GM just delayed the launch of the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq due to coronavirus but the vehicle is still going on sale
- Cadillac has delayed the Los Angeles launch of its Lyriq all-electric SUV, due to concerns about COVID-19.
- The decision by Cadillac and parent General Motors comes just a week after the Detroit giant showcased in electric-vehicle strategy.
- With the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show, more automakers are likely to question whether traditional unveiling of new vehicles and large, public auto shows are as valuable as they used to be.
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What a difference a week makes.
Last week, General Motors was showcasing a fleet of forthcoming electric vehicles near Detroit. Among them was the Cadillac Lyriq, an all-electric SUV.
Lyriq's official launch was planned for April in Los Angeles, but on Tuesday, Cadillac's director of communications, Michael Albano, said in a statement, "Our top priority is the safety of our media guests and employees."
He added, "We have been working with GM Medical and Security to monitor the situation closely and have been following recommendations for the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization."
With the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show and the uncertain fate of the the upcoming New York auto show in April - the organizers are thus far sticking to the schedule, even though the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the US - some eyes are now turning to the Detroit auto show, slated for June.
Quietly undermining the auto show
The Detroit show was moved from January in an effort to revitalize the event, which American carmakers still considered to be important, despite wintertime in Motown being perhaps the worst time to ask journalist to endure the weather of the upper Midwest.
Some buzz had started to build, and GM was certainly doing its part by planning the Lyriq reveal and then the unveiling of the new electric GMC Hummer in May.
However, Geneva indicated what quite a few auto-industry observers already suspected: while car shows can be great for the public and probably help regional dealers connect new products with the public, their marketing value has been in decline for years, thanks to the ease of information distribution that the internet allows.
Automakers have been quietly undermining the auto show anyway; Cadillac's aborted Lyriq reveal was typical of the sort of one-off events that make a single nameplate the star of its own tiny show. As a veteran of many car shows, I've enjoyed many of these captive-audience spectacles - most recently, a reveal of the Land Rover Defender at an off-site during the media days for the 2019 Los Angeles auto show, complete with a brief performance by Defender enthusiast John Mayer.
Does the auto show still matter?
We can debate whether the traditional auto show matters; some say it does because it still puts a bunch of stories in one place, and the shows are probably good for the cities that host them, given the economic activity they generate.
My own approach to auto shows has actually been to dial back my expectations. I used to attend both media days of the Detroit show, but for the past couple of years, I've found that one gets it done. Likewise Los Angeles and New York. On top of that, I typically wind up with a review vehicle of just about every new car that comes out, so I have the option of not obsessing over whether I can spend five minutes struggling to get a good look at a vehicle debut in a crowded exhibition hall.
I already saw Lyriq in Detroit last week, so no biggie for me (it looks very cool, by the way). And I expect no biggie for the rest of the automotive media that wasn't there. Maybe a bit of a biggie for GM and its electric momentum - but the momentum is happening anyway, and one assumes the marketing giant will figure out a way to get Lyriq on TV or at the least, YouTube.
Cadillac said it would reschedule the reveal, so it's possible that if COVID-19 tapers off by late spring and summer, the delay would be a speed bump. Still, the arrival of the outbreak and its impact on how the auto industry showcases its products is contributing to a somewhat overdue debate about whether dramatic debuts are as valuable as they once were.