Cadillac targeting ‘tier-one European luxury brands’ in Australia

General Motors has no intention of making a “mainstream play” with the return of Cadillac in Australia, vowing to instead target the major European luxury brands with the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq electric large SUV that launches in the fourth quarter of this year.

In an interview with Australian media today, General Motors Aust/NZ managing director Jess Bala said the US auto giant was using Cadillac – which will soon expand beyond Lyriq to other model lines – to poach buyers away from BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Land Rover, Porsche and Volvo through its unique blend of style, brand identity and EV-only performance.

“We’re targeting those tier-one European luxury brands,” she said.

“We’re not going after a mainstream play, this is a luxury play for a whole realm of reasons, one being we want to be something that’s sought-after, and to be sought-after there needs to not be a tonne of them driving around.

“We know we’ve only announced Lyriq so far, but I can promise you there are more in the pipeline, and we’ll make more announcements in the not-too-distant future around other models that are coming.

“We are definitely excited about the future that Cadillac has here, we know we have some amazing competition, but we think that once we get our customers in and around cars like the Lyriq and those that saw it back in November will hopefully agree it’s just a stunning car.

“We think we really are bringing the right vehicles to market to rival those European luxury brands.”

Bala wouldn’t be drawn on specifics but said the Lyriq and other new models that follow will be priced competitively against equivalent offerings from the Euro brands, reaffirming the expectation of a $140,000-$150,000 entry point for the upcoming large SUV.

GM’s market research has also led it to believe there’s potential for Cadillac to draw the attention of “early adopters”, particularly Tesla customers, looking to make the next step upmarket and return to something new and bit different to the established players.

Despite GM having previously walked away from a Cadillac relaunch Down Under, Bala said the car-maker was “absolutely” committed to the Australian market and wouldn’t just be a flash in the pan, even with the tumultuous nature of the premium EV market.

“The passion from within GM around the Australian market is palpable,” she said, before confirming Cadillac would only offer battery-electric vehicles here.

While Bala wouldn’t be drawn on future models for Australia, Cadillac chief marketing officer Melissa Grady Dias pointed to the Cadillac Escalade IQ flagship SUV as a key global player.

“Wherever we sell Escalades, they are usually our best-selling vehicle in most of our markets bar China,” she said.

“We talk about Cadillac being an iconic brand, and the Escalade is an iconic vehicle and represents the brand so well.

“I think that wherever we were to introduce the Escalade, it would be well received.”

Bala said there was perhaps less nameplate recognition in Australia but still described the Escalade as an “amazing halo for the brand”.

GM trademarked the ‘Escalade IQ’ nameplate with IP Australia last year, along with the ‘Cadillac Optiq’, ‘Optiq’ and ‘Vistiq’ nomenclatures, hinting at the potential composition of the bullish luxury brand’s future model rollout – one medium SUV, two (five- and seven-seat) large SUVs and a full-sized flagship.

More details on the model rollout are expected to be announced soon. In the meantime, Bala said there had been “thousands” of expressions of interest in the Lyriq, with a special preview event set to be held next week before first customer deliveries in October.

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