Cadillac has seemingly picked a bad time to launch in Australia. Sales of electric vehicles have slowed and the American luxury brand is introducing an all-electric range.
The first Cadillac Lyriq owners have their cars in their driveways, and this is only the beginning. General Motors Australia, its parent company, has already confirmed the high-performance Lyriq V, smaller Optiq and larger Vistiq will all join the local range in the near-future.
Ask GM Australia Managing Director Jess Bala if she’s nervous or having any second-thoughts and she gives an instant, definitive answer.
“ No, not concerned at all,” she said. “I think the luxury EV space and the mainstream EV space are quite different. And different customers as well.
“No, not concerned because, I mean, I think our Cadillac vehicles are beautiful. They’re absolutely stunning. We will continue to bring in what we believe the customer wants. If that pivots, then we’ll, we’ll have another look, but very much committed to Optiq, Lyriq and Vistiq coming to market.”
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The mainstream EV market has been hit hard by the downturn for Tesla, with the once-popular brand enduring a sales slide and public relations nightmare as its controversial CEO, Elon Musk, dives deep into the world of politics.
Bala revealed that Cadillac won’t be reporting sales figures officially in 2025, and possibly longer, as it tries to keep expectations in check, in what is one of the world’s most competitive markets.
But if sales remain slow and customers remain unconvinced by EVs, Bala did leave the door ajar (not open) to considering internal combustion engine variants, such as the Escalade.
“I mean, we’d need to look internally. We don’t produce any right-hand drive Cadillacs right now that are ICE variants. We’re only doing them as EVs,” she maintained.
“I mean if we wanted to do Escalade it would end up being something that had to be converted at [Walkinshaw-run conversion partner] Premoso… From a price point standpoint it would be on the much higher end. And we just think from an opportunity within our market and our demographic, our focus should stay where it is right now on Lyriq, Optiq and Vistiq.”
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