Every unit of the Cadillac Celestiq ultra-luxury sedan is assembled by hand at the GM Global Technical Center in Michigan, with customers offered an extreme level of personalization opportunities. Each unit starts at an eye-watering $340,000. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Cadillac Celestiq production is relatively limited. Now, we’re getting a better idea of what that limited production volume actually looks like.
In a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the former Tonight Show host climbs behind the wheel of the Cadillac Celestiq for a first-hand driving experience. During a chat with Vehicle Chief Engineer Tony Roma, Leno and Roma briefly touch on production volume for the Celestiq.
“This is super low volume,” Roma tells Leno. “We’re not announcing the exact volume but think more like hundreds, not thousands. And in the U.S., we’ll never make more than – maybe 250 would be like the best year we’d ever make,” Roma says, adding that Celestiq production was roughly “in the order of one a day.”
Check out the full video below. The production volume discussion can be found around the five-minute mark:
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Roma’s comments fall more or less in line with previous GM Authority coverage, in which we reported that GM would produce roughly 100 to 150 Cadillac Celestiq units annually.
Considering just how customizable (and expensive) the Celestiq actually is, the ultra-low production volume certainly makes sense. Customers will be able to outfit their new ultra-luxury sedan with a broad range of materials, finishes, colors, and more. In fact, customers could even have a chance to use wood sourced from a tree on their property for the interior trim, if that was something they were interested in.
The 2024 Cadillac Celestiq is also quite quick (albeit not as quick as some of the other vehicles in its segment). Motivation is sourced from two all-electric drive motors, which are juiced by a 111-kWh battery pack to produce upwards of 655 horsepower and 646 pound-feet of torque. Meanwhile, the GM BEV3 platform provides the bones.
Comments
And every single one will have a slew of problems unbecoming of a vehicle in that price range. GM does NOT have a glorious history with hand-built vehicles.
This car will do well based on the surprising sales numbers from the Cadillac Lyriq and I personally wasn’t even expecting to see so many of those vehicles on the road today.
I really just don’t care about this car.
WOW do you work for Toyota or Possibly KIA. I rented a GV60 and it was the worst car I have ever driven. You can go away because Toyota does not even make an EV. Toyota is a joke company. GM is a real car company.
SO if they produce 250 a year, is there a profit? Probably not much, but they cannot mass produce a full-sized luxury sedan, ie. CT6, in the states and make a profit, but develop a 2nd generation CT6 for China and produce it there. I see a few flaws in that business plan.
Not all buyers want a CUV/SUV, a mid-size car trying to be a luxury car like the CT4/5, EV’s or pickups. Mercedes, Genesis, BMW and Audi still make sedans and sell them and that’s where I’ll be looking when I have to replace one of my CT6’s.
Slow down there, Silver..
You actually put a HYUNDAI/KIA in with those luxury sedans.. Wow!
I certainly hope you make a living outside of the automotive world.
Everybody knows the CT4 is a beefed up Malibu .
It’s not. The CT4 shares a platform and many parts with the Camaro, not much with the Malibu. The XT4 is the beefed-up Malibu.
The expression “Everybody knows” is meant to make someone feel stupid yet you’re the one who doesn’t know…
Everybody knows they are all headed for the scrap yard .
Have they sold even one of these monstrosities???
Think this is an embarrassment ?
Wait ‘til F1 !
Another roach gm will lose millions on.
Or you could by a 3 bedroom ranch in the Midwest that actually appreciates in value .
Square off the rear and you have a Luxury EV Hearse .
That kind of money and all you end up with is another SUV/Crossover. There are lots better things for the money.
I don’t think GM actually knows how many they’ll build. The answer could eventually turn out to be none. They originally said 400 units annually and said the car was sold out for two years. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Roma now lowering the target. In actuality, they don’t seem to have built any yet despite saying it was in production over a year ago then later backtracking and saying production would begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 as ‘25 model-year vehicles.
GM keeps going out and hyping the car as they’re doing with Leno (this is actually Leno’s second time driving/promoting the car) and various other media outlets. It seems like if the car was “sold out” they wouldn’t need to do that. My theory is that they’ve perhaps had some interest but either no actual orders or, most likely, not enough orders yet to justify the commencement of production. That’s the only scenario that makes sense given how unwilling the company has been to provide any information at all about what’s going on.
Over its two year model run from 1957 to 1958, the Eldorado Brougham, which was also hand-built, saw only 704 copies produced. The first model year began with 400 cars built followed by 304 copies for its second and final year of production. GM reportedly lost money on every one and was disappointed with its acceptance in the marketplace. As today with Celestiq, GM was challenging Rolls Royce for the pinnacle of luxury sedans. Perhaps the Celestiq will do good to match the volume of the Eldorado Brougham, or perhaps it won’t even meet those historical markers. GM isn’t saying much but it’s safe to say it hasn’t been a roaring success so far.
Very nice seeing Jay doing a Celestiq test-drive video.
I find it hard to believe that an ugly car such as this is going to go up against a Bentley or even a baby RR. GM can’t even build any of its “car lines” without some sort of “constraint” availability so now “magically” they have that problem fixed on 250 cars a year (1 a day) ?
I doubt Bentley and RR and MB are worried.
That being said,,,in the next article on this site is this: “How To Unlock A Cadillac Celestiq With A Dead 12-Volt Battery”. They haven’t even built it yet and now telling you a flaw in the car.
Everything about this car is a joke. RR sells around 5,000 cars a years. So, 250 a year for this monstrosity might be about right. If people ever stop and think that they are buying a Chevy Suburban when they buy a Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac is out of business. They tried to be like Mercedes, hence the alphabet soup name for their cars. That didn’t work, so then tried to be like BMW with their V cars, and they’re killing those off. So one last gasp, let’s be an all electric luxury car company with limited exterior and interior colors but continue to sell our gas hog Escalade to keep the circus afloat.
WOW so many negative comments on a car none of the commenters can afford. Most of the commenter work for Foreign Car companies too. This car is better made and better quality than a Rolls Royce and Sold Out. So sorry guys your comments are not working. I will Praise GM for a job well done. Toyota keeps saying they will have a EV but never delivers and goes against EVS now they say in 2028 will have one but after they copy everyone else. The Company you should have harsh comments is Toyota. They bash every tech they cant make or not ready for. They used to say the Chevy Volt would catch fire.
Hand made is nothing more than a gimmick. Machines can do just about anything consistently better than a human.
Why is GMA keep saying that the CELESTIQ is underpowered in it’s segment in every story when the only car similar to it in price albeit higher than the CELESTIQ is the Spectre? Tesla and Lucid don’t compete and are totally different class of vehicles.
Why would anyone sell their Chevy Impala and buy this overpriced car? Make me a Pontiac G8 with all the new technology at a fair price and I’ll buy one.
GM has already shot themself in foot before this what’s next ..
So so ugly.