Author: Xuan Wang
Featured: Xuan Wang; Edited by: Rui Yin
How fierce is the competition in the automobile industry?
We can get a sense of it from the Guangzhou Auto Show. Laser radars flying all over the sky, mind-blowing designs, and even ambitious dreams of changing the future of transportation.
However, we can also sense a trend. The electric vehicle companies that are currently experiencing severe competition are mostly new players, independent brands, and emerging brands in their incubation stage, while traditional luxury brands are not involved.
For brands born in the Chinese market, if they don’t follow the market pace and get involved in the competition, they will lose their chances of survival. Traditional luxury brands are not worried about electric vehicles since they still have gasoline cars as a “cash cow” to rely on.
But facing the increasing penetration rate of the electric vehicle market and the huge market share in China, no car manufacturer is without anxiety.
The Cadillac LYRIQ from SAIC-GM is a more “anxious” product. From the Ultium platform to the LYRIQ concept car, to the presale event held not long ago, it took LYRIQ one and a half years to prepare.
The reason why they prepared for such a long time is probably that SAIC-GM wants to establish the Cadillac brand’s position in the luxury electric vehicle market by taking advantage of electrification’s “potential.”
However, the definition of a good product by users is not based on how long the manufacturer has prepared, but on the manufacturer’s sincerity. In the end, no automaker can survive the fierce competition in the Chinese electric vehicle market without giving users a discount.
Luxury Brands also need sincerity
Currently, the Cadillac LYRIQ, a pure electric midsize SUV, has officially started presales. The first model, a rear-wheel-drive long-range luxury version, has a presale price of 439,700 yuan.Customers can place their orders and pay a deposit of 1,190 yuan through the Cadillac IQ Co-Creation App or WeChat Mini Program. The first batch of car owners who place orders and purchase the car before the end of April 2022 will also receive additional benefits such as a public charging quota of 10,000 kilometers, daily mileage rewards in the Cadillac IQ Co-Creation App, specific vehicle colors, and priority delivery. The new car will be delivered in mid-2022.
LYRIQ is the first model introduced by SAIC General Motors on the Altium EV platform, and is the pioneer of Cadillac’s intelligent pure electric transformation. LYRIQ has an overall length of over 5 meters and a wheelbase of nearly 3.1 meters, and it is positioned as a medium and large pure electric SUV. If we look at the pricing, we will naturally compare it with the iX3, EQC and e-tron under BBA, but from the perspective of the vehicle size, LYRIQ can be compared with higher-class models such as X5, GLE and Q7.
Thanks to the Altium EV platform and the wireless Battery Management System (wBMS) on it, LYRIQ’s rear-wheel drive long-endurance luxury CLTC version has a range of more than 650 kilometers and supports fast charging throughout the entire life cycle. The car can travel 96 kilometers after charging for only 10 minutes, meeting the needs of users for intercity travel. LYRIQ will also launch a four-wheel drive version with an acceleration of no more than 4.9 seconds per 100 kilometers in the future.
Most automakers today tend to add functions and ecosystems to their intelligent cockpit solutions to highlight their products’ superiority over others. However, Cadillac as a luxury brand offers another solution to enhance the user experience, which is to increase the sense of luxury. This is a common practice for traditional luxury brands. When others use fabric seats, luxury brands use leather seats. When others are still using key switches to unlock car doors, luxury brands have already used remote keys.
Luxury is the key to the automotive brand being crowned as “luxury.” However, in the era of emphasis on intelligence, everyone is fully focused on research, and it seems that they have not yet thought about how to create a sense of luxury through intelligence.The optimal solution for improving user experience might be to provide a 33-inch 9K curved display, as suggested by LYRIQ.
All LYRIQ models are equipped with the flagship 8155 chip, supporting 5G connectivity for seamless human-machine interaction. The new vehicles are also equipped with a high-fidelity AKG recording studio audio system, featuring 19 speakers, Quantum Logic surround sound technology, Acoustic Lens acoustic prisms, Unity co-axial composite speaker design, and two independent speakers on the headrests of both the driver and passenger seats. This creates an immersive and luxurious experience for the user.
Although we are currently in the era of intelligent cars where technology is key, there is still a need for vehicles to provide a sense of space and comfort. LYRIQ recognises this by incorporating luxurious features such as leather and metal trimmings and lighting in its cabin. These features are essential in satisfying users’ emotional needs, which should not be overlooked regardless of the era we are in.
Furthermore, LYRIQ is equipped with the new generation Super Cruise advanced driver assistance system, featuring lane-level highly accurate mapping, millimeter wave radar, and triple security measures of light, sound, and touch. The system also includes Anji Star fourfold reminders to ensure safe driving.
With enhanced external environmental perception and more accurate vehicle control, this system adds automatic and directional lane-changing functions for the driver and supports over-the-air updates for continuous expansion of usage scenarios.
To improve the user experience, LYRIQ is establishing an exclusive sales network.To cater to the new consumption habits of electric vehicle users, Cadillac will put user demand at the core and establish a closed-loop online and offline service experience through innovative marketing models such as direct sales to reach every user.
On November 17, 2021, the first batch of 6 Cadillac pure electric IQ Spaces will be powered up synchronously with the LYRIQ display car in 5 cities across the country. By the end of this year, more Cadillac pure electric IQ Spaces will be available to users to provide a one-stop brand experience for car viewing, selection, and ordering.
Conclusion
So far, no luxury electric vehicle product has been market-verified. Mercedes-Benz’s EQS is still trying to bring traditional luxury to the era of intelligent electric vehicles, while domestic new energy vehicle companies are lowering the entry threshold of the luxury car field with a strategy of sacrificing flashy appearance and interior decoration and stacking technology configurations.
Although the means of each company differ, when faced with “smart luxury,” nobody can give an accurate answer. The Cadillac LYRIQ is an all-around player, and with its traditional luxury genes, it can fully satisfy traditional users’ expectations for electric luxury cars in terms of appearance and styling.
At the same time, SAIC GM is also deeply rooted in the fields of intelligent cockpit and assisted driving, enabling the Cadillac LYRIQ to stand firm in the Chinese market, which is based on “intelligence.”
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.