luxury brand in the United States. It was king of the hill. But, gradually, new options came onto the market and Cadillac became more and more associated with … grandparents. It pretty much seemed like the brand was dying. However, the Escalade came onto the scene, quickly became one of the most prominent vehicles of rappers, celebrities, and country clubs, and the brand has done quite well for itself. has been quite popular.
Bringing the Optiq to market tells me a couple of things. For one, it tells me that Cadillac is serious about selling EVs . If Cadillac wasn’t serious about this, it would just sell the Lyriq. Bringing another EV to market that’s just a couple thousand dollars cheaper doesn’t make sense if you’re trying to keep EVs to a niche category and corner of your dealerships.
And let’s come back to that Escalade IQ. You don’t roll out a new model that’s $50,000 more than your top-end model without thinking, and even more so when this is an EV and is building on the giant legacy brand of the Escalade. Cadillac 100% wants to be seen as an EV leader and a company that’s going all-in on EVs. Cadillac is telling people:
“The Ramos Arizpe Complex received a $1 billion investment in 2021 for the production of electric cars, as the fifth General Motors North America plant to produce EVs,” said GM Mexico’s Communications Department to local press. “Recently, Cadillac announced in Paris the launch of Optiq, which will also be produced in the Ramos Arizpe plant in the last quarter of the year.”