Why GM is Continuing the Post-Holden Revival with Cadillac

Cadillac says it’s time to finally launch in Australia as the company returns to offering factory right-hand drive vehicles and a growing range of electric models.

“It really comes down to timing… but where the brand is going and also the incredible electric vehicle range we have,” GM Australia and New Zealand managing director Jess Bala said.

“So if you look at our market here in Australia and New Zealand, it’s obviously one of the most saturated markets in the world, but we also think that’s a really great thing because it gives us a great opportunity to really highlight the Cadillac brand. “just through the fantastic vehicles we have or also through the customer experience.

“When you combine that with what GM as a whole is doing globally and strategically, now is the right time as GM continues to evolve as a company. The Ultium platform gives us the flexibility to produce right-hand drive vehicles at the factory.”

“Everything is aligned to ensure that this really is the right time to launch Cadillac in Australia and New Zealand.”

The brand will officially launch an all-electric product range here this year.

Asked whether GM would advocate for Cadillac to stay here, Ms. Bala replied: “Absolutely.”

“I hope the very fact that these are right-hand drive vehicles built in the factory has been part of the plan for years. I know that everyone here knows very well how long it takes to finish a car on the market.

“Hopefully this really solidifies the commitment as well, seeing what we’re already doing here.

“I can tell you that GM’s passion for the Australian market is palpable.”

Global Cadillac vice president John Roth confirmed last year that an Australian launch had been planned since 2015, several years before General Motors closed Holden.

“I think it was made some time ago,” Mr Roth said when asked when the decision was made to bring the brand to Australia.

“Because of the right-hand drive, it goes back to … Mark Reuss and the time frame of 2015 when they all came together to reimagine what the future of Cadillac would look like not just in the U.S. but around the globe.”

Mr. Roth noted that 2015 was the year GM sought to reimagine Cadillac as a global luxury brand to compete with German “Tier 1” brands.

Cadillac executives say the brand targets buyers of Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo.

“We are targeting the leading European luxury brands,” Ms. Bala said.

“Our price will be exactly in the range of their listings or equivalent listings.

“We know there are many other electric vehicle brands in the market here, and some of those brands have done incredibly well over the last few years, but we see our entry as a true luxury electric vehicle.

“Even if we have buyers who wanted to be early adopters, for example, because we know we have a lot of those customers in Australia and New Zealand and were in a Tesla, for example, we know they are now next.” Step will be a luxury electric vehicle and that’s where we come in and are on their shopping list.”

So far the Lyriq has only been confirmed for Australia, but Cadillac has unveiled a whole range of electric SUVs. These include Optiq, Vistiq and Escalade iQ.

“There are more [models] in the pipeline and we will make further announcements on other models to come in the not too distant future,” said Ms. Bala.

She acknowledged that the brand still has a lot of work to do, even though Cadillac has a strong reputation even in this market where the company hasn’t sold vehicles in decades.

“In our market, we have a job to do… to increase brand awareness even further than it is today,” Ms. Bala said.

However, she said there were already “thousands and thousands” of expressions of interest in the Lyriq.

Customer events introducing the Lyriq to potential Australian buyers begin next week ahead of its launch later this year – but Cadillac has not yet confirmed which month sales will begin.

The vehicles will be sold through Cadillac Experience Centers: one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. However, the company has previously hinted that more vehicles will be added and vehicles will also be sold online.

It promises a “very high quality” and “white” customer experience.

The brand’s vehicles are not sold through the same dealer network as other GM vehicles.

GM sells the Chevrolet Silverado and Corvette through its GMSV dealers. The former is converted to right-hand drive locally, while the latter, like the Cadillac Lyriq, is built in a US factory as right-hand drive.

Cadillac hasn’t officially sold vehicles here since the 1960s, but was close to returning to Australia in the 2000s, but a global financial crisis and the bankruptcy of its parent company left the company stranded.

In 2007 the company announced a return to Australia and received local certification to sell the second generation CTS. This would have been sold alongside Saab and Hummer products in a new GM premium dealer network.

GM even imported several dozen CTS sedans before canceling the brand’s January 2009 launch just weeks before it was scheduled to go on sale.

While Cadillac continued to offer right-hand drive CTS and STS models from the factory in markets such as Japan and South Africa, their successors were built exclusively with left-hand drive.

At this time, Cadillac did not have any right-hand drive vehicles available from the factory.

Cadillac is relaunching in Europe, where its offerings had shrunk except for the XT4 crossover, and currently sells vehicles in North America, China, the Middle East, Israel, Egypt, South Korea and Kazakhstan.

While Japan is a right-hand drive market, left-hand drive Cadillacs are also sold there.

Cadillac sold 355,000 vehicles worldwide in 2023, accounting for 3.0 percent of the global luxury market.

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