They can do that? Cadillac dealers refuse the ELR, citing cost as disadvantage

By Trevor Dermody Published February 24, 2014

The Cadillac ELR electric coupe was released in January and sales have been few and far between. In fact, most Cadillac dealerships themselves have turned down selling the ELR entirely. I honestly didn’t even know that was an option.

According to Green Car Reports, the dealerships that have refused to sell the new Caddy have just reason: the ELR is an all-electric vehicle that shares a powertrain with the Chevy Volt, while being double the price and losing two doors. The ELR also doesn’t stack up evenly with the similarly priced Tesla Model S.

The dealerships also have a problem with the high cost of even being able to sell the cars, including staff training, and electric car installations in preparation for a car that may sell one or two units per year.

Most of the dealerships that turned down the ELR are concentrated in areas where electric vehicles are not popular anyway, so it’s not exactly a death blow for the luxury EV.

The coupe has been generally accepted by most dealerships in areas that are hotspots for electric cars such as California, Texas, and New York. So if you have an itch for a lux Chevy Volt, one shouldn’t have to travel too far.

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