Caddy timing blows out beyond 2020

One of Cadillac's most senior executives has confirmed the arrival of the General Motors luxury brand in right-hand drive markets including Australia has been put on the backburner until after 2020.

Outspoken global marketing chief Uwe Ellinghaus conceded the timing to motoring.com.au at the Dubai motor show this week, where he was attending the world debut of the new XT5 SUV.

Asked if a post-2020 timeline for an Australian introduction was now the best-case scenario, Ellinghaus said: "Put it this way, I will refrain from commenting, which at least means I am not disagreeing with this timeframe."

Cadillac's global boss Johan de Nysschen had made it clear in recent presentations leaked to media that left-hand drive markets were the immediate priority for Cadillac. But the position for Australia had not previously been spelled out specifically.

Following on from the CT6 flagship limousine, the XT5 is the second model in a massive expansion by Cadillac through to the end of the decade that will add a family of SUVs and several new passenger cars to the line-up.

Ellinghaus confirmed the new architectures that underpin both CT6 (Omega) and XT5 (C1UG) were at least package-protected for right-hand drive.

It seems only once Cadillac's model rush is completed will it turn its attention from existing and new left-hand drive markets and expand into right-hand drive.

Ellinghaus said a return to the United Kingdom would be a cornerstone of any RHD program, but Cadillac would first have to re-establish a European dealer network before contemplating such a move.

Crucially, it would also have to add turbo-diesel engines to its portfolio.

"I would love to have right-hand drive and diesel for the Cadillac brand and I cannot see any reasoning from a brand positioning point of view why we shouldn't get it," Ellinghaus said.

"Yet the business cases simply need to work and it's fair to say the situation isn't helped by the fact that the potentially biggest diesel and right-hand drive market in the word is the UK, where we have no distribution for Cadillac going forward.

"But of course we need to re-establish a network in Europe anyway and it's fair to say diesel and right-hand drive will only work if we make a joint effort in the UK, in Australia and a few other markets that need both. Only then will the value be sufficient to make a business case."

Ellinghaus also made it clear the eventual right-hand drive Cadillac line-up might have a high preponderance of diesel engines because of the UK buying patterns.

"Looking at right-hand drive in isolation doesn't help us because the UK must get diesel, it is 85 per cent diesel," he explained. "This is why I really I think that if we re-enter with right-hand drive it will be more likely with diesel than with petrol, solely because of the UK," Ellinghaus said.

He said it was too soon to speculate on the impact of Dieselgate on diesel's ongoing popularity, but confirmed plug-in hybrids would form an increasingly important part of Cadillac's line-up.

"In 2017 there will be a CT6 plug-in hybrid," he said. "Expect future Cadillacs to have plug-in hybrid as well. I believe that plug-in hybrids will become a must for all luxury brands, maybe all automotive brands to meet CAFÉ [corporate average fuel economy] legislation the world over.

"But this also means that it will move from a differentiator to an entry ticket into the market. So in a couple of years we will be discussing plug-in hybrids as we are discussing all-wheel drive today."

Meanwhile, Ellinghaus couldn't rest a dig at Hyundai's announcement it will expand the Genesis from a couple of cars to a complete 'New Luxury' model line.

"We never talk about competitors," he insisted. "The only thing I do say is if you declare yourself luxury, which some in our industry still do, you certainly are not luxury.

"A luxury brand doesn't need to declare that it is luxury. That is the inevitable outcome of its appeal to target groups with the means to buy their products.

"But I think we should all shy away from using the word luxury whether we are or we aren't luxury."