GM has confirmed the all-electric 2025 Cadillac Lyriq will launch in Australia and New Zealand as a right-hand-drive EV, with Lyriq sales Down Under spearheading the introduction of the RHD variant of the luxury crossover in other global markets as well.
The Managing Director GM Australia and New Zealand, Jess Bala, says the Cadillac Lyriq launch “signals the introduction of our modern automotive luxury brand for our markets – one which features electric vehicles front and center with the promise of more models to come.”
The 2025 Cadillac Lyriq will be the marque’s first model available in Australia and New Zealand, but more launches of the brand’s offerings are in the pipeline. Only EV models from Cadillac will be offered in the market. The brand’s ICE vehicles will continue to be sold only in current markets as they move toward being phased out entirely.
The Australian-spec 2025 Cadillac Lyriq will be factory produced in right-hand-drive configuration, then exported from the U.S. to its southern hemisphere destination. GM is installing a dedicated right-hand-drive production line at the GM Spring Hill plant in Tennessee that produces Lyriq crossovers. Other countries using RHD vehicles include the U.K., Japan, and India.
Signs that GM was planning to introduce the Cadillac Lyriq in Australia and New Zealand have been appearing for months. GM filed to trademark the Lyriq in Australia back in December 2022. At the time, The General denied this move had any significance for the model’s arrival in that country, saying it trademarked vehicle names in various regions simply to “protect them from unapproved usage.”
Then, in February 2023, a YouTube user spotted and filmed a right-hand-drive Lyriq prototype in Michigan. The vehicle’s interior was exactly mirrored from the standard left-hand-drive configuration. Last month, GM Authority exclusively revealed that a RHD Cadillac lineup is on the way for the international market.
Cadillacs, including the 2025 Cadillac Lyriq, will be sold in shopping malls in Australia, using boutique showrooms as the sales venue rather than dealerships. A similar sales approach is also planned for Cadillac models offered in Switzerland.
Jess Bala described the business model by saying “our Cadillac ‘Experience Centres’ will be destination locations, where customers can discover more about Cadillac as a modern luxury brand and explore, test drive, and buy a Lyriq.”
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Comments
….they pretty much used that same rationalization for Cadillac’s stand-alone “boutique” location in New York.
IMHO….you think service parts / recall fixes for the Lyric are difficult to get in the States?? Imagine the challenges in Australia / NZ. That’ll quickly vaporize any emerging brand locality in the region.
No V8 no thanks.
Besides your murdered Holden