Cadillac expansion plans explained

The American luxury brand hasn’t arrived yet but already has big plans for Australia.

The Cadillac Lyriq is due to arrive in Australia before the end of 2024

Cadillac is coming back to Australia for the long haul, revealing plans for a wide range of electric vehicles to do battle against the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

For now the company has only confirmed the mid-size Lyriq SUV, but General Motors Specialty Vehicles chief, Jess Bala, has told Torquecafe that more will be on the way, even if she won’t say what models they will be.

“We will have more cars coming, we know what they are but we want to let the Lyriq stand on its own,” Bala explained.

But given Cadillac’s Australian focus will be entirely electric, we can probably assume what the most likely candidates to join the Lyriq are. The smaller Optiq, larger, seven-seat Vistiq and the flagship Escalade iQ SUVs will form the core of the brand’s future expansion.

The Cadillac Escalade IQ is the brand’s electric flagship globally

While Bala wouldn’t be drawn on the specific models, Cadillac’s global chief marketing officer, Melissa Grady Dias, made it clear that the full-size Escalade is the hero model for the brand wherever it goes.

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

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

The smaller Cadillac Optic is another likely local edition

Despite the electric focus, Bala dismissed Tesla as a potential rival, with the best-selling EV brand considered more mainstream and not a ‘Tier 1’ premium brand, that Cadillac will be focused on. That’s going to position the Lyriq above $100,000 and put it into direct competition with the likes of the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.

“We are targeting the European luxury brands and our price will be right in the realm of where their equivalent entries are,” Bala said.

She added: “We listen to customers, we are guided by the segments that are growing and that people are asking for entries for.”

Bala also confirmed that the Lyriq will officially go on sale in the second half of the year, with the first deliveries set to begin before the end of 2024.