General Motors has announced it will invest more than $81 million at its Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, to prepare the campus to build the Cadillac CELESTIQ. In addition, GM will use the investment to purchase and install related equipment to hand-build the CELESTIQ.
The CELESTIQ will be the first production vehicle to be built at GM's Global Technical Center, the centre of the company's engineering and design efforts since its inauguration in May 1956. The Cadillac CELESTIQ will be built on GM's Ultium Platform, the heart of the company's EV strategy. The Ultium Platform encompasses a shared electric vehicle architecture and propulsion components like battery cells, modules, packs, Ultium Drive units, EV motors and integrated power electronics.
"As Cadillac's future flagship sedan, CELESTIQ signifies a new, resurgent era for the brand," said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors. "Each one will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus. Today's investment announcement emphasizes our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing but the best in craftsmanship, design, engineering and technology."
The company says the CELESTIQ embodies Cadillac's commitment to reimagining what's possible and sets a new standard for the artful integration of technology.
CELESTIQ's roof is expected to be one of the first to feature a four-quadrant, suspended-particle-device smart glass. With smart glass, each vehicle occupant can set their own level of roof transparency.
The driver and front-seat passenger will enjoy a pillar-to-pillar freeform display with active privacy to help mitigate driver distraction.
CELESTIQ is driving innovation across GM's supplier community with what's expected to be the highest volume of 3D printed components — more than 100 — of any GM production vehicle. This will include both structural and cosmetic parts, and both polymer and metal pieces. Additionally, the CELESTIQ production facility itself will leverage additive manufacturing for tooling, fixtures and gauges in the assembly process.
GM's Additive Industrialization Center, which opened on the GM Global Technical Center campus in 2020, has enabled Cadillac to establish itself at the forefront of functional and aesthetic 3D-printed components in the automotive industry.
"This investment is a great example of our commitment to GM's EV transformation as we apply our manufacturing expertise to a one-of-a-kind, ultra-luxury vehicle for the Cadillac brand," said Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability. "The advanced manufacturing technology and tools we are utilizing on CELESTIQ will help our team deliver the highest quality vehicles to our customers."
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