Limited cash to keep GM from green-lighting Cadillac Converj?
Click image above for a gallery of Cadillac Converj live shots
General Motors' increasingly empty coffers could consign the Cadillac Converj show car to 'concept only' status. The Detroit Auto Show coupe has been the subject of production rumors since before it rolled onto the stage in Cobo earlier last week, but now Automotive News is reporting that GM may not have enough money to make Converj a reality.
AN quotes GM vice chairman Bob Lutz as saying that the Converj is far from a done deal:
"Ready to go? Well, first we have to prove to ourselves that we have the money... and then that it's a high enough priority to displace something else, and that we can actually make money on the vehicle, and that there is potential customer interest and so forth. We haven't done any of that work yet."Our take? The angularly gorgeous Cadillac was designed around the same extended-range Voltec architecture as Chevrolet's forthcoming Volt, itself a spectacularly expensive research and development effort. GM is clearly committed to making the Volt a production reality, and if it ever has hopes of making money on its plug-in hybrid technology, a higher-priced, higher-margin product like from an upper-crust brand like Cadillac would seem like one of the best ways to defray R&D costs. In short, GM may still have to conduct due diligence on the Converj's business case, but if there's any money at all left in the company's bank accounts, we still think the future for the showstopper is a bright one. Given the 2011 date attached to the Volt, we would expect the Caddy to roll into showrooms for 2012.
Let's just hope it arrives in showrooms wearing a new name.
Gallery: Detroit 2009: Cadillac Converj
Gallery: Cadillac Converj concept
[Source: Automotive News: subs. req.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
dave 6:45PM (1/19/2009)
definite game changer. A shame if it does not get build.
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Kimura 1:44PM (1/19/2009)
Hmm, a showstopping vehicle that could not only help offset the costs of the Volt but actually make a profit and they are still debating whether or not to build it?
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alex 3:23PM (1/19/2009)
WHOA!!!!! we've got a financial whiz kid on our hands!!!! how were you able to determine in a matter of minutes, without access to any financial data that GM can make money on this car, when GM themselves haven't been able to determine that!?!?! you just done out-smarted a whole company! amazing! you should work for lehman bros!
zamafir 4:37PM (1/19/2009)
Yes, Kimura, because they have NO MONEY, the bail outs were intent on keeping the company's doors open so they can avoid folding all together, not to provide massive amounts of capital to R&D multiple new lines. The strings attached to tax payer cash seem to focus on turning around a failed business model first, not investing in yet proven model lineups and technologies.
Kimura 5:16PM (1/19/2009)
So you expect them to just not do anything? Then why waste the money on building the concept in the first place? Why not just the money put it towards "keeping the lights on" or improving a car that's already on the market?
Judy Zik 5:47PM (1/19/2009)
The bailout cash will give GM the ability to survive long enough to launch the Volt and more importantly the Cruze and other more profitable new vehilces while keeping their doors open until the economy rebounds. Even without new products once the economy turns around GM will sell more than enough Malibu's and pick ups to survive.
The Converj was a nice design excercise and good PR nothing more. They knew showing the Volt again wasn't going to get them headlines so they needed something different. The reality is that GM needs to focus on getting the Volt out and showing it can do 40 miles on electricity and that this new technology is reliable and even if they do it is really just a publicity stunt that wont likely turn a profit for years. It is a bit far fetched to assume that they can at the same time manage to pull off the same thing with a Caddilac version that would weight a whole lot more and be full of way more electric gadgets. It is going to take more than a little solar panel on the top to pull that off. Probably more likely something you will see in the second generation of the Volt's platform.
suicycle.com 7:09PM (1/20/2009)
These ideas take a while to develop and then to actually become concept cars that we can drool over. The real problem is that the foresight in the industry is so short. A few months ago, many in the US were all up in arms over high gas prices. Every car company was touting whatever slim bit of fuel-efficient technology their marketing departments could utter with a clean conscience. In reality, these vehicles should have been on the market years ago. Now, cash-strapped, the very vehicles that could have helped them weather the crisis better are nothing more than eight-figure amounts in the R&D account.
Flashpoint 1:46PM (1/19/2009)
I'm still waiting to buy a Cadillac CTS-Coupe. I want one so bad I've actually got $15,000 in the bank collecting interest towards the purchase.
cadillac has seriously stepped up their game and between this car and the CTS-coupe, Buyers will be riding ridiculously stylish.
I'd go so far as to say, a CTS-Coupe V series would be more logical to own than a Lamborghini Reventon - especially considering you can buy stylized rims for it.
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Will 2:25PM (1/19/2009)
I am saving money for the CTS-Coupe as well. It is so gorgeous and amazing to drive. Well the CTS is great to drive so I assume the coupe would be too.
BoxerFanatic 1:47PM (1/19/2009)
Nice bait and switch GM, but I am not falling for it.
This from the company that thinks that Government should take partial ownership, and also help with financing, marketing, and everything else...
"Oh... I see you like this concept... Well, we can't really do it unless we get some more cash... Poor us. You could call your congressman and tell them that they should give us some more federal dollars, and maybe we'll build this thing..."
Bullcrap.
If they can't build good cars for lack of cash, maybe they should stop building some of the crap, so that they can focus on the good stuff, and do it on their own dime.
Go GM, do your job. Like everyone else is expected to, BTW.
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LES 2:56PM (1/19/2009)
I'm sure that you Boxer is not any better than any gm car out there. You get your head out of your behind and look at some of J. D. Powers ratings as of late. Your Boxer is not listed in or near the top of any ratings out there. So before you bash any American car go take a look of some of the top cars. Oh, by the way if you own a company out of the states, you leave your profit there, you donn't bring it home to better your life style. Let's bring back building our own cars here. If GM goes down you will not be driving a Boxer much longer, because you will not have a job.
Beat-it-nerd 3:48PM (1/19/2009)
Really Boxterboy...Really??? I didn't interpret that quote to be a bait and switch at all. EVERY single manufacturer right now is in the same boat with future product development. Every decision they make right now has to be very calculated and an obscene amount of due diligence has to be completed in order to just "green light" a concept car. Come one man...
caddy-v 3:49PM (1/19/2009)
Boxer, you need to open the garage door and quit inhaling the fumes.
On second thought, leave it closed.
Sea Urchin 3:51PM (1/19/2009)
@ Les, GM can make the best cars in the world, but so what.
Let's say GM builds an excellent car, a great car, if it costs GM 25K to build this car and consumer is willing to pay only 20K, who's fault is it? That is the problem, Porsche doesn't have that problem.
alex 4:51PM (1/19/2009)
you guys do realize that boxer is not a car right? it's a type of engine...
anyway, sea urchin why are you blabbering about how it's too expensive when there hasn't been a price or even production intent announced yet?
Torrent 6:03PM (1/19/2009)
um you guys may be thinking of the Porsche BOXSTER. The 'Boxer' is an engine made by Subaru.... right? And it's a breed of dog. and what people who box call themselves.
BoxerFanatic 6:05PM (1/19/2009)
Les:
My Subaru is paid off, and so is my wife's car. I haven't made a car payment in quite some time.
And what does it matter if I lose my job, if the taxes keep going up from GM taking taxpayer money to do their business?
Alpha-Beta Ogre: (B-I-N)
First of all, Not every auto manufacturer is begging for my tax money via the federal government.
Second of all, if they can't do business without tax dollars, then either this country has already failed, or GM has already failed, and we are just going through the inevitable ends of a socialist economy.
Caddy-V...
Do you get another Caddy, for your tax dollars going in to GM? Or do you have to pay retail for the car AND taxes? Get a clue.
To build on Sea Urchin's point:
If GM can design the world's greatest car, but can't produce it, what good does it do?
Should they really have access to the people's pocket books by law, rather than by the market? Should they have access to seizure of their own potential customer's income, by way of the IRS?
I've got nothing against Caddy. I don't really want a pile of lithium batteries in my car, if I have an accident, so a regular fuel Caddy is fine, and the Converj's design is good. I wish design that good were more common.
But GM as of late, has been advocating government involvement, been requesting and accepting federal dollars, and is continuing to ask some more. I cannot abide that, it is a very destructive move to the foundations of this country.
Maybe GM should re-evaluate some of the crap that they purvey, like Aveo, G3, and other marginal products, and put their PRIVATE dollars to work, to DO THE JOB OF MAKING GOOD CARS.
It isn't MY job to work for GM's budget.
caddy-v 8:31PM (1/19/2009)
Not quite sure what the relevence of your cars being paid off, but the part about driving a Subaru, sorry, not impressed. Maybe all that road noise clouds your judgment.
On the issue of taxes, I challenge you to tell all of us just exactly how much you have seen taken out of your paycheck to help the D3. Or to help the banks for that matter. Answer: Nada. Nothing. Zero.
And if Obama stays true to his promise, (which I doubt) you'll see a tax decrease.
Every Asian nation has helped almost every industry in some way or another, Japan being the most generous. Toyota, Nissan (Datsun), Honda, and even your Subaru were heavily subsidised in the beginning and some still to this day. Japan and South Korea are by far two of the worst country's when it comes to fair trade. Though they claim they don't practice protectionism, anyone that is capable of mature thought processing knows that it simply is'nt true. Something that I think this country should reciprocate.
Most D3 cars, and I say most, are equal or some even better in quality than their Asian counterparts. You can deny it and laugh all you want, but this is fact.
But I have a plan.
Any car bought in the USA that has a non-American owner as manufacture should be taxed and tarriffed exactly the same as they do to us. I think in S. Korea it's somewhere around 35% over MSRP. Japan is slightly lower.
Only allow foriegn makers to sell (that means export or made here) as many as they allow us on their land.
Add a foriegn car license plate fee, say around $200 per year to any non D3 car.
Tax anyone that buys a Subaru a one time $3000 just for kick. We can call that one "The Forrest Gump" tax.
Just for giggles, take some time and read this:
http://www.uwsa.com/issues/trade/japanyes.html
BoxerFanatic 1:53PM (1/20/2009)
Caddy-V,
Wasn't trying to impress you. I was responding to the point that if I lose my job somehow (very unlikely, even in this economy) My car won't be repossessed, and I will keep driving it, because it is paid off. Is yours?
I don't care what you think of Subarus, but I venture a guess I'll get a lot further in the snow than your caddy will. Have fun spinning tires.
We don't live in the far east. The USofA was not built on protectionism, ethnocentrism, or any other traits of eastern countries. The US rebuilt most of those countries after wars.
In this country, private dollars are not supposed to be seized by the government to go to other private enterprises. It is just that simple. Such seizure is antithetical to freedom, including capitalist free markets, which INVENTED cars, computers, and a WHOLE LOT of things, that the eastern countries may build well, but originated by capitalist innovation. NOT government regulation and social engineering.
Do you realize that Tarriffs are detrimental? This has been tried before, and has been horrifically detrimental to our own economy? Have you read about the effects of Hawley-Smoot Tarriff act in 1933? It cemented the US into economic depression for 7 more years, along with FDR's liberal social agenda policies.
This has been tried before. The New Deal. The Great Society, and it appears to be on deck again. It has failed EVERY time it has been tried.
GM needs to sink or swim on it's own. Just like everybody else has to. It is immoral for the government to use it's taxation authority to sustain them. They should sustain themselves.
And they have borrowed the money for the bail outs. That costs interest. That incurs more cost, which eventually will have to be paid back, by me, by you, and by our future generations.
They also have been printing money faster than they can get more ink. That also deflates the currency. Have you noticed your dollar not going as far? I certainly have. That is an indirect tax on anyone and everyone who uses dollars, in order to provide liquidity to the government that prints the dollars.
You really need to get a handle on this. If you think it is a good thing that the government is getting more in bed with the Big 3, you are sorely mistaken. It enables disfunctionality, and prolongs the inevitable, at cost to EVERYONE. It doesn't fix a damn thing.
If GM wants to build the Converj, they need to figure out how to do that, that is their job. It is improper for me to pay for that via taxes, It is supposed to be enough for people to BUY them.
IF you don't understand freedom, you will lose it.
XMNR 1:50PM (1/19/2009)
awwwwww! c'mon! this will be a total home run, gm! the volt is a car that would get green support but perhaps not be any particular buyer's cup of tea, but a sexy cadillac coupe with the same green cred? That has upper-crust new-money eco-righteous dream-machine written all over it! this is a car that could command a premium, it's in a dealership with vastly more expensive cars!
The volt has to make sense to someone who hates buying gas but is standing in a dealership with a real intent to find a car they like, and therefore seriously considering buying a new GM car, but there's a hybrid malibu for a lot less (I'd bet almost $10k less) only 10 feet away!
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