The skies are a little darker today. The sun’s rays lay cowering behind the storm gathering over Darling Harbour in Sydney, where the Australian International Motor Show opened its doors to the press.
Yes. Cadillac is here. And if I were a superstitious type I’d say the manner of its debut is an ominous sign.
That’s the Cadillac CTS on show. The first of the RHD version to come to Australia. The rest will start appearing in 2009 in 16 GM Premium Brands showrooms around the country. Those showrooms, which in almost all cases are incorporated into current Holden facilities, will also house Saab and Hummer vehicles (until that brand is sold off, at least).
Standing to the right of the CTS, at the podium, is GM Premium Brands’ Australian General Manager, Parveen Batish. I’d like to imagine he’s got a sick bag ready behind that podium, but that’s just me. He’s about to tell the assembled press how wonderful Cadillac is and how all comers with a wallet big enough will want to queue up and buy one.
Next, he should have gone to the Saab stand at the motor show and told the assembled press how wonderful Saab is, and how all comers with a wallet big enough should queue up and buy one of those, too. But he didn’t.
Why?
Because Saab (and Hummer) are both conspicuous by their absence at this year’s Australian International Motor Show. We all know why Hummer aren’t being shown: the uncertainty around the brand’s future means that the expense isn’t really justified. But Saab are still a going concern in Australia and last year, GM displayed Holden, Saab and Hummer. This year one of those brands is staying and one is destined for sale, and yet the newcomer is deemed important enough to elbow both black sheep off the family stage.
The space that Cadillac is occupying could rightfully be described as being Saab’s space last year, and any notion of showing a 2009 Saab 9-3 with XWD or the TTiD (again) must have been taken off the plate once the Cadillac-for-Oz decision was made.
The arrival of Cadillac also signals the death knell for Holden’s own upper echelon vehicles. This is probably fair enough as they sell in small-ish numbers and why would you have an Aussie RWD premium sedan selling alongside an American RWD sedan that will still carry a reasonable amount of cachet here in Australia.
Cadillac? Cachet? Are you kidding me?
Cadillac have been absent from the Australian market for over 70 years, so we only saw the Cadillac disasters of the late 70s-thru-90s in bad movies about pimps etc, before that strange left-hander where the term ‘pimp’ became a complimentary term. To many Aussies, the name Cadillac will still men top-line American luxury and there’ll still be a decent numbe of people who think that’s desireable.
I’m sure GM plan to use that absence/cachet to their advantage and I imagine they’ll be marketing Caddy pretty hard next year. That confined space in the corner of the showroom where Saabs sit in the shadows of their Hummer H3 counterparts is about to become even more crowded. The resources, both human and financial, that used to be devoted 100% to Saab are now going to be split between three different brands and I’m sure the budget for advertising and manpower hasn’t tripled since.
I’ll be keeping an eye on things here. Count on it.
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And with Porsche, Alfa Romeo and all the Germans and others missing from the Motor Show this year, the addition of Saab to the absentee list has to make this the least interesting motor show ever from my point of view.
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And ok, I over-dramatised the headline. So what.
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Look at that beauty!
Saab has to seriously up their game by the time I’m graduating otherwise I’ll find myself in a CTS, or BLS (on the new Alpha platform, not the current one).
Allow me to make a prediction, no one will buy the Caddy.
USA luxury cars in our (Aussie) minds is over-the-top bling, poorly constructed, expensive, unreliable, and above all undesirable.
Taurus = 0
Dodge (current ugly 4WD thing) = 0
Hummer = uh huh
Probe = 0
Crossfire = 0
PT Cruiser = 0
300 C = 10
Neon = 0
All failed to make any sort of reputation or dent in the local market. Same will occur with Caddy. Fact is we hate ‘em and we’re much more interested in European cars, and that’s the way it will stay despite what the Yanks think.
Go blow GM Australia.
I second Richo’s comment.
To be fair to the local GM org, I’m sure this is being forced upon them ( although there’s probably a few nutbags who think Caddys are equiv to an S-Class) . The talk at dealer level was ugly enough with Hummer and Saab pretending to get along in close proximity. The addition of Cadillac has already been the straw thats broken the camels back with dealers preferring to hand back Saab rather than add Caddy.
I know that the new Caddys are supposed to be better and they set a record at the nurburgring, blah, blah,,,,,,,
Perpare to see lots of Caddys with HC ( HireCar) number plates as GM is forced to offload em like Chrysler is the 300C.
Swade, the GM premium brands don’t mostly share showrooms with Holden. Yes the share dealerships, but MOST have seperate showrooms for Saab, Hummer and in the future Cadillac. And I hardly think that having Caddy here will kill off the Calais or Satesman/Caprice.
Then you also have the people who just will not buy a Holden no matter how good it may be. Cadillac is GM’s way of getting them to buy a GM car, even if the would be better off buying a Saab :p
I agree with Kdsaab, The main saab dealership here is about to move into their own building with GM Premium, which would not have happened without Cadillac & Hummer being onboard. This Will probably work for Saabs advantage, as Talking to dealers, the hardest part is getting people into the showrooms. Once they are in they usually find out about how good the cars are and end up purchasing one. Buy the addition of Cadillac there is going to be more foot traffic in these dealerships that are looking for a premium sedan.
Also Richo – The 300c has been a sales success for Chrysler, which some months has outsold the Statesman, even our state premier drives one. Chrysler was about to disappear before this arrived.
Well the 300C is the only notable exception in doing sales locally for only one reason: cheap and nasty !!! The record speaks by itself as Ford tried it before with the Taurus and it was en embarrassment. I doubt that any Caddy will outsell any Holden weather these are Statesman, Calais let alone the HSV Grange and Senator. I agree in full with Richo and PT’s views. The dealers will not be able to sustain more confusion and continue mixing all brands in the same pot. Either they dedicate full sections and rooms in their premises to do justice to anything other than Holden or this “Premium Brands” model is a total farce.
Easy Joe, that’s my new car you’re talking about – the 300c.
My MY06 9-3 is being returned to the dealer in a few weeks after 2 unremarkable years. I’m not really sad about it, which in itself saddens me ‘cos it was my first Saab (although about the 13/14th in our family).
I’ve said before I’m taking the 300c for the reasons already mentioned above – in the UK it’s become a very big car at very (I mean very) affordable lease rate. It is a bit cheap inside, but then again its Merc underpinnings mean I won’t be picking up odd screws and trim pieces off the ground (the second screw holding the inside handle of my tailgate fell on the ground this morning! ).
I’ll be back in 12 mtnhs when my 300c lease runs out to see what the 9-4x looks like (but according to Dupe it ain’t gonna be there by then
).
Well if GM is stupid enough to go for a huge Caddy launch and maybe off the more high end Holdens then the only thing I can say is…. Congrats Ford Australia!
Caddy may be nice cars, but still, they are not in the same league as BMW or Mercedes (In peoples mind..Sorry, that´s the way it is) outside of the US. And I suppose thats the demographic they are after. And Caddy is not the type of vehicle that Audi, Saab, Volvo and other premium brands make.. So what are Caddy after? How are they going to make money? I believe that this will hurt Caddy´s finances and in the end all other GM brands. I believe this could be the end of Saab in GM´s ownership. And the sad thing is.. is there another buyer?
GM really should concentrate on Caddy in parts of the world where they are able to “Swim Downstream” rather than fight an uphill battle. US, Canada, Mexico and Russia are places where the brand can grow IMO.
All:
I challenge you to drive one. Today’s Cadillac is freakin’ great. I’m not exaggerating. Performance and style. Love it or hate it, it’s a great car.
Comparisons with the Taurus or the 300C miss the mark. The 300C is typical Chrysler plasticy interior with a huge engine to make it go. The Caddy has much more refinement.
Thank you Eggs. I’m no fan of Cadillac but lets face it, the CTS is a very good car now. Yes, the rest of the lineup is rather weak and very old-school but I think if the CTS is any sign, Cadillac can actually make a decent car. Is it BMW class? No, but it’s a pretty good alternative. I would seriously consider a used 2009+ CTS-V in a couple of years.
And not to bash GM, but they has managed both Cadillac and Saab rather poorly. The Cadillac SRX should have been a Saab 9-5x, and the 9-7x should have been a mini Escalade. In my opinion, they both would have sold better that way and someone at GM should have seen that. It’s a shame that GM doesn’t see that they already have a world brand in Saab. Europe doesn’t understand Cadillac so why even try to promote it there? Europe understands Saab so develop some new products that will sell there instead of wasting the money on design, production, distribution, and promotion of Cadillac there. Keep Cadillac at home in the US and recognize that with a bit of money, Saab could be your brand that sells around the world. But I digress…
In the mean time, I’ll wait for the 2009 CTS-V to come out, watch resale values plummet, and pick one up rather cheap in a couple of years. Then after a few years, the new 9-5 will finally be revealed and I can get one of those (but I’m not holding my breath!)
I was seriously considering buying a CTS-V sometime ago. I mean that car has, at least on paper, a lot going for it: A nice howling V8, awesome handling and all this in a sedan-package for under 60k. However, I got deterred when I read about all the problems the owners had on their forums. People where complaining about rattling interiors after 2k miles, repeated failing of rear slip diffs at less than 20k miles, a horrible transmission that pop out of gear, really poor dealership support and even stories about the front control arm falling off (!). All this in low mileage (<30k) “luxury” cars. The straw that broke the camels back, however, was when a friend of mine had her windshield cave in on her CTS during a heavy rainfall…. I guess the new 2009 CTS may be better in many aspects, but I am not holding my breath. I’ll be sticking to my SAAB thank you.
I’ve been convinced for quite a while that the current leadership at General Motors is quite inept. Sure, Bob Lutz finally gave the company some cars which were desirable, raised quality, and increased the GM’s reputation, but GM executives repeatedly make very stupid business decisions.
Today General Motors stock is tanking. It’s dragging the average of the Dow Industrials down with it. At one point today the stock was down over 21%, not to mention that this is the lowest the stock price has been since 1950.
When will the shareholders have had enough and boot the current management?
Is it time (or even possible) for a break-up of General Motors, like the Bell System breakup or like how other companies (such as my former employer Tyco International) broke into smaller, more manageable pieces?
Your headline implies a second part which you left unstated: “…and I feel fine”. ;-P
Speaking as a Yank I can understand the Aussies love for Euro cars and the perception that they are of superior quality. And it may well be true that that is just the way Aussies think and that’s the way it will always be and that’s the end of that. So be it, but don’t confuse that perception and overiding aussie pre-disposition with the truth, because it in fact is not really true although I’ll accept those who want to argue that after perception is determined what does the truth matter anyway? Still, there are plenty of statistics, awards, warranty claims and data points to prove that the recent caddys starting with the CTS are in the same league with the Euro cars. And there is one factor, that although a bit subjective, has been left out of the discussion and that is just how smokin good looking the CTS is compared to any of it’s euro competitors. Any recent review of auto design in virtually any auto buff magazine you want to read will give very high marks to GM’s recent design direction under Lutz/Wellburn and you will find little excitement over the euro designs. And with the CTS coupe which is maybe one of the hottest designs in recent years coming to dealers next year it will be hard to make a case to turn down a caddy over the euros on looks or quality. If you want to say, I just won’t drive a caddy because I think I look better and my friends and aquaintances think I’m smarter when I drive a mercedes then that’s your choice and I wouldn’t for a moment take that away from you although I might question its sustainability.
…Are some of you seriously comparing the CTS to the 300C? No. No no no no no.
Even worse, the TAURUS?! What the hell is wrong with you? That’s like comparing a 900 to a Camry.
Aussies like big RWD cars that can smoke tires and swing the ass end around, and don’t tell me I’m wrong. Look at HSV and FPV. Drive a Falcon or a GTS and tell me the CTS isn’t in the exact same vein.
HSV’s website says “Luxury and Performance Vehicles” right on the top. The CTS will fit right in.
Jeff:
Couldn’t be more wrong there, Jeff.
Yeah, they’re all RWD cars but that’s where it ends. You’re completely ignoring the car culture here. A Caddy will be a socialite wannabe pimp’s car here. A well-to-do Aussie bloke would still pick a top-end Commodore and if you roll up in a Caddy at a Ford/Holden event the most common word in the car park that day will be “wanker”.
“Also Richo – The 300c has been a sales success for Chrysler, which some months has outsold the Statesman, even our state premier drives one. Chrysler was about to disappear before this arrived.”
Yeah Trent, that’s why I put 300C = 10
and NJ_Nick – exactly what I’m talking about.
Jeff – Sales of those cars is declining at such an alarming rate Ford and Holden don’t know what to do. The CTS will take few customers away from Commodore, and after all that’s that GM want. They’re marketing CTS against the BMW, Audi, and Merc… and it just wont stack up.
Lets now site back for the next 18 months and re-visit these posts.
And vz, it takes more than one car to build a reputation. Caddy and the other directly imported Seppo cars have a poor reputation here in Oz, they just don’t wash and never have. If it’s muscle you want you can’t go past the local cars that have a HUGE amount of history and desire for those who are in to them, and the others either want a small car (Asian built) or a European. It’s a dead mans market here for Caddy, no matter what they have. I mean the name alone…. Cadillac….. gawd!
Oh, and did someone say this was good looking????
Richo: Indeed I did. The CTS is a very good-looking car, even more so in person. The two-seater is even better-looking.
Caddy and Saab rarely have cross-over sales. Different demographics. GM knows it. We can live with the fact that the CTS is, in fact, a very fine car, but . . . most of us would not buy one (I would if it were called something else and were not RWD). The CTS is almost exactly the same size as the current 9-5. The similarity ends there. Saab is indeed the GM premium brand in Europe; we do have a legitimate gripe that we keep getting show cars (sparkling as they are) and not enough new stuff on the showroom floor. At least the Dame Edna really looks different from the previous 9-5s, it initiated some of the current style language on a car you can buy. making the car better each year or five is not good enough. I still think we have a problem and an asset mixed together reflected right here on TS. Yes it is important that people want buy used Saabs, but i they are going to be super bargains, then some buyers who are concerned about resale values will be turned off. But GM-Saab (dealers aside) does not thrive on used cars. Those of us who will keep our Saabs for 10+ years can be happy with their longevity. But that very longevity keeps us out of the showrooms. Saab has moved from “different” economy and family car to “entry premium,” which is nice for the image. But that means fewer of us at TS will be able to afford to buy one, even if we wanted to. So here at TS we have a mix of new Saab buyers and old Saab buyers and Saab aspirers.
Can WE find a way to remain a community and can WE help move some of those new models. Last week I told my Saab manager that he is very welcome to give my phone number (or call me himself) if anyone in the showroom looks at the 9-5 and hesitates, should they want to talk to a happy owner. I think all three (are there others) demographics who are regulars (or casuals) at TS need to talk up our new, old, or aspiring Saabs and help create a line-up at the door. This website is a blessing as starting points. Let’s not lose too much energy on Caddy-envy.
it just looks ridiculous
bling is not a good thing
Good points Bruce. If we could just get Saab to slightly reposition themselves near Subaru/Honda/Volkswagen as well I think the whole picture is much more reasonable.
Agree that success for Caddy is probably good for GM but it must certainly come at Saabs expense in the short term in terms of marketing spend and product investment. Long term, a healthy GM could mean a healthy Saab but thats way off right now.
I can’t see one model from Caddy being anything more than a novelty. Holden and Ford own the RWD value for money space here and they will not be moved on quickly. There will be some cannibilisation of HSV and the Statesmen but perhaps the Caddy will really on attract those who would have otherwise gone for a 300C.
I swear I remember reading an Aussie on here say “unfortunately, most of us measure a car’s worth by how much you can swing the bum out” and I swear it was either Richo or Swade himself, but I’m probably remembering wrong.
The CTS is supposed to change the whole “pimpmobile land yacht” image, anyway, and the new smaller Caddy will do even more for that, whenever it shows up. Let’s just see what happens once the economy takes an upturn.
Once this is fixed.
Well Richo, I have to honest…I do think the new CTS is very good looking especially when compared to the euros.
as is this
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/cadillac-cts-coupe-concept/685767/
or this:
http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25106
which is the new SRX
If these cars offend the aussie sensibility of attractive cars then I plead guilty of cultural mis-understanding and offer apologies.