GM to put electric Cadillac Converj into production

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit News

Last Updated: November 09. 2009 1:30PM
GM to put electric Cadillac Converj into production
Robert Snell / The Detroit News


General Motors Co. has decided to produce the Cadillac Converj, an extended-range electric car using the same technology as the Chevrolet Volt, The Detroit News has learned.

Cadillac included the Converj, a concept car that wowed industry critics and the public at the 2009 North American International Auto Show, in a presentation made to the automaker's board of directors Nov. 2, according to sources familiar with the production plan.

A production date has not been set, and it likely will be a few years before consumers can buy a Converj.

"Cadillac needs as much excitement in its portfolio as possible, so I think it's a good strategy for them," said Rebecca Lindland, director of auto industry research at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.

Read more: http://www.detnews.com/article/20091109/AUTO01/91109039...

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Photo at link.

[n2doc]

1. Smarter than Fiat n/t

[keopeli]

2. Cool...husband will love it! n/t

[Beavker]

3. I like it.

It's higher end too, so they can get bit more our of the higher sticker price than the Volt. It's a cool looking ride and what I think is a pretty good technology that GM is employing here.

[Arctic Dave]

4. That is a nice lookin' ride.

[Romulox]

5. I think GM has some of the best lines of any manufacturer right now...

Makes Lexus look dowdy and old fashioned:

[WriteDown]

6. What's sad is that all of these lines were created under the former management....

Should they be lauded or rehired?

[Romulox]

7. Move them to the commercial lending division, give them a bailout, then give them a bonus!

Everybody's happy, and former ATT exec. Ed Whiteacre doesn't have to work so hard to learn about the auto industry.

[WriteDown]

8. Just to be clear...

You're saying move the current management right?

[Romulox]

9. Yuh-huh. nt

[WriteDown]

12. Sorry...

Its Monday so you'll have to cut me some slack.

[orwell]

10. I am not a fan...

...of the new "armored vehicle" look of many of the new cars. It started with GM and has bled to foreign manufacturers like Toyota. The squared off fenders, chopped roof line, low profile tires with big wheels is a much more aggressive look that doesn't appeal to me at all.

You can achieve nice aerodynamics without boxiness. I wonder if the limited visibility of the lowered roof lines and small back windows would also be a safety issue.

I'm glad that they are starting to concentrate on greater powerplant efficiency however instead of just upping the HP's. The first company to bring a 200 mile round trip 4 passenger electric vehicle to market below the 20K pricepoint will have a winner.

[Xithras]

15. Actually, the squared look is more aerodynamic.

It breaks the airflow around the car into sections without creating the turbulence-filled transition zones that normally accompany more rounded designs. Transition-sharpening has become more popular as computer modelling has become more refined.

Just wait a couple more years until they start dimpling our cars. Those will REALLY be fugly.

Increasing efficiency means implementing design changes that reduce drag. Sharper edges, less flexible tire sidewalls, and lower rooflines are a part of that.

[slackmaster]

11. Converj? Sorry GM, I just can't get past that spelling.

[w4rma]

17. Me neither. It's like some Communist bloc thing. (nt)

[slackmaster]

19. I was thinking Esperanto

Which of course is kind of a Communist thing.

[eppur_se_muova]

20. Not to mention nouning a verb. nt

[Fearless]

13. All any of the companies ever seem to have are plans...

[nichomachus]

14. Does this mean that all hookers

are going to have to work on streets where the pimps can plug in their Cadillac?

[d_r]

16. wow.

[verges]

18. I actually thought I was going

to be looking at a thread with misspellings. I thought this would be about catalytic converters. I was prepared to make a snotty joke about coverting Yugos' to Cadillacs'. Boy was I wrong. Nice looking car. Too bad it won't look like that when it goes into production (like the Volt!)