DETROIT— General Motors plans to invest more than $81 million to build the Celestiq, Cadillac’s flagship electric vehicle, at the automaker’s Global Technical Center.
The Celestiq, expected to launch next year, will be the first vehicle built at the Warren, Mich., tech center, which has been GM’s engineering and design hub since the 1950s. The Celestiq will be hand built in low volumes. AutoForecast Solutions expects volume of fewer than 200 vehicles per year.
GM will use the investment to purchase and reinstall equipment to hand build the Celestiq. Renovation at the Warren campus has already begun, GM said in a statement Wednesday.
The Celestiq “signifies a new, resurgent era for the brand,” GM President Mark Reuss said in the statement. “Each one will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus, and today’s investment announcement emphasizes our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing but the best in craftsmanship, design, engineering and technology.”
Cadillac has shown teaser photos of the Celestiq and plans to reveal the Celestiq show car in late July.
The Celestiq, built on GM’s proprietary Ultium battery platform, will include a four-quadrant smart glass roof and a free-form display across the front of the cabin.
GM expects that the Celestiq will have the highest volume of 3D-printed materials of any GM production vehicle, at more than 100 parts. Both structural and cosmetic parts and polymer and metal pieces will be 3D printed. GM will also incorporate additive manufacturing into the assembly process.
Cadillac plans to launch an all-electric lineup in North America by 2030. So far, GM’s luxury brand has launched one EV, the Lyriq midsize crossover.