Regarding the XLR and having a new version come back I wonder what the business model would be. Wasn't the XLR intended to only be a Halo vehicle to draw attention back to Cadillac and further raise the company's profile? In that case it was never meant for a long term production vehicle. However, I believe that it did fulfill bringing attention to Cadillac and raising the company's profile. Afterall, with an XLR being $75K and an XLR-V being over $100K, the XLR was certainly one of the more expensive Cadillacs. Also I did not hear of them having to be offered with deep discounts in order to sell. As I understand the prices were pretty firm; and even though I see some for sale, I rarely see a brand new one. Even if I do see a brand new one they are usually asking full price. It seems as if the company may have met its profitability targets.
Even though the article talks about bringing the XLR back Cadillac now has the CTS and the CTS coupe. They are not hand made like the XLR and should be more profitable. In addition, they seem to sell well. Also I heard talk of having a convertible version of the CTS coupe, but that that idea was killed, and I do not know why.
In addition, even though the XLR would be a two seater convertible, who would be it's competition? If the V's maintained their same price point then they would complete with the Audi R8 Spyder, Jaguar F Type, Mercedes SL Class and Porsche 911 Cabriolet. However do they really have the same buyer? Similarly, the standard XLR with it's price point would complete with whom? The BMW Z4, Mercedes E Class Cabriolet are both around $55K and the Vette, maybe $75K. Are these the same buyers? I don't know, but tend to believe that the same buyer for a vette would not necessarily be the same buyer for an XLR.
So if the XLR were brought back, who would be its demographic and what market segment would it go after? How would the XLR further distinguish itself beyond being a Cadillac? I know that I like the XLR because it is unique and a Cadillac. Yet, there are those who discount it as a sort of luxury vette.
