Cadillac has been quite clear about its intention to completely transition to a lineup of battery electric vehicles by 2030. However, Cadillac recently scaled back its ambition to achieve full electrification by the end of the decade, opting for a softer approach to the transition.
According to a recent report from The Detroit Free Press, Global Cadillac Vice President John Roth said that the luxury marque is still on track to offer a full line of EVs by 2030. However, it will continue to produce and market internal combustion engine (ICE) based vehicles for some time.
“EVs and ICE, we want to be clear, will coexist for a number of years,” Roth said in a media event on May 1st, 2024. “We want to make sure that we have that luxury of choice in the marketplace and both will have an opportunity to meet the customer needs as we look forward.”
Roth’s statement contradicts those made by several prior Cadillac leaders over the last five years. In 2019, former Cadillac President Steve Carlisle said, “None of us knows how long this transition will take. We will be there with internal combustion engines, as well as electric… but the majority, if not all, Cadillacs will be electric by 2030.” He also cited the end of the decade as “the end of the ICE age for Cadillac.”
Then, in 2021, former Cadillac Global Vice President, Rory Harvey – who succeeded Roth – reaffirmed Carlisle’s outlook, saying, “We will be leaving this decade as an EV brand, as things stand today, which means that we will not be selling ICE vehicles by 2030.”
However, demand for EVs has significantly cooled off over the past year, prompting Cadillac to reconsider its all-electric strategy. When asked about Harvey’s quote from 2021, Roth said, “We are always listening to the customer. We are still on strategy of offering an all-EV portfolio by the end of the decade and we’re going to listen to the customer and let them be our guide. That’s our answer.”
In short, Cadillac sounded very confident about being an all-EV brand as recently as 2021, but the luxury marque now seems to hold its past EV plans as a “mission statement” rather than a timeline-specific roadmap.
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