Cadillac Electric Car In The Works

GM’s luxury division Cadillac has a new boss, a new headquarters, and a new plug-in hybrid sedan in the works. According to a report from Reuters, the brand that once claimed to be “The Standard of the World” is also planning a pure electric car to compete toe-to-toe with the Tesla Model S.

Cadillac’s new boss Johan de Nysschen wants to double the brand’s lineup from five to 10 models in the new few years, with a full-size plug-in hybrid sedan called the CT6. Also on deck is a successor to the floundering Cadillac ELR and an even-bigger luxury sedan called either the CT8 or CT9 meant to take on stretched versions of the Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 series.

But the biggest news is that a pure-electric car is coming to the Cadillac lineup. A 200-mile, $30,000 electric car reportedly based on the Chevy Sonic is supposedly in the works and due out in 2017, the same time the $35,000 Tesla Model III should debut. Will this lower-priced Chevy-based EV make its way over to Cadillac the same way the Chevy Volt was tarted up as the Cadillac ELR? Could be, though given all the flack GM took over the $76,000 price of the ELR they might not want to take that chance again.

Then again, this is GM we’re talking about, managed to be both the world’s largest automaker and completely bankrupt at the same time. Cadillac sales have yet to recover to their pre-recession highs in the U.S., and globally the brand has failed to make much of an impact despite executive claims that annual sales of 300,000 units are around the corner.

Can a Tesla competitor and plug-in hybrids help rejuvenate interest and sales in the old luxury marque? That’s the bet GM seems to be making, and despite all its shortcomings, one should never count the General out.

Source: Gas 2.