Cadillac has turned a package of benefits into an option that reduces the Lyriq's prices in China by RMB 60,000 and also offers a limited-time discount of RMB 18,000 on the model.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Cadillac is taking a page from Nio's (NYSE: NIO) book by stripping out a benefits package that was originally included in the pricing, allowing the vehicle to be priced significantly lower.

The premium General Motors (GM) brand announced today that its Lyriq, the first mid-to-large-size luxury SUV based on GM's Ultium electric vehicle (EV) platform, is available with new pricing and benefit starting immediately.

Under Cadillac's latest program, a benefits package that was originally included in the vehicle's prices becomes optional, lowering the starting price of the full Lyriq model line by RMB 60,000 ($8,300).

Prior to this move, Cadillac offered three versions of the Lyriq in China with starting prices of RMB 439,700, RMB 459,700 and RMB 479,700, respectively.

After that equity package was stripped, they start at RMB 379,700, RMB 399,700 and RMB 419,700 respectively.

As Nio did previously, Cadillac allows customers to pay RMB 60,000 for the stripped entitlement package, which results in a lifetime warranty, 3 years of free charging entitlement for a certain number of miles, and free home charging piles.

In addition, Cadillac is offering additional purchase incentives.

Between July 10 and August 31, customers who pay RMB 2,000 to order a Lyriq will receive a discount of RMB 18,000. If they pay RMB 3,000, they can get an additional free home charging pile.

Cadillac's approach is almost identical to what Nio did a month ago, except much stronger.

Nio lowered the starting prices of all models by RMB 30,000 from June 12 and made the previously free battery swap service offered for free for four or six times a month a paid option.

Nio has been discussing this adjustment internally for a long time, listening to the opinions and suggestions of users, William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of the Chinese EV company, said at the time in a commentary on an article in the Nio App.

Cadillac began accepting reservations for the Lyriq from Chinese customers in June 2022, with two less expensive rear-wheel-drive versions initially available. The model's highest-priced four-wheel-drive performance version went on sale in China last December.

The Cadillac Lyriq is a luxury electric SUV with a length, width and height of 5,003 mm, 1,978 mm and 1,635 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 3,094 mm.

The rear-wheel drive version has an electric motor with a maximum power of 255 kW and a peak torque of 440 Nm, and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.35 seconds.

The four-wheel-drive version of the model has an electric motor with a maximum power of 375 kW and a peak torque of 710 Nm and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds.

The Cadillac Lyriq is equipped with a 95.7 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and has a range of 653 km for the rear-wheel-drive version of the CLTC and over 600 km for the four-wheel-drive version.

The model was considered a heavyweight in the Chinese EV market at launch, but its sales performance appears to have been weak, never making it into any China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) sales rankings.

Notably, GM is one of the most agile foreign automakers in the Chinese EV market, with the Lyriq price adjustment being its latest move.

On June 19, GM's Buick brand officially made the Electra E4, an all-electric coupe SUV, available in China, just two months after the launch of the Electra E5, the brand's first model built on the Ultium platform.

Similar to the Electra E5's aggressive pricing of as low as RMB 208,900, the Electra E4 starts at RMB 189,900 in China.

The Electra E4's performance is unknown, but on April 25, Buick announced that the Electra E5 had received more than 8,000 orders after 12 days on the market.

($1 = RMB 7.2340)

BREAKING: NIO cuts starting prices by $4,200 for all models and makes battery swap benefits optional