XLR discontinued/axed by GM.... :crybaby:

Where did you hear this at?

I own a Corvette and on one of their forums a guy who has a reputation for knowing what he is talking about when it comes to insider GM issues has told everyone that GM is cutting the XLR line. I'm still trying to find a official announcement. Sorry I should have been more clear in my first post. Let's hope it's not true, but like I said, this guy always has gotten it right in the past.

Would you mind posting the link to that forum post? :)

The Bowling Green plant will be idle next month and into Feb to reduce excess inventory. While there is no official announcement of the XLR being discontinued in the near-term, there is little likelyhood XLR will contiune to be produced with the current issues facing GM. GM needs to build cars that turn a PROFIT to ensure the long-term viability of the company and satisfy the Congressional nay-sayers that GM is serious about restructuring. The execs know if they get money now and come back to the trough in a year or two, their chances of a second helping are less than nil.

CCC

Oh well, it never sold in large numbers anyway. Nice thing is, when things perk up, they can build more since its partly based on the Corvette.

Would you mind posting the link to that forum post? :)


I tried to find the thread and could not. I sent a PM to the guy who made the claim, but he is keeping quiet. I did come across the article below and read talk on the GM insider forum. Personally, I'm treating the info as a little better than a good rumor at this point. As I said before, the guy who made the statement has been right about stuff in the past.

I have a feeling that all American made models that are subject to the gas guzzler tax are subject to cuts. I think Obama's govt is going to really go after everything that is not green. Only time will tell.....

Here's the article I mentioned... http://www.leftlanenews.com/insiders-second-generation-cadillac-xlr-unlikely.html

We've known this for awhile.. In fact, the title of this forum is, "Cadillac XLR Forum - 2004 through 2012".

Let me mention that the name was always an anchor. Who was the boy genius who didn't realize how many people would pronounce XLR as "extra large." It didn't help when people were calling it the Cadillac Extra Large.

Yeah, the 3 letter naming convention really saved Cadillac. Now that they've run off the Eldorado and Seville names, maybe they'll rename the Escalade the ECL, or the XXX. Sure. That's what they need. :nono:

OTOH, it goes down the same assembly line as the Corvette. It can't really cost much to keep this in production. I guess making that engine in such small volumes was really the killer.

Actually, the XLR doesn't go down the same assembly line as the Corvette, but an adjacent one that you get a little bit of a glimpse of when you tour the plant. They share similar chassis and a few components, but that's where the similarity ends. XLR was never meant to be a high-volume production car.
At an average MSRP of around $85k ($100k for the V model) and a 1500 unit yearly build rate, that's more than 125 million gross for one year, just using the base model as an example; addition of the Vs makes it higher. Sales have been falling from a high of 5000 units in '04-05 to just over a thousand this year. The "halo" moniker has been bestowed to the new CTS-V. I agree that greener cars are in our future, especially now that the government has a greater say in how the auto companies will have to operate in order to obtain assistance at taxpayer expense. Though painful, I'd like to see the automakers declare bankruptcy, break the unions that contributed to their demise, restructure and become profitable again. Just my .02,
CCC

It's official:

GM will end XLR
Production will stop; about 40 local workers to be laid off

By JENNA MINK, The Daily News, jmink@bgdailynews.com/783-3246
Monday, January 26, 2009 11:49 AM CST

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General Motors plans to end production of the Cadillac XLR, which is made at the General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant.

The company anticipates production will cease this spring, impacting about 40 employees at the plant, said Sharon Basel, communications manager for General Motors.

The plant employs a small assembly crew dedicated to XLR production. Those employees were recently notified of the production cut. It has not yet been determined when those workers will be laid off, but it will likely be this spring, said Paul Graham, plant manager.

“Obviously, it’s difficult when a plant loses a product,” he said. “We want to continue to grow our volume as much as we can. So it’s been difficult.”

The plant is closed until Feb. 23 because of GM’s financial woes and about 154 workers, in both XLR and Corvette assembly, will be indefinitely laid off by March 1.

“No one’s really happy about (the XLR loss),” Graham said. “Everyone in the plant wants to do what we can to build great vehicles. No one’s feeling good about it.”

GM decided to stop XLR production as part of a strategy to help conserve money. The XLR was chosen to be eliminated after a year of slipping sales, Basel said.

“Models like the XLR often have limited product life cycles,” she said. “Difficult decisions have to be made to ensure that we can continue to develop, engineer and produce the most critical products in our portfolio.”

And during a recession, consumers are leery of purchasing high-priced vehicles, she said. Local prices for the XLR are listed from $87,000 to $106,000, according to Cadillac’s Web site.

“It’s very specialized in terms of who would buy a vehicle at that price point,” she said. “We’re seeing the market downturn impacting all segments and some more severely than others.”

Sales of the XLR decreased 28 percent last year compared to 2007. About 1,250 XLRs were sold in 2008, Basel said.

As consumers try to cutback spending and buy more practical vehicles, it is not surprising that XLR sales have plunged and GM has cut its production, said Bill Parsons, managing director for the Global Advanced-Leadership Center and chair of the Global Automotive Conference.

“The XLR is a very nice vehicle, but people are making choices to buy more serviceable vehicles that’s a greater utility to them,” he said. “I think it is something to be anticipated, and the XLR will rebound, but it’s going to take a more sound economy.”

Still, the plant focuses the bulk of its production efforts on the Corvette, a vehicle that Parsons said will survive the national automobile crisis.

“I think the Corvette will be fine,” he said. “The Corvette has a real broad appeal ... Corvette has an increasing appeal outside the United States, too, so that’s a positive.”

....make that 2004 - 2010...

We've known this for awhile.. In fact, the title of this forum is, "Cadillac XLR Forum - 2004 through 2012".

http://jalopnik.com/5139523/cadillac-xlr-is-dead

GM reportedly executes Cadillac XLR
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/26/gm-executes-cadillac-xlr/
by Alex Nunez on Jan 26th 2009 at 3:18PM Autoblog

The Bowling Green Daily News reports that the Cadillac XLR will cease production forever this spring. Spawned from the eye-popping Evoq concept, the Corvette-derived (but Northstar-powered) hardtop convertible finds itself as General Motors' latest cost-cutting casualty. Its high price, low volume and decreasing sales do not make for a strong business case anymore, especially in an economic environment that is not conducive to new car sales in general. We've driven the XLR – the supercharged V-Series – and we like it a lot. Rare and stylish enough to still turn heads, fast enough to paste a wide, goofy grin on your face, and comfortable enough to let you cruise for hours on end – as good as it was, the XLR (and its V-Series counterpart) never quite got the formula perfected. It was doomed to perpetual also-ran status in its category compared to the benchmark set by the Mercedes-Benz SL. The Corvettes also had better engines, manual gearboxes and cost a lot less. The current CTS-V boasts a substantially better interior, is faster and costs less still. And so the XLR drives into the sunset this spring. Frankly, it's a pretty good ride to be making that drive in

I don't remember seeing many ads for the XLR,the STS, or the DTS. I certainly see a ton of ads for the CTS. Every good thing comes to an end, sad to say.

don't remember seeing many ads for the XLR,the STS, or the DTS. I certainly see a ton of ads for the CTS. Every good thing comes to an end, sad to say.

That's really the crux of GM's problems I think. Too many mouths to feed. Some select few cars -- in Cadillac's case, the CTS -- get the advertising, and everything else is left to fend itself. Frankly, I think GM's decision to cut product doesn't go far enough. GMC should go. Pontiac should completely go, as should Saturn and Saab. If not Buick in the US.

Toyota does well with Toyota and Lexus (and to a lesser extent Scion) -- GM would do well with just Chevrolet and Cadillac, after a bit of interim hurt. Pontiac could've been/should've been/etc. Scion, but GM still spreads too few resources over too much of the same type of vehicle -- I'm shocked that we have a Buick Enclave, a GMC Acadia, a Saturn (something), and a Chevrolet Traverse. Wowsa -- is there really that much different among these??

- Mike, a Big GM Proponent.

Lets hope the consolidation/sale of brands makes Chevy and Cadillac stronger.

I just read in the lastest Autoweek that production will cease at the end of 2009. Anybody else hear this? If so, I guess forum needs to be changed, again, once confirmed, to 2004-2009. Versus 2010. I could not open the news link a few posts back. So if my post is a repeat that end date is 2009, versus 2010, I appoligize.

I seem to recall that production ends at the end of March or April, 2009.

Corvette production will restart next week. I don't think they are restarting the XLR line. It may already be over.

It's too bad, really. I really liked the looks of the XLR; plus it was lighter and more powerful (read: faster) than both the Lexus SC430 and Mercedes SL.

Depreciation really did kill the car. Right now there's an '06 XLR-V, only 7k on the odo, for $50K. And it's been sitting on the lot for a while. That's a 50% drop in only two years - not good.

Here's hoping I can pick one up in the not-too-distant future. Preferably red to match the Allante. The original Xenon blue was nice, too.

I sat in one at the DC auto show, the first time since ~2005. The new grille is a great improvement, and the interior quality is high, if the design is staid. They fixed the bulging headrest problem--it used to hit me in the shoulders. That would keep pro basketball or football players from buying it.