Cadillac Pulls Plug on ELR Luxury Electric Coupe
CARS.COM — It came, it went. Cadillac has axed its ELR, a pricey electric coupe with a gasoline range-extender motor that’s based on the prior-generation Chevrolet Volt.
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GM confirmed the coupe’s demise in a statement today to Cars.com, adding that the ELR “marked an important step in Cadillac’s ongoing expansion.”
Cadillac unveiled the ELR for 2014 as a $75,000-plus luxury plug-in coupe, and, indeed, it delivered an appreciably upscale experience versus the Volt. But you still could buy two Volts for less than one ELR, a reality that seemed to seal its fate from the outset.
It wasn’t for lack of effort by GM. As gas prices fell and consumer interest in plug-in cars waned, the General ordered an all-out charge with discounts. Incentives in 2015 averaged $20,061 per ELR, according to Autodata Corp. — effectively a Chevrolet Cruze worth of discounting. And after skipping the 2015 model year due to slow sales, the ELR returned for 2016 with an MSRP around $10,000 lower, plus more power, longer electric range and better handling.
Nothing worked. From the ELR’s first month of sales — December 2013 — through the end of last month, U.S. shoppers bought all of 2,697 cars. Cadillac sold about that many SRX crossovers, an SUV on its way out, last month alone.
Farewell, ELR. We figured you wouldn’t be long.
GM said Cadillac still is “committed to delivering new technology, including advanced propulsion,” pointing to a new plug-in-hybrid version of the CT6 that “will soon launch.”
Still want an ELR? Cars.com has fewer than 100 in national inventory, but we recommend a lightly used example if you can hunt one down. All those incentives, plus low gas prices, have been none too kind to the ELR’s resale value. Of the handful of used 2014 ELRs on Cars.com, more than half are listed below $40,000.
