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.

Cadillac sales have fallen 39.2 percent this year, the steepest decline among GM's four core brands.

A Cadillac spokesman declined comment.

Before GM emerged from bankruptcy July 10 with about $50 billion in federal aid, company executives said there were no plans to build the angular Converj.

At the auto show, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said if the Converj was approved, the production model would resemble the concept, likening it to the Chevrolet Camaro's evolution from concept to production.

Lutz said it would have been easier financially to produce a Cadillac electric vehicle first because a premium brand would command a higher sticker price, which in turn would help defray the cost of lithium-ion batteries.

The Converj will expand the number of electric vehicles offered by GM and spread the technology's cost. GM is spending more than $1 billion on the Volt program alone and opening a battery pack assembly factory in Brownstown Township. GM's German carmaker Adam Opel GmbH will produce an Ampera model in 2011 that uses the same underpinnings.

The electrification of vehicles is seen as a growth area in the auto industry, and rival automakers have launched electric vehicle plans to cut the dependence on foreign oil.

The Volt, scheduled for production in November/December 2010, will let commuters travel up to 40 miles on electric power. The engine kicks in after its battery is drained by about 70 percent to sustain the battery's remaining charge to keep the car running for several hundred miles.

The decision to build the Converj excited dealers.

Cadillac sells a hybrid version of its Cadillac Escalade, but Scott Allen, a dealer in California, hears from customers who don't normally think of the large SUV as a traditional hybrid.

"A snazzy-looking little car like that would be cool," Allen said.

rsnell@detnews.com (313) 222-2028