Will the luxury brand's unique sales strategy work? Time will tell.
Cadillac sales representatives have been spotted approaching Tesla owners waiting for their vehicles to charge at a Shanghai, China Supercharger station with free test drive offers of the brand new Lyriq SUV. A Twitter user caught the company reps in the act. The obvious goal is for Cadillac to poach these Tesla owners with its first-ever all-electric vehicle.
Chinese consumers typically embrace Western luxury brands so it makes complete sense for Cadillac to give this strategy a shot. Its reps purposely parked at least one Lyriq smack dab in the middle of the charging station's lot. There was no way anyone couldn't see it.
Cadillac employees then directly approached Tesla owners with the offer. We don't know how many actually went for a test drive but we have to give Cadillac credit for making a brash effort.
Competition in the EV market has drastically increased over the past year or so as new players, aside from Tesla, enter the scene. The Lyriq, which is assembled in both the US and China, is one of Tesla’s main rivals, targeting the Model X and loaded versions of the Model Y. The latter is also built in China while the Model X is manufactured in California only for now. China has also become ground zero of an EV price war.
In January, Tesla announced Model Y price cuts which immediately sparked outcry from customers who had recently purchased their vehicles at higher prices. Cadillac, however, has so far not lowered Lyriq pricing, which begins at 479,700 RMB (about $69,650 according to current exchange rates). In the US, the Lyriq starts from $57,195, which now qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The Lyriq is only the beginning of Cadillac’s massive EV lineup expansion. The hand-built, ultra-luxurious $300,000 Celestiq will soon begin production but it’s already sold out for the next 18 months. The Celestiq will be sold in China as well.
We doubt Cadillac will overtake Chinese Tesla sales anytime soon but things could change in the coming years. Still, it’s a huge task given that Tesla has had a years-long head start in just China but literally every major market.
Keyword: Cadillac Caught Offering Free Lyriq Test Drives At Chinese Tesla Supercharger Station