Some Cadillac dealerships are entering new, luxury-focused markets as the automaker prepares to roll out a new line of battery-electric vehicles in the coming years.
Cadillac saw about 150 of its U.S. retailers jump ship last year to avoid making mandatory upgrades designed to support the sale of its future EV models. General Motors anticipated some Cadillac dealerships would not be on board with the required upgrades, which would cost most stores upwards of $200,000, so it set up a program to offer these stores buyout offers ranging from $300,000 to nearly $1 million.
While a fifth of its U.S. retailers bailed out due to these upgrades, others are expanding. According to Automotive News, the impending arrival of EV models has driven Cadillac dealers to set up new locations in high-end markets where it has not operated for years. A Canadian dealer group called Capital Automotive Group recently acquired the rights to open Cadillac stores in Beverly Hills and San Francisco, while a separate dealer group is in discussions about opening a new store in Manhattan.
AN also spoke to Inder Dosanjh, the principal of Dosanjh Family Auto Group, which is opening up a new Cadillac store in the Stevens Creek neighborhood of San Jose. This area, Dosanjh explained, has a strong car market that supports other high-volume luxury car dealers and should therefore be a good market for Cadillac. He also told the publication he expects sales of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq EV to be extremely strong once it begins arriving at dealers next year based on the initial reaction from his customers.
All told, eight dealership groups have acquired new Cadillac stores this year, AN reports. While that’s only a small portion of the 150 retailers it lost last year, these newcomers are bullish on Cadillac’s EV strategy and excited to sell products like the Lyriq. Many of the retailers that it lost were also located in rural areas where EV sales may not be strong, leaving a higher concentration of storefronts in metro areas where products like the Lyriq are sure to be popular.
The Cadillac Lyriq will be priced from $59,990 in the U.S. The crossover, which rides on GM’s new BEV3 platform, will initially arrive with a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque. A 100 kWh lithium-ion Ultium battery pack will provide an estimated 300 miles of driving range. Production will commence early next year at the GM Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.
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Comments
Makes sense. You’re not going to sell RWD EVs (i.e., the Lyriq) in snowy climates, so you have to open up stores among the affluent with warm weather.
Lyriq will have an AWD variant 6 months after start of production.
First I’ve heard of this. Thanks for letting me know.
Cadillac mentioned it last week in one of their pressers, the initial reservations are limited, just for 1 launch config, likely will fill up fast when reservations open on Saturday. Once those are delivered, there will be far more options, and configurations.
It is going to be weird going forward as theoretically it is not AWD but Dual Motor.
I driver an EV and I still keep saying AWD as well HAHA
They will have a good balance of product in all areas and climates. RWD does work in the snow contrary to what some people like to think but they all will have AWD options too.
The key here is many of the dealers lost were not strong dealerships. Many were just tacked on dealers to a Chevy franchise that really served little volume. Or they were small dealers again with low volume.
These low volume dealers are often the ones who served poor service and never lived up to the standards Cadillac really wanted.
These new dealers are banking that if they get in early they can ride a return of Cadillac. It is a risk as we still don’t know if GM will get this right and there will still be serious competition from other brands. But if it does play out like it should they could be in a great position.
Also with less dealers the prices will be better for the dealers as most will be regional dealers and not competing with multiple dealers in the same area.
EV is a big deal on the West Coast. In Seattle, I see way more Teslas than Cadillacs, by a factor of 20x if not more. Exception is Escalade, which is used for Uber and Lyft (can’t say I’ve seen one on the road that isn’t Uber or Lyft). (As another data point, in Seattle proper, I cannot recall the last time I’ve seen any Chevy other than the Bolt.)
And there are no Cadillac dealers in Seattle proper. One on the Eastside, which is the Oakland County of Seattle. If Cadillac is to succeed with the Lyriq, their early adopters will be where EVs are already popular, so it totally makes sense they start to expand into areas where they’re not.
Bellevue, Shoreline, and Renton are not enough? That’s 3 within 10 miles of downtown Seattle, how many do they need?
I wonder how they feel about making that move to buy a Chevy now that their Bolt is severely limited in use. Probably not a good first impression for people that wouldn’t have touched a GM product in the past.
Hey Mike D,
I couldn’t agree with you more and have been crying about the demise of not only Cadillac in the San Francisco Bay Area, but all gm car dealers that have disappeared. To hear the news a Cadillac dealer is coming to the City is awesome – a direct attack from gm (!!!) on all the imports that have set up shop here and are thriving. All the Bay Area Cadillac stores are currently tacky ad-on’s to large dealership groups that will sell you anything – not the best way to sell an expensive luxury vehicle. To hear that gm is setting up a new store in Stevens Creek is fantastic – the heart of Silicon Valley! The current Cadillac dealer there, next door to one of the biggest BMW dealership’s in the US, is a joke. A new stand-alone dealer opened up in Colma, CA, just outside of San Francisco and is currently suffering from low/no inventory (due to the chip shortage), but looks to be well positioned to fight with the huge Lexus dealer across the street. Time will tell if successful, but this is the first real break-out for the General. If Toyota, BMW, and Tesla can have a dealership in every Bay Area city, there is no reason gm can’t do the same.
Don’t give up gm!!! You have a lot of opportunity out there.
I said it three years ago and have kept saying it….the shift to EV’s will be Cadillacs last ditch effort to finally become a Tier One Luxury Brand again. This is it, Final Chance.
So far so good with the Lyriq except for the lack of a Frunk.
Someone in Cadillac must have data on the huge interest of the LYRIQ if they approved for new stores.
I was very interested in purchasing s first edition Lyriq had my laptop and I pad all ready for the release at 4 pm on 18 th. Got to the dealer selection portion of order sheet and would not recognize any dealerships in Florida or New Jersey. Then came Sorry Sold out. Why GM wouldn’t have taken everyone’s order in the order they were received is beyond me left s bad taste in my mouth. They could have rewarded the first 1500 with early editions but apparently they didn’t comprehend why not take all orders and get those customers into Cadillac show rooms. Like Ford did with Lightning F-150. One thing to put 100 dollar deposit and another to show up at Dealership with your check book. Gm lost that enthusiasm they marketed for the September 18 th reveal and many loyal customers who were shut out.
Believe it or not, there is a huge Cadillac following out there mainly in medium to larger cities. They are also among the first to adopt new technologies because they can afford it, but also because they tend to be better educated about global warming’s causing climate change and the need for cleaner cars. I predict that the Lyriq will be a huge seller for Cadillac especially if the Ultium battery proves to be safe (no fires) over time, which will increase sales as time goes on. I’m especially glad to see that GM will closely oversee LG’s battery manufacturing processes from now on.
EVs provide Cadillac an opportunity to reinvent itself going from grandpa’s undesirable damaged brand to a modern, progressive automaker focused on cutting edge technology, design and quality.
Dropping miseized and compact sedans aided FCA and transitioning from ICE may do the same for US Cadillac sales. I only hope that this IQ naming scheme does not span the entire Cadillac lineup because “cool” will matter to younger buyers.
Who was responsible for Lyriq design? The European NY team or those who followed?