Cadillac began calling itself the “Standard of the World” not long after the dawn of the 20th century—a slogan that stuck for decades and, for a time, rang true. In those days, General Motors sat atop the automotive world, and Cadillac was its crown jewel, setting benchmarks for design, luxury, and innovation.
But by the 1970s, Cadillac’s dominance had slipped. The slogan was quietly shelved, and the brand’s once-undisputed leadership faded into nostalgia. Few today remember when Cadillac built the 1957 Eldorado Brougham by hand—the most expensive car in the world at the time—or when V-16-powered masterpieces graced Detroit’s production lines.
Maybe that lapse in memory isn’t such a tragedy. It only makes Cadillac’s latest creation—the hand-built, all-electric, carbon-fiber-bodied $340,000 2025 Celestiq—that much more jaw-dropping. With it, Cadillac once again dares to charge Rolls-Royce money for a car.
Where Has Cadillac Been?
To understand what the Celestiq represents, you need to understand where Cadillac has been. For decades, it lost ground to European, Japanese, and even Korean luxury brands that redefined premium with performance, service, and progressive design.
GM’s failure to meaningfully distinguish Cadillac from its corporate siblings—Chevy, Buick, Oldsmobile—left the brand adrift. There were bright moments: the Pininfarina-bodied Allanté, the CTS sport sedan, the pop-culture-dominating Escalade, and today’s V-series performance cars.
But these successes lacked cohesion. Was Cadillac the king of blingy SUVs? The maker of sports sedans to rival BMW? Or GM’s EV spearhead?
Enter the Celestiq—a low-slung electric hatchback nearly the size of a Suburban, priced like a house, and meant to unite Cadillac’s fractured identity. And incredibly, it just might succeed.
A Flagship Reimagined
The Celestiq is Cadillac’s first true flagship in over 50 years. It’s been allowed to bypass GM’s usual red tape, supply chains, and design constraints. It doesn’t ride on a dressed-up Chevrolet platform. It’s coachbuilt. It’s different.
Its closest rival? The Rolls-Royce Spectre. But where the Spectre clings to tradition, the Celestiq embraces the future. Its wide, daring silhouette and avant-garde lighting give it presence unmatched by anything else on American roads since the original Escalade.
Underneath its sculpted carbon-fiber skin are dual motors—sourced and reworked from the Lyriq-V—delivering 655 horsepower and 646 lb-ft of torque. A cleverly packaged 111-kWh battery lowers the floor and roofline, giving the car a sleek profile without compromising space.
And this is no recycled GM crossover. Its chassis, subframes, and suspension components are bespoke. Its body is an intricate mix of composites, hand-stitched materials, and over 150 3D-printed metal parts—each with a story.
Science Becomes Sculpture
One of those parts? The metal ring around the steering wheel hub—GM’s largest-ever 3D-printed component. The labels are integrated during printing, polished for weeks by hand, and fused with ultra-thin touch-capable metal panels that depress ever so slightly when pressed.
This is Cadillac’s new kind of luxury—not artisan woodshaving à la Rolls, but techno-craftsmanship, a blend of modern design, cutting-edge manufacturing, and old-school precision.
No detail is too small. Open a cargo area and find brushed aluminum panels where cheap plastics usually live. Heated and blown into shape near melting temperatures, these panels are then finished by robots because no human could replicate the desired texture.
Even the fasteners are custom-made. Most owners will never notice them—but they’ll know. They’ll feel it.
A Moving Masterpiece
The Celestiq doesn’t just look special. It feels special. GM’s engineers tuned its ride using experience gleaned from years of Nürburgring testing. Despite weighing over 6,000 pounds, it rides like a dream and handles with surprising poise.
This isn’t a drag racer. It’s quick, not ferocious, and acceleration tapers off above highway speeds. But that’s not the point. The Celestiq glides with grace and communicates with restraint. Its dual-motor system is quiet, responsive, and tuned to perfection.
There are just two drive modes—Tour and Sport—and three levels of regenerative braking. No endless settings or gimmicks. It encourages you to relax and let the experience wash over you.
Bespoke From the Ground Up
Every Celestiq takes at least 12 weeks to build and starts with a design session at GM’s Warren, Michigan campus. Buyers can choose from 90+ paints, a multitude of interior combinations, and even supply their own materials.
Only 25 examples will be built in 2025, each in a clean-room environment on a limited-access production line. The price? Officially in the “mid-$300,000s,” though closer to $340,000 is more accurate.
And while the digital displays and stalks may echo other Cadillacs, everything else—from the glass roof to the goddess emblem hidden in the infotainment dial—is unique. Even the rear doors open and close themselves, sensing people and obstacles.
Not a Rolls-Royce. Something More Interesting.
The Celestiq isn’t an American Rolls-Royce—and that’s the point. It’s a modern, distinctly American vision of what a luxury car can be: advanced, ambitious, and proudly different.
Whether Cadillac sells out its limited run or not, the Celestiq is a landmark achievement. It proves Cadillac still has the nerve to dare—and the chops to deliver.
The Celestiq is not just a car. It’s a statement. A reminder. A promise.
The Standard of the World? Maybe once again.
