Cadillac to return to the UK with big investment into new cars ~ station of gear

US giant Cadillac returns to the UK this year, with right-hand-drive diesels expected before the end of the decade

2015-03-20 14:18

Cadillac has confirmed it will invest $12billion in vehicle development over the next five years, with a big focus on right-hand drive models and more frugal diesel cars.

Due for re-launch in the UK this year, Cadillac will appoint just one London-based dealer for the time being. The flagship showroom will join the 40 existing European dealers, and will debut with a four-model portfolio including the ATS – a BMW 3 Series rival – and Audi Q5-sized SRX SUV.

It will also hold licence to sell the Corvette and Camaro on behalf of Chevrolet, since parent company General Motors announced plans to pull the plug on the brand in Europe back in 2013.

Speaking from the European launch of the new eight-seat Escalade SUV (pictured), PR manager for Cadillac Europe, Rene Kreis, said: “Development of right-hand drive vehicles is high on our wish list. However, to do it properly, you have to engineer it from the start.”

As a result, it’s unlikely we’ll see any UK-specific right-hand-drive examples of existing cars. Instead, development will begin on the next model lifecycle. Bosses refused to confirm which cars would come first, but hinted it could be an all-new model, not yet on sale.

Until this time, the brand has modest plans in the UK. A Cadillac spokesperson told us to expect “less than 1,000” sales each year up to 2020 – even when the range-extending hybrid ELR and flagship CT6 arrive in 2016.

Kreis and Cadillac have their sights set high in the longer-term, though, hoping to hit double-digit thousands by the middle of next decade. He remains realistic, saying: “[we] need diesel to get into the higher numbers.”

Now read more on the BMW M5-baiting Cadillac CTS-V.

Richard Ingram

Thank you for reading the article about Cadillac to return to the UK with big investment into new cars in blog station of gear If this article was helpful please bookmark this page in your web browser by pressing Ctrl + D on your keyboard keys.