No Firm Plans For Cadillac Converj

GM showed off a Cadillac concept, Converj, at the Detroit Auto Show recently that previews what a possible luxury vehicle based off their much anticipated extended-range electric car architecture would look like, an architecture to which they have committed very heavily to bringing out as the Chevy Volt in late 2010. But given GM’s recent visit to Washington where they explained that they would literally cease to exist real soon if they didn’t get federal loans ASAP, its not hard to believe reports from Automotive News that they don’t have the money to engineer and build the Cadillac Converj show car. The problem is that the Converj is no ordinary pie in the sky concept that is just nice to look at.

The Converj is a car that gives the Chevy Volt program a far better chance at success. GM has committed to developing the Volt’s electric architecture at all costs, and by all accounts GM’s asking price when it finally does go on sale of $40,000 will still not make any profit. Tax rebates, and pinching pennies everywhere it can should bring the price down to well under $35,000. But as far as consumers are concerned it’s a $25,000 car, being that it’s on the smallish side and is branded a Chevrolet…and consumers would be mostly right.

Because even with the Volt’s promise to go 40 miles a day without ever using a single drop of gas, it would still take several years to begin to recoup the extra money spent, all in a society where 36 month leases seem like an eternity. Still, no one doubts that GM can sell the Volt to the eco-minded and patriotic masses, but what about just the plain old masses?

GM has committed and spent so much to bring the Volt, and its super expensive battery technology, to market that it knows it won’t make any money on it until at least the second generation several years from now. Except that time is a luxury they don’t have right now since they are basically bankrupt without (reluctant) government help.

That’s where the Converj comes in. It takes all of the super expensive research and development for the Volt and puts it into a high-brow, high-priced package that GM will actually make money on. Depending on the degree of luxury, design, fit, and finish Cadillac would have an easy time baking in R&D and profit into a price point as high as $65k. The architecture is a done deal, it’s a shame the business case isn’t so far along. GM’s own vice-chairman Bob Lutz concerning the Converj:

“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.”

Let’s hope that GM finds a way to build the Converj, because a money-making GM is better (and cheaper) than a bankrupt one.