Cadillac to take Lyriq EV orders this spring

DETROIT — Cadillac will open the order books for the Lyriq, its first electric vehicle, this spring.

General Motors' luxury brand will begin taking new orders for the 2023 Lyriq and the 2023 Lyriq performance all-wheel drive on May 19, Rory Harvey, vice president of global Cadillac, told reporters Tuesday.

Unlike reservations, the Lyriq orders will be logged directly into dealers' systems, Harvey said. The process will be the same as placing an order for a CT4, Escalade or any vehicle available today through Cadillac.com or a dealership's website.

Limited production of the standard Lyriq with rear-wheel drive is slated to begin March 21 in Spring Hill, Tenn. Shipments to dealers will begin in May, Harvey said. Production of the performance Lyriq will begin late this year.

Cadillac set a target for 200,000 handraisers for the Lyriq at the start of production, a level the brand has never achieved, Harvey said. Cadillac defines a "handraiser" as a consumer who shows interest in the midsize crossover. So far, Cadillac has already surpassed that target, counting 233,000 customers as handraisers, Harvey said. Cadillac did not disclose the number of reservations it booked for the Lyriq.

"We have yet to tell how many of those handraisers will translate into customer orders, but the amount of demand at the moment is absolutely huge," Harvey said.

Cadillac plans to build 25,000 Lyriq crossovers at Spring Hill Assembly this year, up significantly from the 3,200 previously planned because of strong demand, according to a February Reuters report that cited information given to suppliers. AutoForecast Solutions expects Cadillac to build 45,000 Lyriq crossovers annually once production ramps up.

Cadillac also told reporters Tuesday that owners of the 2021 Cadillac CT4, CT5 and Escalade with Super Cruise will soon be eligible for the latest version of the driver-assist technology through an over-the-air update.

This summer, eligible customers will be able to purchase advanced Super Cruise technology: automatic lane change for CT4 and CT5 owners and automatic lane change with trailering capability for Escalade owners.

The features debuted on the 2022 GMC Hummer pickup late last year.

The trailering technology allows drivers to use hands-free Super Cruise technology while pulling a boat or camper, for example.

Automatic lane change initiates a lane change without a prompt from the driver. When the vehicle ahead goes below the speed set in the driver's adaptive cruise control, Super Cruise notifies the driver that the vehicle will change lanes when there is an opening.

The previous version of Super Cruise comes with lane change on demand, which shifts lanes at the driver's request. While trailering, automatic lane change is not active, but Super Cruise's lane change on demand is available.

"Technology really provides us with the platform to give an enhanced customer experience and enhanced functionality to our customers over time, as we can install upgrades at minimum inconvenience from a customer point of view," Harvey said.