When you want to reach hundreds of thousands of people who might be interested in an entry-level luxury SUV, you contact the press.

When you want to reach the tiny circle of people looking to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars to customize an ultra-luxury car, you post on a professional networking site.

That’s probably the logic Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Grady Dias used to reach an unusual decision late last week. She announced the price of Cadillac’s new super-luxury Celestiq electric car in a LinkedIn post.

“The bespoke spirit of Celestiq will be determined by the client’s level of curation, but the blank canvas will start at approximately $340,000 MSRP,” Grady Dias wrote.

A Return to Form from Long Ago

Cadillac was once the builder of some of the world’s most luxurious cars. The luxury division of General Motors is 120 years old. Early in its history, it competed with bespoke luxury automakers.

But in recent decades, it has moved lower on the food chain. Styling itself an American BMW or Audi, Cadillac has focused on SUVs and sedans to rival those brands, vs., say, a Bentley or Rolls-Royce.

Its best-selling product remains the untouchable Escalade large SUV. But it has attempted to make a splash with its high-performance Blackwing sedans, aimed at BMW’s M cars and the Mercedes-Benz AMG shop.

The Celestiq is something different. A recalibration calling back to the days when Cadillac called itself “the standard of the world.”

Commanding Presence

It’s a stunning vehicle – a divisive, love-it-or-hate-it design that has real visual weight. You might not love it, but you won’t look away.

On the outside, Cadillac’s angular, fractured-obsidian design language and a bulbous rear make it both peculiar and imposing.

Cadillac is still keeping performance details close to the Zegna vest for now. Materials provided to the media still list “a GM-estimated 600 horsepower and 640 lb-ft of torque” and an estimated driving range of 300 miles.

On the inside, a captivating art deco design language melds a 1920s aesthetic with 2020s technology. The early design models shown to the press used acres of deep red leather fading to black in herringbone patterns and abundant polished nickel trim to convey a timeless luxury.

Design-Your-Own Ethos

But Cadillac won’t offer the Celestiq with just one or two interior color options. Grady Dias explains that buyers will design their own car, working “with some of the world’s most talented designers to ensure their vision is completely understood and executed with extreme precision.”

She writes, “Since its introduction, we’ve seen extremely high demand for Celestiq.” Last December, the company claimed it already had an 18-month backlog of orders.

The company plans to hand-build each car, in the style of Rolls-Royce or Bentley. Cadillac has said it can produce just 400 per year.

A New Makeover For an Old Marque

Grady Dias is soliciting new orders, making us wonder if they aren’t all spoken for into 2025.

But a car like this doesn’t need to sell in huge numbers to succeed. Instead, it needs to make a cultural impact.

Grady Dias writes, “We have a bold opportunity to establish a powerful halo for the Cadillac brand while building valuable client relationships.” That’s not the language of a company competing to sell $40,000 compact SUVs.

It’s the language of a company seeking to redefine itself as an aspirational brand for the wealthy. Will ultra-luxury buyers pay Maybach money for a car from the people who brought you the $39,000 XT4?

Perhaps, if you reach out to them through their professional networks.