GM didn't build a competitor to Tesla's luxury car, but uses media to fool public

A Tesla Model S 60 outside The Plaza Diner in Fort Lee, N.J., a few blocks from the George Washington Bridge.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The 2014 Cadillac ELR has to be the biggest flop yet of a green car.

The media persist in calling it "electric," but in reality, this major disappointment from General Motors is a plug-in hybrid that uses gasoline.

The Caddy has the same powertrain found in the Chevy Volt, but double the MSRP -- $75,995.

Only 1,835 Cadillc ELR Coupes have been sold in North America in the past 18 months, Bloomberg.com reported this week.

Still, the media are helping General Motors save face by comparing the ELR to Tesla's Model S, as in this Bloomberg.com headline:

"Cadillac is selling its Tesla-like car

at a huge discount"

Price is the only thing the all-electric Tesla Model S 70D -- the new all-wheel-drive base model with a range of 240 miles -- has in common with the Cadillac.

'Never buy gas again'

On Friday, The Record of Woodland Park, N.J., carried an ad from Brogan Cadillac of Totowa for the "all-new 2014 Cadillac ELR Electric 1.4," offering $25,000 off MSRP.

"Never buy gas again," the ad declares.

But readers who notice the asterisk next to that deceptive statement learn in small print that's only the case if you drive "less than 35 miles a day" -- the limited range on the car's batteries and electric motor.

Green cars and MSRP

Bloomberg.com also ran a chart showing data from TrueCar Inc. on the difference between the average transaction price and MSRP, but Tesla's Model S was conspicuously absent.

The Model S is sold directly to the consumer, not through dealers, and hasn't been discounted since its debut in mid-2012.

The BMW i8 plug-in sports car is the only one of seven all-electric or hybrid models to sell above sticker.

Cadillac dealers are slashing the price of the ELR Coupe an average of $11,000, according to TrueCar Inc.

TrueCar apparently hasn't seen the Brogan Cadillac offer of $25,000 off MSRP.

Mercedez-Benz dealers are cutting an average of $4,000 off MSRP for the all-electric B-Class, which uses a Tesla powertrain and has a range of just under 100 miles.

Free lunch for auto writers comes with hard sell on so-called clean diesel engines

Volkswagen executive Marcel Zirwes addressing the monthly meeting of the International Motor Press Association in Manhattan. An executive from Bosch, which paid for lunch, was a no-show.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Members of the International Motor Press Association heard thousands of words praising "clean diesel" at their monthly meeting today in Manhattan.

But none of the executives who spoke claimed a new generation of diesel engines are cleaner than such gas-electric hybrids as the Toyota Prius.

Bosch paid for cocktails and a lunch of farmed salmon, oysters on the half shell, salad and fruit, but a representative was said to be unable to attend because of illness.

Executives of Diesel Technology Forum, Volkswagen and General Motors spoke to the automobile writers and public relations people.

In answer to questions, executives indicated hybrids with diesel engines would cost too much to produce.

And the appeal of diesel engines over hybrid technology is that the former is more profitable to automakers while yielding comparable mileage.