Summary
- Cadillac’s Lyriq is a top-selling EV, outselling competing brands in the US and Canada.
- The brand plans to expand its electric vehicle lineup with new models beyond the Lyriq.
- Cadillac intends to keep internal combustion engine models in its lineup for the foreseeable future, potentially adopting hybrid technology.
During a private event held in Detroit earlier this week, where Cadillac hosted journalists and content creators, Cadillac Vice-President, John Roth, presented a corporate update on how the Cadillac brand is doing as a whole, particularly in the US and Canadian markets. Roth also made sure to underline Cadillac’s success in the electric vehicle (EV) space so far with the Lyriq, albeit having been impacted by serious delivery delays caused by production-related challenges.
To Cadillac’s defense, the statistics do indeed look good. According to the carmaker, the Lyriq was its best-selling crossover in Q1 2024, outselling, even, all EVs from competing brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. In Canada, the Lyriq accounted for 12% of Cadillac’s total retail sales.
GM’s luxury division, then, seems well off in the EV space, and plans on expanding its electric vehicle offering over the coming years with the addition of new models such as the Celestiq full-size luxury sedan, the Escalade IQ full-size electric SUV, the Optiq – which should act as an entry-level electric SUV – and the Vistiq, which aims at being a three-row, midsize model similar in size to the current XT6.
But Cadillac also had other news to share during that event, such as the fact that its internal combustion engine (ICE) models aren’t going anywhere soon. We learned that Cadillac intends on keeping them within its lineup for a good while still.
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Cadillac Says ICE Models Are Here To Stay, But Until When?
When challenged by journalists, John Roth didn’t want to go into the details about Cadillac’s ICE roadmap, but it’s obvious that the recent “cooldown” we’ve been witnessing in the EV industry has had some carmakers rethinking their electrification strategy. Remember, Cadillac has pledged to become a fully electric car brand by 2030, so what gives?
Roth made it clear during his speech that Cadillac’s current ICE models are here to stay. He also alluded to the fact that some of these models have recently been updated in order to continue remaining competitive in their respective space. However, nothing was said about replacing Cadillac’s current ICE offerings by way of a new generation of platforms, let alone new engines. So it’s all rather vague at this point.
Could Cadillac Soon Introduce Hybrid Powerplants?
We also heard nothing about potentially upcoming hybrid powertrains at Cadillac, even though GM CEO Mary Barra announced that her company plans on bringing in regular hybrids as well as plug-in hybrids to North America as an effort to ease consumer transition to fully electric vehicles.
So, when John Roth spoke of Cadillac ICE models coexisting with EVs in the future, it could be a hint of new hybrid technology making its way to the North American lineup.
Older, legacy models such as the XT5 crossover – a vehicle that’s long due for a model overhaul – could benefit from hybrid technology. That, or Cadillac simply plans on stretching out its current ICE offering through midcycle updates until it eventually phases them out. We tried to obtain more details, but nobody at Cadillac wanted to discuss future products.
