The Cadillac Celestiq represents a new tier for the luxury marque, starting at an eye-watering $340,000 and dripping with customization opportunities. It’s also all-electric, marking a major new direction for the brand and serving as a showcase of GM’s latest technology features. Suffice to say, the Cadillac Celestiq is an important vehicle, and now, Jay Leno and the folks from the Audrain Museum Network are taking a drive, as seen in the following 21-minute video.
In the video, Leno is joined by GM Global Design VP Michael Simcoe and Audrain CEO Donald Osborne as the trio explore the design, performance, and tech behind the new Cadillac Celestiq.
From a design perspective, Simcoe and Leno highlight Cadillac’s efforts to maintain a distinctive identity, setting it apart from other luxury brands like BMW or Mercedes. The Celestiq’s recognizable vertical light signatures and clean-sheet design reflect this uniqueness. What’s more, as an electric flagship, the Celestiq is a major component in Cadillac’s move into the EV market, featuring advanced tech like four-wheel steering and powerful regenerative braking, all while delivering high performance with 600 horsepower and 641 pound-feet of torque.
One of the standout features discussed in the video is the Celestiq’s bespoke nature, where buyers can collaborate with Cadillac’s design team to tailor nearly every aspect of their vehicle, reinforcing the Celestiq’s status as a top-tier luxury offering. The trio also praises the vehicle’s acoustic design, ensuring an upscale passenger experience with exceptional sound clarity, even during conversations in the back seat.
Michael Simcoe further explains Cadillac’s strategy of moving away from traditional model names and embracing a new naming convention, as seen with the Celestiq and Lyriq, once again reflecting the brand’s move into EVs. There are practical features as well, such as the Celestiq’s adjustable glass roof, where each passenger can control their own window tint as they see fit, all the way down to individual quarters above each of the seats.
Check out the full video right here:
As a reminder, the Cadillac Celestiq rides on the GM BEV3 platform and features GM drive motors and GM batteries. Each unit is assembled by hand at the GM Artisan Center in Michigan.
Comments
A few thoughts:
1. Why was a “museum director” sitting in the front seat and doing most of the talking? He distracted from what should have been an interesting dialogue between Simcoe and Leno about the creation process for Celestiq. If it were an old car that was part of the Audrain collection then it makes sense to have him on board jabbering. Here it doesn’t.
2. Simcoe isn’t really up to the job he holds. The Celestiq can only be characterized as unattractive and he doesn’t come across as a dynamic leader perched quietly in the back seat like the proverbial shrinking violet. I can’t imagine Bill Mitchell acting like an Uber passenger in a stratospherically priced all-new Cadillac that he should be proud of. Even Simcoe seems embarrassed by it.
3. Nothing about the car really looks expensive on camera. Maybe in real life it would but the interior looks rather ordinary and uninspired. I also can’t understand the thought process of the back seat being shared with cargo like a econo hatch from the ‘80s. It looks especially cheap when the camera pans around to Simcoe sitting in the “limo seat” with vast unadorned openness behind him.
4. Why does GM keep hyping this car if it’s sold out for two years? Start building them and put them in the hands of owners and on the road. That’s better advertisement than the endless media stories about something that doesn’t exist yet. All the promos and no actual cars nearly a year after Cadillac’s Roth said it was entering production leads me to wonder if the “sold out” claim is actually true. We’ve learned it wasn’t with the Hummer EV and the EV pickups so naturally one would question GM’s similar claim here.
That copper color is the first time I’ve seen one in a decent color. But the vehicle still shouldn’t exist and is one of the waving flags for the current industry-wide complete arrogance.
The “Museum director” is very knowledgeable and judges a lot of classic and modern car shows. He knows his stuff. And most folks don’t know about this car and Cadillac is trying to raise their profile in the ultra luxury game.
91FairladyZ,
Point taken; I was not familiar with the guy from the museum but I still feel Simcoe should’ve been front and center and not him. I’ve pretty much never seen Simcoe out talking about GM design as Ed Wellburn so often did so here it truly seemed to be a missed opportunity.
Wellburn with Leno going over each and every line and aspect of the Elmiraj’s design a few years ago was quite memorable. Although I think Ed was a much better VP of Design and the stunning Elmiraj was proof of that, it would’ve been nice to hear Simcoe outline what they were trying to achieve with the Celestiq. He acknowledged that the car’s design had not been well received so it would be nice to hear from him what they were thinking when it was conceived.
Jay Leno is fully in favor of electric transportation. His daily drive was a 2011 Chevy Volt. He has most examples of every electric car made in the U.S.
I just don’t get the reason for making a luxury car – a Cadillac – with a hatchback. Had they not done this, they would have created a beautiful car. To me, any beauty they had was ruined for that reason. Come on, GM! Change for the sake of change is what will sink the marque. How about a “retro-inspired” luxury car – combining the design language of the late 1950s, 60s, and 70s (maybe even Fleetwood Brougham from the mid 90s) but in a modern way. Trust me when I say not all people in their 60s, 70s, and beyond want to drive a Lexus ES or Toyota Camry… But that is what’s available. If you build it (a classically inspired luxury car), they will come… or something like that.