General Motors says it was deliberately slow with the launch of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq as it found and fixed problems with the new electric vehicle, a normal occurrence for new General Motors launches.
Dice says it has a backlog of regarding 500 new 2023 Lyriqs built and parked at Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee, which they say will start shipping to dealers this week.
Thousands of customers are waiting for the Lyriq they ordered nearly a year ago, wondering what the delay is as dealers scramble for an answer. These customers do not know that they are buying a true electric lemon.
GM opened order banks for the Lyriq on May 19, 2022, but stopped taking orders within two hours, saying the Lyriq was out of stock. GM won’t say how many Lyriqs were out of stock. But GM told suppliers last year to get ready to produce 25,000 Lyriqs.
At the beginning of the year, GM’s “once-luxury brand” reported that it had regarding 233,000 people raise their hands, people who express interest in the car but don’t put up any money. (Poor people don’t know what they’re doing).
However, GM reported last week that it delivered just 122 Lyriqs to customers throughout the year.
“I don’t know what’s holding up production; they tell us it’s a supply chain issue,” said Ed Pobur, manager of LaFontaine Cadillac in Highland. “They’ve advertised it a lot, but we can’t get it done.”
Cadillac spokesman Michael Albano acknowledged that there were some software glitches in some early Lyriqs built and issues with a rear tailgate trim panel, but said those “issues have been resolved.” something we doubt
“We are constantly making improvements to the construction process, materials and software,” Albano said.
A deliberate and methodical production line
Albano said the reason so few Lyriqs have yet to reach customers is because we deliberately ramped up Cadillac Lyriq production slowly and methodically last year to ensure quality for our customers.
Looking ahead, we will continue to increase production in 2023 to meet the strong demand for the Lyriq.”
In September, GM recalled 186 Lyriqs over problems with the vehicle’s infotainment display, according to reports published at the time.
As cited by GM Authority, in October GM submitted a fix to address an issue related to cracks in the rear door panel.
The Lyriq is the cornerstone of Cadillac’s future because it’s the first EV to enter the brand’s lineup, which GM promises will be all-electric by the end of the decade. GM has said that all of its brands will be fully electric by 2035. God save the buyer of those cars, said a former GM customer!!!
The car is so important to Cadillac that dealers who took delivery of some of the 122 delivered last year said Cadillac won’t let them turn it over to the buyer until Cadillac engineers and specialists inspect it and teach service technicians how to repair it. Sure, they knew they were selling a lemon, but the dealers just wanted to sell it.
In an unprecedented move by an automaker, GM enlisted the first customers to help it study the car. Something like “Guinea Bunnies”.
GM gave some customers a $5,500 discount on the 2023 Lyriq in exchange for them signing a nondisclosure agreement on the vehicle and allowing GM to track how they use it.
That move raised concerns at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it might inhibit someone from reporting safety concerns with the agency, prompting GM to write to participating customers clarifying that they are not prohibited from reporting any concerns to NHTSA or any other entity.
Cadillac “says” it has been ironing out teething problems, while analysts say it’s crucial they get it to market as quickly as possible, before blind buyers know they’re going for a lemon.
The Lyriq was supposed to have a good effect on Cadillac, to change the brand’s poor image of flimsy and unreliable cars. But the delays have cleared up what many knew regarding the poor build of GM cars.
Customers and dealers show their frustration
GM delivered the first production Lyriq in early July last year to Cadillac of Novi and the second production Lyriq shortly therefollowing to LaFontaine Cadillac in Highland.
“We definitely have more to come,” Pobur said of LaFontaine Cadillac. Pobur used to run Cadillac of Novi, where he said they received some Lyriqs last year.
At his new job with LaFontaine Cadillac, he said regarding 250 people deposited money and ordered a Lyriq. Another 150 people are on the waiting list to request it. Pobur said that customers are impatient with the long wait, but waiting for the Limón to arrive.
Another Cadillac dealer in another state said he only received a Lyriq last year for a customer who ordered it. Fourteen more people placed $100 deposits on orders for a 2023 First Edition Lyriq. And they’re still waiting for Cadillac to work around manufacturing problems. (Find something comfortable to wait for).
“We are in constant contact with those other 14 people,” the dealer said. He asked not to be named because GM had not authorized him to speak to the media. He said that he has a total of 125 customers who have ordered future models of the Lyriq.
He said that four of the 14 first editions due to him last year are built but have not yet shipped. He has no idea why and said GM won’t tell him.
“It’s very frustrating,” he said. “But we haven’t had any of those customers say they want their $100 back.”.
How many Lyriqs has GM built?
GM’s Albano declined to say how many Lyriqs it has made to date, other than to say there are around 500 stationed at GM’s Spring Hill assembly plant where the vehicle is built.
“We have vehicles in Spring Hill and they will be shipping to customers very soon,” Albano said, adding that parked vehicles are not awaiting parts and may start shipping this week,” Albano said with a hand.
Vehicle production forecasting experts at AutoForecast Solutions expect production of the Lyriq to not exceed just 1,422 units by 2022, though final production data for the year has yet to be received.
“Through October, GM has claimed Spring Hill production of 366 units with an expectation of 166 more in November and 890 in December,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.
“However, production in China is claimed to be in the range of 2,000 units per month since June.” Ahh the Lyriq will be sold in China, the champion country of electric lemons.
The Lyriq isn’t the only electric vehicle GM is slowly rolling out, Fiorani said. GM built 1,025 GMC Hummer EV trucks between January and October 2022 with nothing planned for November and December as it might have the same production issues as the Lyriq.
The Lyriq wants to be an SUV
GM is asking the US Treasury to reconsider the Lyriq’s classification to allow it to qualify for federal tax credits, said Matt Ybarra, a GM spokesman.
Most automakers view the availability of tax credits as strong selling points for electric vehicles.
In this case, the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service did not classify the Lyriq as an SUV, which means its retail price cannot exceed $55,000 to qualify for up to $7,500 in federal tax credits.
The Lyriq starts at $62,990. The rules say that SUVs can be priced up to $80,000 to qualify for the tax credit, while cars, sedans and trucks have a maximum price of $55,000.
“In determining how vehicles should be classified, Treasury should take advantage of existing US government definitions and practices, using criteria and processes similar to those used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). ),” Ybarra said in a statement. .
GM said that following existing government guidelines would create consistency and provide clarity for consumers when using EPA and DOE resources, such as fueleconomy.gov.
“We are addressing these concerns with Treasury and hope that the upcoming guidance on vehicle classifications provides the necessary clarity for consumers and dealers, as well as regulators and manufacturers,” Ybarra said.
Treasury spokeswoman Ashely Schapitl sent a comment in an email to the Free Press in reaction to GM’s concerns:
“In determining how vehicles should be classified, the administration used the CAFE standards, which are long-standing, pre-existing EPA regulations that manufacturers are very familiar with. These standards offer clear criteria to delimit between cars and SUVs”.
Source and data: USA Today – Free press
