GM CEO Dan Akerson Says That Cadillac Will Take On Tesla

There’s no two ways about it, Tesla Motors offers, at the very least, a genuinely interesting product. Although the new automaker has something new and different, that’s not going to stop GM from creating something competitive.
According to The Detroit News, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is skeptical of the notion that full-electric vehicles are desired by Americans at this point in time, but understands that the future may not be this way.
Of all the GM brands to take on cutting-edge California-based Tesla, who better to do it than good old Cadillac, right? “If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac,” Akerson said. It’s a tough market, and Tesla wasn’t the first to try it, as we all know. “Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone.”
Ouch.
On a related note, Akerson knows how the numbers will work with Volt sales. “We’ll sell more (Chevrolet) Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they’ll lose on the (Tesla) Model S,” Akerson said.
Interestingly enough, Tesla has turned a profit this year, merely because of the sale of California zero-emission vehicle credits and other credits. Even though Tesla might not seem to be a real threat on paper yet, the company is moving very quickly. Tesla paid back its $465 million in Energy Department loans an incredible nine years early, and the stock price has soared; Elon Musk’s company is now worth over $22 billion.
Meanwhile, it’s said that GM is working on bringing an EV with 200 miles of battery range to market while aiming for a price point of under $30-$40,000.