Cadillac came quite close to launching in the land down under in 2009, but we all know how 2009 turned out.
The past few years continuously perpetuated the American luxury brand’s return to Australia, but General Motors squashed those rumors for good at the 2017 North American International Auto Show.
“We have no plans for that,” Stefan Jacoby, head of GM International, told media at the 2017 Detroit motor show. He made it clear now was the time to focus on rebuilding Holden and Cadillac was not a priority for Australia. That’s despite booming luxury car sales in the Australian market.
Jacoby stated Holden’s turnaround will also include repositioning the brand as a more premium offering in the country, much like Opel has done in Europe. Once Holden is deemed healthy, Jacoby said Cadillac could be reconsidered.
Cadillac’s head designer, Andrew Smith, commented on the matter, too. Smith, an Australian himself, stated he would be delighted to see his brand in Oz. However, he said it would be useless until Cadillac build’s the proper portfolio of vehicles to be competitive.
“We’re talking about Cadillac in Australia and I see it as a really good fit, but it is a futile exercise until you have exactly the portfolio you need,” Smith said.
“I think the Australian market is an interesting one, it’s always been a mix of the European market and the American tastes,” he added. “Even though we like to think it is European certainly American tastes are similar. But again it’s about having everything we need to make sure we can launch it properly.”
Comments
They are missing an opportunity in not making products available in Australia.
Holdens are never going to be premium enough to compete with BMW, M-B, Audi, Lexus, etc. in that market so there is room to slot Cadillac above Holden and not take sales away from Holden.
I think the real issue is that they have no RHD chassis available for that market and not that they do not want to step on the toes of Holden.
and they call themselves a global company…
I think this is a wise decision for now till Cadillac gets RHD platforms, diesels, hybrids and other models to make it worthwhile. Cadillac portfolio is thin compared to the German brands. Even Lexus has few extra models Cadillac is lacking at this moment.
I think that is the real issue, the lack of a suitable platform (RHD) to appeal the Australian market and not because they do not want to step on Holden’s toes.
Holden customers are not cross shopping BMW,MB and Lexus models. So having Cadillac in the luxury space will not hurt Holden period.