It is now official that GM’s luxury brand, Cadillac, will be selling in Australia from 2024. This was confirmed several weeks ago by General Motors Australia and New Zealand (GMANZ) Managing Director, Jess Bala. The Cadillac brand in Australia will be set up as a separate EV only brand. The cars will be factory built as RHD vehicles, as is done with the Corvette C8. This means the cars can also be sold in other RHD countries such as Japan, the UK and New Zealand.
Technically, the Lyriq is based on GM’s ‘Ultium’ EV Architecture which is a modular architecture using an Ultium battery and either one or two Ultium drive units. As well as the Lyriq, Ultium architecture is used for the Hummer EV, Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Buick Electra E4 and E5. The Australian Lyriq will, unlike the entry-level US Lyriq, use dual electric motors to produce 373kW (500 HP) and 610Nm (450lbf-ft) of torque, using a 102kWh lithium-ion battery providing a driving range of 494km under US EPA testing. The Lyriq is 5005mm long and weighs 2774kg.
The range of cars will be led by the Lyriq large electric SUV. It will compete against other luxury brands such as Mercedes, BMW and Tesla. Considering the price of the competitor vehicles, the price could be expected to fall around the $130k to $140k, but this is just speculation as GM’s pricing in Australia is hard to forecast! GM has announced the car will start its Australian sales in late 2024. The sales will be based on a “direct-to-customer” fixed price model either through its website or from one of its two showroom locations in Melbourne and Sydney. The Cadillac brand will be managed by the GMSV division but will not be sold through the GMSV dealers.
GM has also confirmed that the GMC Yukon, an SUV bigger than a Toyota Landcruiser, is due in Australian showrooms in early 2025. The Yukon shares the same platform as the Silverado, making the RHD remanufacturing operation straightforward. So, like the Chevy Silverado, the Yukon will be remanufactured from LHD to RHD by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group and sold through GMSV dealers alongside the Silverado and Corvette. GMC vehicles are marketed as a more luxurious version of the Chevy. Although GMSV has not yet announced a price for the Yukon, it is expected to cost up to $200k in Australia.
With the demise of Holden, GM have since been following a plan of importing the best of their US models to Australia. With the success of this import policy so far, GM is gradually extending the range of imports, some manufactured in RHD configuration, others to be remanufactured to RHD in Australia.
Back before the termination of the Holden brand, many people, including myself, were advocating such a plan. Perhaps GM always had this in mind….