The Cadillac Celestiq Will be the Luxury Brand's New Hand-Built Flagship Sedan

author: Manish Kharinta   

The Celestiq will be Cadillac's new flagship and represent the future of the brand.

This week, General Motors held its "EV Day", a special event for media and investors where the automaker provided an in-depth overview of GM's future EV strategy. During the event, the company teased a few frames of what looked like a Chevy Camaro concept for the future. 

Teasers from the Detroit-based car manufacturer didn't stop just there. GM also previewed the all-new Chevrolet Bolt EV, and provided some more details about the upcoming GMC Hummer EV, and Cadillac Lyriq crossover SUV. 

Towards the end of the presentation, which was jam-packed with product and technology reveals to begin with, the company's luxury car subsidiary Cadillac dropped another bomb when it revealed the new fully-electric Cadillac Celestiq, a car that will define the future Cadillac brand.

It is quite difficult to relay how many styling details are offered in this car, as Cadillac did not allow any photography whatsoever during the unveil. The Luxury carmaker also did not disclose when the flagship Celestiq will make its global debut, but did go on to release some specifications about the upcoming sedan.

Keeping true to its flagship model traditions, the Celestiq will only get a limited production run. During the EV Day event, which was held at the company's Warren Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, Cadillac President Mark Reuss told investors, dealers, and media that the new Cadillac will be hand-built.

Cadillac, which is among the oldest U.S. brands founded in 1902, intends on combining the traditional art of coachbuilding with futuristic innovation for the new Cadillac Celestiq. The electric flagship from Cadillac will also feature the GM's new Ultium battery platform. 

The cabin of the upcoming flagship Cadillac will be custom-crafted and GM has confirmed that the interior space will feature exquisite wood and luxurious leather surfaces fitting for a high-end luxury vehicle.

For the rest of the car, Cadillac aims to tastefully balance the quaintness of the interior with state of the art technology by equipping the cabin with a screen intensive interface. At the front of the cabin, an HD display will stretch across the width of the car taking up the entire dashboard.

For the exterior styling, Cadillac will incorporate its upcoming design language that the Celestiq will share with other offerings in the luxury brand's family portfolio. The Celestiq will share design elements with Cadillac's first electric crossover, which has been named the Lyriq.

Magalie Debellis, Cadillac's lead exterior designer, confirmed that even though the Lyriq crossover will make its debut ahead of Celestiq, she and her team designed the flagship Sedan before Lyriq. As for dimensions, the Celestiq is much longer, wider and lower than the Lyriq.

However, the two new luxury electric models from Cadillac do share some common styling cues among them, including the lighting elements and the updated front grille. 

As the Celestiq is being designed as a flagship model, we expect it to rival the likes of more luxurious albeit traditionally powered offerings like Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the Audi A7 and even EVs like the new 2020 Porsche Taycan.

The Celestiq is set to debut later this year. No word yet on when it will be available to buy.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.