General Motors (GM) have announced they will invest more than $81 million into the company’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan to build the Cadillac CELESTIQ electric vehicle (EV). The investment will be used to purchase and install related equipment to hand-build the CELESTIQ. Renovation work at the campus has already begun.
The CELESTIQ will be the first production vehicle to be built at GM’s Global Technical Center and will be officially launched in July. Currently, there are only teaser pictures of this new electric saloon that will follow the brand’s first electric vehicle, the LYRIQ.
General Motors (GM) have announced they will invest more than $7 billion (£5.2 billion/€6.3 billion) across its four Michigan manufacturing sites. The investment will create 4,000 new jobs and retain 1,000 staff.
Mark Reuss, General Motors president, said: “As Cadillac’s future flagship sedan, CELESTIQ signifies a new, resurgent era for the brand. Each one will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus.
“Today’s investment announcement emphasises our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing but the best in craftsmanship, design, engineering and technology.”
The Cadillac CELESTIQ will be built on GM’s Ultium Platform, the heart of the company’s electric vehicle strategy. The Ultium Platform uses a common electric vehicle architecture and propulsion components. These include battery cells, modules, packs, Ultium Drive units, electric motors and integrated power electronics.
Through the Ultium Platform, GM will realise a strategic value chain shift across its network of vehicle assembly plants as the company streamlines machinery, tooling and assembly processes. This flexibility enables lower capital investments and greater efficiencies as additional assembly plant transformations occur.
GM’s Additive Industrialisation Center has enabled Cadillac to establish itself at the forefront of functional and aesthetic 3D-printed components in the automotive industry. The CELESTIQ will feature more than 100 3D printed components, including both structural and cosmetic parts, and both polymer and metal pieces.
Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability, said: “This investment is a great example of our commitment to GM’s EV transformation as we apply our manufacturing expertise to a one-of-a-kind, ultra-luxury vehicle for the Cadillac brand.
“The advanced manufacturing technology and tools we are utilising on CELESTIQ will help our team deliver the highest quality vehicles to our customers.”
