The Cadillac ELR is not long for this world

  Cadillac won't renew pricey plug-in wedge for another generation Cadillac will kill off the ELR luxury plug-in hybrid coupe, ending production of the futuristic wedge once the product cycle ends, Automotive News reports. Initially priced at $75,995, the ELR has been a slow seller since its debut with dealers accumulating a backlog of unsold examples and giving healthy discounts that have taken tens of thousands of dollars off the asking price. Cadillac dealers sold just 1,024 examples in 2015, making it one of the lowest-volume standalone models by a major U.S. automaker. Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen confirmed to journalists during the CT6 sedan launch that there won't be a second generation ELR without saying just how long the automaker plans to keep making the current one. Still, the ELR could stay in production until at least 2018. "I plan to continue admiring it as one of the most beautiful cars on four wheels" de Nysschen said. "But we don't plan further investment." The ELR shares its underpinnings with the first-generation Chevrolet Volt; for the 2016 model year, Cadillac has found a way to uncork a little more performance in the hopes of improving sales, going from 217 hp to 233 hp and gaining 78 lb-ft of torque for a total of 373 lb-ft. The price, meanwhile, has dropped by $10,000 to $65,995, though buyers can expect to find much sweeter deals if they look around for dealerships with a few of these on the lot. The debut of the new Volt, with an increased pure-electric range of 53 miles and a new, lighter 1.5-liter inline-four engine is expected to deal a further blow to sales of the ELR in the marketplace.  

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