One In Six Cadillac Dealers Opt To Close Instead of Selling Electric Cars

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Drive: General Motors knows all too well that a fully electric future is coming. As a company, GM wants to have 30 EVs for sale by 2025 and Cadillac will reportedly be leading the Detroit automaker’s electric charge in the United States. Recently, it was reported that GM told dealerships to invest in the future or get out of the way. Cadillac has 880 dealerships nationwide, and now, citing sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports that 150 of them have taken a $300,000 to $1,000,000 buyout to cease operations instead of investing $200,000 in charging infrastructure and other updates to their facilities to support the brand’s electric future. This is a little more than one in six Cadillac dealerships nationwide, so in a nutshell, a fair amount of them will probably close. It’s unclear if GM expected so many to take the buyout, however, a $200,000 investment is likely a lot to ask for many dealerships, especially during a pandemic. That being said, some of Cadillac’s vehicles like the XT6 crossover have seen dramatic increases in sales over the past year, and it’s betting on the new electric Lyriq SUV to further improve its fortunes.