Cadillac Chief Says The ELR Is A “Big Disappointment”

Earlier in the year, Cadillac released the 2016 ELR and despite bringing with it a number of upgrades and advancements, the automaker’s chief marketing officer has still labelled it as a “big disappointment”.

In a revealing interview with Automobile Magazine, Uwe Ellinghaus said that there’s no denying the ELR has been a disappointment for the company. That’s despite Ellinghaus originally being a supporter of the car.

Ellinghaus believes that the ELR has failed to prove a sales success as it was created as a “niche in the niche in the niche” and therefore appealed to very few customers. He said that the way Cadillac has marketed the ELR as a luxurious two-seater coupe has proved unsuccessful with many comparing it to the Tesla Model S which costs about the same but offers two more doors and an advanced all-electric powertrain.

Meanwhile, the ELR makes do with two electric motors and a small 1.4-litre four-cylinder acting as a generator. While the car is capable of traveling up to 330 miles with the generator in action, the automaker’s chief doesn’t believe that powerplant has been well received. He therefore concluded that in the future, Cadillac will simply offer more conventional plug-in hybrid variants across its models saying that it’s now impossible to emulate the success of Tesla.

While sales figures haven’t been released for the 2016 Cadillac ELR, we do know that sales of the 2014 model were so slow that a 2015 model wasn’t introduced due to the leftover 2014 inventory.