZERO money if the CUSTOMER did not buy anything, RIGHT ?
We are literally watching this very thing play out, and as it is happening you are still blaming each other and still losing CUSTOMERS and therefore CLOSING !!!
Its like the GOP just spending 5 trillion dollars the last 4 years and NOW want the Dems to pay it back and not get their 5 trillion to spend !
Meanwhile in China the GM Cadillac dealers are growing and growing !!!
People on this site say the only recourse against GM is to quit buying the product, again, what the h3ll do you think is and has been happening here !!!!!!
We have owned and driven 5 Cadillacs and the last one has and is a POS, JUNK !!
This is where America is now, American luxury is JUNK !!
AS we all sit and argue over who gets to spend tax dollars on what, the citizens of our once great country have no money !!!
Cadillac has lost sales and dealers, yes to not listening to CUSTOMERS !!
Yet for YEARS now and even TODAY, when you have trouble at a dealership and call GM they send you right back to a dealership !!
If I had a penny for every time I heard a Cadillac or GM customer support rep tell me that the DEALER is the eyes and ears or GM on the ground I would buy an Escala ! Well really not as Cadillac does not make one, or anything that even looks like one,
Just another underpowered Cadillac with a cheap plastic Chevrolet interior !
So just like I have been saying here for YEARS NOW !!
People on this site, and at the dealerships, QUIT telling GM their products are ” Good Enough ”
And Citizens of America, the USA, Quit telling any of your congressmen to quit spending !!
The US is going to h3ll even quicker than we thought, and it will take MONEY and EDUCATION to get us back to be able to build or buy a good Cadillac !
Sorry, but Mr. Audia is correct. GM sells their products to their Dealers who buy and inventory them. They are not on consignment– they are paid for by the Dealer after they leave the factory.
That’s when GM (or any other manufacturer) makes their money!
I am SO, SO, sorry Bobert, You are BOTH wrong AGAIN !!
And ONCE AGAIN THIS IS THE PROBLEM WITH GM AND AMERICA RIGHT NOW !!!!!!!!
Sure I do agree that you as a dealership buy the product from GM !
However you would not buy ONE THING FROM ANYONE, EVEN GROCERIES for your family IF the CUSTOMER bought NOTHING from you !!!!!!
WHY is this so hard for some of you people to understand ?
How many horse carriages are sold by dealers ?
Are you saying the reason the horse carriage is no longer sold by the dealership is because you stopped buying them as a dealership ?
NO
There are no more horse carriages sold by dealerships because :
=================== THE CUSTOMER DOES NOT BUY HORSE CARRIAGES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today the auto dealer would sell $hit if the customer wanted $hit !!!!!!!!
Here is a story follow along !
There once was a automaker that wanted to sell their product to make money to buy groceries.
The automaker asked the CUSTOMER what they would like to drive.
The CUSTOMER said we would love X.
So the automaker built X and the CUSTOMER bought X.
Pretty soon the automaker no longer could keep up fixing X and selling X so the auto dealership was born !
The auto dealership and the automaker for over 100 years made sold and fixed X.
But for SOME REASON X was selling less and less yet the CUSTOMER was now buying Y from automaker Z !!
But the original automaker just kept right on making X because the dealer was buying X YET THE CUSTOMER WAS BUYING Y !!!!!!!!
How the h3ll long are you as a GM/Cadillac dealership going to keep telling GM/Cadillac to build X ?
The CUSTOMER has wanted Y for over 30 years yet YOU as a Cadillac dealership have been continuing to buy X !
This even goes to the reason I am here on this site in the first place The HORRIBLE GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT !!!!
Because YOU the dealership want the best deal on X that the CUSTOMER no longer even wants but it is all you offer the CUSTOMER you still have, you need a 5 STAR rating to put forth to GM as a CUSTOMER RESPONCE !!
When you as a dealer gets a CUSTOMER that has trouble with his or her POS X and you can not get the auto company to pay you even more for fixing X that nobody wants but it is what you have to offer, you tell the CUSTOMER to go somewhere else as YOU the DEALERSHIP do not want to spend the money you made from the CUSTOMER to fix X !
And that is what is and has been happening !!
People ask why are you as a Cadillac CUSTOMER still buying them then.
Its because GM has been showing and promising better so I keep giving them the funds to make this happen.
YET IT NEVER HAPPENS !
I was IN LINE to buy the XT4 RWD/AWD with a 2.7T or 3.0TT and an interior like the Lyriq !!
What was offered ?
A POS Chevy, with a plastic fantastic interior !!!
AS a CUSTOMER I am done here as Cadillac !!
Until they make a vehicle I want !
And the Lyriq is NOT THAT VEHICLE !!
Sure what we were shown on the interior was ” Good Enough ” for us !
However the size and the front look are a NO GO !!
Do you hear that Dealerships and GM ?
A NO GO !!!
GM you can make them all day long !
And the dealerships can buy them all day long !
Then GM can advertise that they are selling the $hit out of them !
While ONLY the dealerships left are buying them !
BUT I AS A CUSTOMER DO NOT WANT IT !!
I WANT:
A Escala looking sedan- EV or not the size of the current CT5
A XT4 sized Escala looking SUV EV or not
Both with an Escalade like or Lyriq like interior and if ICE, I would buy BOTH TODAY in RWD/AWD !!!
In and when their is charging available in my area, I would buy them in EV when they look the way I want !
I was watching a huge charging station CEO on the stock channel yesterday.
He was saying when more CUSTOMERS bought EVs they would spread the charging !
WHAT !
That is WHY the CUSTOMER will NOT buy an EV,
THERE IS NO CHARGING !!
What has happened to America ?
You cant sell a product to the CUSTOMER when they CAN NOT use it !!!
Not ONE CUSTOMER would buy a gas vehicle if you could not buy GAS !!!!!!!!
Try selling cell phones without a service provider !
This NEEDS to be an INVESTMENT in the FUTURE of AMERICA !!!!
Infrastructure !
EVEN if the CUSTOMER WANTS an EV !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE CUSTOMER will NOT buy one BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT USE IT !!!
It does NOT mean the CUSTOMER does not WANT it !!
LifelongGMowner: A couple points:
1). Regarding Charging, you are overstating the Chicken Little case just a bit too hard…..
There aren’t enough EV’s on the road currently to justify expensive infrastructure….. If and when EV’s become more popular, people will find an adequate business model for Public Charging and whatever is required will be provided. Around 9 out of 10 miles driven electrically currently happens because the owner plugs in at home. You might ask, what about congested city dwellers who currently have limited access to their own charging facilities? That is a point but that is also why Toyota’s RAV 4 PRIME PHEV product is such a winner, since it may be recharged at a ubiquitous 110 volt receptacle almost everyone has, give you 42 miles all electric driving, and, does not sacrifice performance in either electric nor gasoline modes. It requires nothing of the owner infrastructure wise – to the chagrin of High Priced Electricians like myself. But I should get plenty of work anyway from those who OPTIONALLY desire faster ALL-Electric charging.
2). Cadillacs these days, whether Plug-in (they’ve made two – ELR and CT6 PHEV), or ICE, have too many substandard Chinese “JUNK” parts in them, as others have noted..
Cadillac of old – with Wreath Feathers and Shield – used to be “Standard to the World”. But the junk they make lately is not even up to Chevy standards of old. It would be nice if the electrics start becoming more reliable ->> a GOOD SIGN is the substantially very reliable, conservatively designed BOLT EV. Unlike some manufacturers, the gearbox (transmission replacement) can easily handle continued 200 hp loadings – the capacity of the car’s dynamo, it being water cooled itself. This is the KIND OF QUALITY buyers WANT.
IF GM starts putting such quality back into the Cadillac Electrics, possibly the ‘junk moniker’ can be retired for a while.
One thing I don’t get is how GMC dealers aren’t paying this price for the new Hummer and yet Cadillac dealers are paying this crazy amount. I feel like this is a scam to get rid of the family-owned dealers, a great example of capitalism, or EXTREMELY poor planning.
Bill Howland,
I do agree with you 100% on the JUNK Cadillacs of today.
We own one !!!!
2014 ATS !
Now back to the talk of the USA boomer business model !
When I hear ” Business Model ” today I actually laugh out loud a little.
Did Tesla have a Business model that worked when started ?
How about Space X ?
How about Pay Pal ?
How about Microsoft ?
Apple ?
Amazon ?
Look we can go on forever here, Chicken and egg !!!
However we are no longer in the ” start over ” mode in the USA.
It is EASY to start something from scratch.
Its like remodeling an old house, you have to WAN IT !
Redoing an old car, you have to WANT it !
It costs more upfront, to tear out and replace than to start over most of the time today !
Its like when I was getting started, I tried everywhere to borrow money, nobody would loan me any.
You see I grew up poor, in South Dakota, no electricity at times poor, heat our house with wood poor.
Now I get mail all the time wanting me to give to this invest in that, blah, blah, blah.
I do not borrow money and invest millions, made from sweat !!!!
You see, chicken and egg.
Now in America, we cant get interest rates low enough for people to borrow – ME !
Soon we will pay people to start some business, and almost are already there !
The Fed is saying the US needs Congress to print more money to keep the US at a competitive level around the world yet the Boomers need a ” Business Model ”
Elon started with the charging stations in locations to sell the Tesla !
If GM or others want the public to buy EVs, SOMEONE needs to put forth the charging stations.
And I agree most will be charged at home and it will not pay for YEARS to build out these stations !
Yet unless ICE are outlawed people will NOT switch !
In fact someone will have to remove gas stations to get rid of ICE if there is no where to charge !
We will get there, but it will be ALOT slower than Cadillac needs in the US to make a product in the US !
Cadillac will be built in China where the government is building the charging, and sold back to the US consumer, or no Cadillac in the US at all in the near future !
lifelongGMowner:
The ‘Business Model’ I was referring to, is dealers using their ‘profit center’ of Rental/Loaner business to provide fully-charged vehicles for rent and/or loan – which they ultimately get paid for. Since they do make money on this aspect of the business – it is in their interest to have a small investment in charging facilities FOR THEIR OWN use, for their own vehicles.
On the other subject of Tesla’s Super Charging installations – every time Tesla advertises a new SC location, the stock price goes up! The SC’s don’t have to make money since the Stock price keeps going up.
Some of us think this won’t go on forever, but that is what it has been doing since their inception.
I’m 63 years old and have had Cadillacs since high school and still have one always have been a GM buyer these companies don’t care about us only the tree hugging morons when this happens by 2025 goodbye forever to Cadillac and General Motors I will buy from whatever company gives me my God given right to choose as an American and I won’t look back absolutely no sense! The Cadillac ELR was brilliant good luck
From Cadillacs view point you are the past. Your days of buying new are dwindling. They want the 20 something buyer for the future. The loyalty exists in your mind, not GMs business model. There will be companies who will continue to produce ice for many years to come. Cadillac has move on from your age group (and mine, I am older than you), time for you (and me) to move on from them.