Cadillac Australia Launch Set For Late 2008, With Petrol & Diesel CTS Sedan

[samkung]

cant welcome to see CTS on the street, btw are they going to sell them through Holden dealership or a separate one? Cadillac stand alone one?

[BBDOS CV8]

cant welcome to see CTS on the street, btw are they going to sell them through Holden dealership or a separate one? Cadillac stand alone one?

There's 20 premium GM dealers in Oz. I think there's four in my state, selling two models at present.The second most populous state in Oz. Mercedes has 24 dedicated full range dealers in my state alone.

There's a plethora of well-established imported and local luxury sixes and eights in the $50-$70K bracket, including French and Italian makers, and unlike America as an import the CTS is only going to be price competitive with the medium sixes, not the BMW 3-series. All these cars are competing for around 15,000 annual sales. I can't see Cadillac capturing more than a few percent of that market. If they struggle to sell a thousand a year in Europe

And unlike America there's a lot of competent local RWD product with V8s or in the case of Ford turbo 4-litre sixes.

They'd honestly be better expediting the DI, diesel, alternative energy versions of the Commodore, and investing in Korean plant to get more of the next gen GMDATs and Opels here. With large cars waning in Oz, the only growth area has been in the smaller vehicles and they are also pretty high-margin units. Holden can't seemingly get as many Epicas, Captivas and even Barinas as they could sell. With the dollar climbing to a thirty year high even the newer Opels might come back into the equation.

If Cadilac sells 5,000 cars in five years which I think is optimistic it's probably going to cost $10,000 a car to establish them.

[aldw]

Originally Posted by TriShield

I still can't believe GM thinks launching Cadillac in Australia is a good idea. It doesn't even have a coherent product lineup nor is it really competitive with established luxury brands here. Plus it will cannabalize sales from Holden which already sells luxury versions of the Commodore and long wheelbase cars. GM competing with itself is a massive massive problem in the US, why are they repeating it all over the world now?

Cadillac still needs to expand overseas to improve its overall market position, stagnation by sticking only in one market is essentially death for a luxury brand.

[Robert Ryan]

Cadillac still needs to expand overseas to improve its overall market position, stagnation by sticking only in one market is essentially death for a luxury brand.

When it has dominance in it's home market, then it can think of expanding overseas.

[samkung]

Originally Posted by Robert Ryan

When it has dominance in it's home market, then it can think of expanding overseas.

Thats not the case for Lexus

[Robert Ryan]

Thats not the case for Lexus

Lexus was a brand developed by Toyota for the US, then it has spread across the globe. The Japanese Emporer rides around in a Toyota Century a vehicle you cannot buy anywhere else.

[cad1cts]

I have a question not related to anything being discussed here....Does anyone know if running pre-production prototypes of the replacement for the STS and DTS exist? If they don't does anyone have anymore information on the car?

[mikmak]

I posted your question in the discussion thread cad1cts. Check it out here