Cadillac global boss acknowledges past Aussie failures

The global boss of Cadillac has acknowledged the past failures of the American luxury auto brand and its parent company General Motors in Australia, declaring it must prove it is here to stay with its actions as well as its words.

“It’s about walking the talk,” Cadillac’s global vice-president John Roth told carsales at yesterday’s relaunch of the 120-year-old premium car-maker as an electric-only brand in Australia next year.

“I can give you all the words in the world, but acting and doing is the only way you are going to be believing and that’s on me as a global brand leader.”

Roth and his colleagues announced the Cadillac Lyriq battery-electric large SUV will be released Down Under in the second half of 2024, marking the official return of the US luxury brand to Australia for the first time since 1940.

But GM made a similar Australian launch announcement for Cadillac back in late 2008, only to reverse the decision in early 2009 when the global financial became an issue.

It also briefly appeared set to return to Australia in 2015-2016.

Cadillac’s 2009 U-turn was the start of a run of failed businesses for GM in Australia. Both Hummer and Opel were launched and quickly axed, Saab was pulled, Holden manufacturing was closed in 2017 and then the brand shut in 2020.

Part of the reason Holden collapsed was an inability to secure right-hand drive production from GM, which baulked at the cost of factory complexity for two relatively small markets.

Crucially, while Australia and New Zealand will be the first right-hand drive markets for Cadillac, constituting a global-first, other RHD markets will be announced in 2024 to make the business case more secure.

“Right-hand drive and the markets it [Cadillac] is going into was there from the start [of the brand’s EV transition plan],” said General Motors Australia & New Zealand chief Jess Bala.

“What’s important for our customer base and the public here and in New Zealand to know and understand is launching Cadillac here was always part of the plan as we started to develop the EV transition for the brand.

“So right-hand drive and the markets it is going into were not an after-thought.

“That is definitely going to be part of our story to show that commitment. That is why we have done [the launch] today and it will be part of our marketing story going forward.”

GM is now represented in Australia via GM Specialty Vehicles (GMSV), which distributes the Chevrolet Silverado and Corvette through an orthodox network of dealers, with the GMC Yukon large SUV joining them in 2025.

Like the Silverado, the closely-related Yukon will be converted locally to RHD by the Walkinshaw Group. The Corvette is manufactured in the USA in RHD, as the Lyriq will be.

Now joining GMSV under the General Motors Australia & New Zealand banner is Cadillac ANZ, which plans to sell an expanding line-up of electric models direct to customers online and through an initial line-up of three ‘experience centres’ in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.

Bala said there was already local awareness of the brand, although she made it clear there was much work to be done.

“People do know what it is, but have they had experience in the vehicles? Probably not,” she admitted.

“And that’s where our job comes in. We already have a very well laid-out plan about where we want to go first. We are deliberately going into Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland from an exposure standpoint, from a volume standpoint, but also looking at our target customer.”

Other Cadillac electric SUVs that could be sold in Australia, where they have already been trademarked, include the Optiq and the full-size Escalade IQ, although they’re yet to be confirmed for local release.

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