Europe has long been the standard-bearer of automotive luxury. If you want the most opulent sedan that deep pockets can buy, then Goodwood has been the obvious destination since Rolls-Royce opened its manufacturing facility on that bucolic English estate in 2003. If record-shattering speed and power are the goals, the options are plentiful, with high-priced hypercars available from marques like Aston Martin and McLaren (England), Ferrari and Lamborghini (Italy), Bugatti (France) and Koenigsegg (Sweden).
Now, one American carmaker is directing a one-two punch in the direction of this Euro dominance. Earlier this month, Chevrolet unveiled the Corvette ZR1X, the latest version of its iconic sports car, which it is calling “a true American hypercar.” A few days after the debut of that tire-melting road rocket, Cadillac announced it had finally delivered the first version of its hand-built Celestiq, three years after the bespoke electric sedan was first announced. It’s no coincidence that both vehicles sit under the umbrella of General Motors.
GM CEO Mary Barra has been focused on keeping the automaker a major player on the world stage — it’s one of the top five in terms of volume — even as China continues to pull ahead on cheap EV development. In May, when asked by Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker if she’s worried that American carmakers are falling behind, Barra flipped the question, saying, “I think we can’t let ourselves fall behind.” With these new Chevrolet and Cadillac releases, it appears that sentiment extends not just to mass-market cars but the upper echelon as well.
While this direction may come as a surprise to some, the challenge to European luxury has actually been years in the making. According to GM senior VP Ken Morris, Chevrolet’s top-tier hypercar has been part of the plan since the 2019 debut of the current eighth-generation Corvette. “From day one, we designed the mid-engine Corvette architecture with ZR1X in mind,” he said in a press release.
Automakers aren’t exactly known for levelheaded press releases, so how seriously can we take Chevrolet’s boast of creating an “American hypercar”? The stats speak for themselves: The peak horsepower of the ZR1X, an all-wheel-drive hybrid with a twin-turbo V8, sits at an astonishing 1,250, which is more than the $3 million Aston Martin Valkyrie. The Corvette’s estimated 0-60 mph time is under two seconds, which is faster than the Ferrari SF90 Stradale, which currently starts around $594,000, per Car and Driver. Yet, the ZR1X is only estimated to start at around $200,000. (This is all without dealer markups, of course.)
Meanwhile, Cadillac’s new Celestiq is focused on exclusivity, customization and white-glove service. “Getting on the Celestiq’s exclusive waiting list is just the beginning of a commissioned build process that’s more like what ultra-wealthy Rolls-Royce owners expect than anything a Cadillac customer has ever seen,” Eric Stafford explained at Car and Driver last year. That process can include a visit to the Cadillac House at Vanderbilt, a building at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen (of Gateway Arch and TWA Flight Center fame, among other landmarks). There, buyers can customize their Celestiq down to the doorsill.
Unlike Chevrolet, though, Cadillac isn’t trying to undercut anyone on price. The Celestiq starts in the mid-$300,000 range, which is about where Rolls-Royce starts its pricing for its most affordable models.
“There isn’t a lot of American luxury brands. There just isn’t,” GM President Mark Reuss told CNBC earlier this year. “I think it’s time, and I’m deeply passionate about that, for GM and Cadillac to show the world what we can do.”
Whether GM can deliver on the promise of class-leading luxury will come into focus soon. While only one Celestiq has been delivered, dozens of orders are reportedly on the books; and the ZR1X is set to begin deliveries late this year.
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