BLS set for sale in Europe - Caddy lowers expectations
The Cadillac BLS represents many innovations for GM’s luxury brand. It’s not only the first Cadillac designed and built in Europe, but it will also be the first Cadillac available with a diesel engine. Based on the Saab 9-3, Cadillac expects the FWD BLS to make up around 70-percent of its European sales, according to the Detroit News. That may sound like a lot, though Cadillac has just lowered its target volume for sales in Europe from a previously mentioned 20,000 units by 2010 to a more attainable amount – 10,000 units. That volume includes Cadillac’s other models that will be on sale in Europe – the CTS, STS, SRX, XLR and Escalade.
Cadillac is perhaps taking note of the inherent difficulty of breaking into the European luxury market, which is dominated by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. Lexus has learned this lesson the hard way, selling a mere 29,000 units in Europe last year after having been on sale there for 17 years. Cadillac’s hoping there are a few thousand Europeans bored enough with the Teutonic styling and billet craftsmanship of the German brands that they’re willing to try something new. The BLS, which goes on sale in April, is that something new.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tom Rooney 7:23PM (4/02/2006)
I think it's an agressive number for an General Motors manufacturer to project data 4 years ahead since they might well be on the road to bankruptcy. I also see this vehicle as a way for american car companies to show off a more Europian flavor and maybe think of this as the fail safe single brand.
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TJ 7:26PM (4/02/2006)
Wow, an american luxury brand tries to sell a swedish build FWD automobile that looks just like the Toyota Avensis and competes with Audi, Mercedes and BMW as well as ill fated Jaguar and Lexus. And that's supposed to be THAT SOMETHING NEW?
What they should do is concentrate on the CTS in Europe.
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iQuack 7:41PM (4/02/2006)
Seems like a first step in killing Saab which is nearly dead anyway.
Good way to retain what is a decent vehicle by saving Saab hardware while dumping a redundant GM brand.
Better to promote the Cadillac brand overseas than to dump money into moribund Saab.
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j-dawg 7:52PM (4/02/2006)
I thought you could get Cadillacs with a 350 Olds diesel in the eighties? A quick Google search shows a lot of Eldorados with 5.7 diesels.
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Michael Karesh 7:56PM (4/02/2006)
When you can take a Saab, slap on different sheetmetal, and call it a Cadillac, it sorta tells you that Saabs aren't as unique as they used to be.
Same thing goes for Cadillac. Since a Saab is hardly cutting edge, you cannot aspire to be "standard of the world" by rebadging one. Kudos for making the car look like a Cadillac, but that's about it.
Even more than in the U.S., if Cadillac wants to make people in Europe take notice of the brand they've got to introduce a car that blows everything else out of the water. Unfortunately, in this age of 244-horsepower Accords and 269-horsepower Camrys blowing everyone else out of the water is increasingly hard to do.
Infiniti with the G35 probably caught the last window of opportunity. The same car wouldn't make nearly as much an impression if introduced today. Probably need 325 horsepower to do the same 260 horsepower did for Infiniti way back in 2003 MY.
I'd still like to drive the BLS. But since it's not available here I guess I'll just have to drive a 9-3 Aero and pretend that the sheetmetal is more angular.
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Steve B. 8:03PM (4/02/2006)
Wow... So GM is trying to reinvent Cadillac, and having mixed luck shaking the obese trash-barge on wheels with gaudy chrome slathered liberally about, by making some pretty respectable cars... CTS, STS, etc.
What do they do when they are just beginning to build a somewhat credible image, and at least show some vision? They water down the name by making a badgineered Saab?
Furthermore, the article states that they plan on selling these babies for 5-10% below the cost of comparable 3-series BMWs. Is that the grand plan? Playing Hyundai to BMW's Toyota?
TO MEDIOCRITY, AND BEYOND!!!
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Alex M 9:37PM (4/02/2006)
Wow, so many GM haters! It sounds as though General Motors is the only company that takes a platform and uses it for more than one car!
Hmm...let's see. The Toyota Camry and the Lexus RX330 are built on the same platform, but have different "sheet metal." But I guess that is okay to do because it is not GM "badgineered" work. Just because it is the same platform, that doesn't mean the entire car is the same.
I also like the predictions of GM bankruptcy. And, is it not okay for a manufacturer of a product to predict how much of it the manufacturer will sell?
These are some of the most ignorant comments I have ever read.
Alex
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Talis 9:51PM (4/02/2006)
It is clear that none of you really know what is going on over at General Motors.... the BLS is not just a badge-engineered Saab 9-3, it is a Cadillac version of the Epsilon platform which underpins the Chevy Malibu/Malibu MAXX, the Pontiac G6, the Saab 9-3 and the Cadillac BLS. This is a part of General Motors GLOBAL DESIGN, a new(er) business model that is supposed to lower costs by producing one platform for many cars. I want to say right now that this is NOT badge engineering--but rather platform sharing. There is a big difference.
I for one would like to have the BLS here in America as a competitive 3-series beater. The CTS is nice, but too big to really go after the 3-series, and too small to fight the 5-series. If I had my way, Cadillac would produce the BLS as the 3-series beater, the CTS would be the 5-series beater, and the STS would go after the 7-series.
There is no reason this car should not sell. If as many Germans are just as upset about BMW's new design architecture as Americans are, the BLS, CTS, and STS might be a good buy.
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Fabulo 9:51PM (4/02/2006)
"When you can take a Saab, slap on different sheetmetal, and call it a Cadillac, it sorta tells you that Saabs aren't as unique as they used to be."
Saab9-3 is based on the epsilon platform. A crapload of other GM cars are based on it, on both side of the pond. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Epsilon_platform
Also, the 9-2 being a Saabaru, the 9-7 being GMT360 (trailblazer), who would argue Saab has lost its uniqueness for a long time?
In any case, good luck breaking in the B-mer, Merc and audi domain with a Vertra-Dillac.
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Ted Y 9:59PM (4/02/2006)
Alex M and Talis, thanks for some intelligent comments--a nice change from the normal GM bashing.
And about Saab being nearly dead and moribund, they've had two record months in a row, and might be on target for a third.
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PJ 11:04PM (4/02/2006)
Alex and Talis - You're missing some important distinctions here. For one thing, while the Highlander and RX 330 share platforms, they're also two of the best vehicles in their respective segments. The 9-3 is not, and therefore, isn't fit to be the basis for a Cadillac (at least, not one that aspires to beat the Germans). The FWD layout alone is a major handicap.
Also, while the BLS's basic architecture is also shared with the Malibu and G6, not just the 9-3, it has far more in common with the Saab. Check some photos, and you'll see that the interior trim is shockingly similar--the steering wheel, shifter, and instrument panel are essentially identical. Also, the BLS's 2.0-liter Four and 2.8-liter turbo V6 engines are shared only with the Saab--neither the Chevy nor the Pontiac offer them, presumably because they were supposed to lend the 9-3 a unique Saab character. Suspension tuning probably (hopefully) shares more with the 9-3, too.
I'm not a GM-basher by any means, but it's hard to see the point of the BLS when Cadillac's own CTS feels far more poised and substantial than the 9-3. I'm sure they have something in mind... but most likely, it'll only make Caddy's image murkier in the European market.
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Rene Curry 11:30PM (4/02/2006)
If it was me, I would use a mix of US & Euro caddies in Germany. But mostly US. Germany exports to the US, why not the other way around. The US dollar should keep going down. Use that to our advantage.
GM already completed the BLS. So use the BLS as the low cost caddie. Fitting because it's a front driver and you need some volume to support the costs of development.
Now import the following: CTS, STS, XLR, V-Series, SRX. Now make them the value king like the Corvette while still being premium vehicles.
You could set up a dealer network that had a mix of all premuim GM products. Throw a Holden Monaro, Buick Royuam, Corvette, Hummer in there too.
By importing these niche vehicles to Germany you can support lower volume sales without having to set-up any manufacturing & engineering. The investment & risk is a lot lower.
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Kurt Binnie 11:41PM (4/02/2006)
How long before they bring these over as Saturns to NA? Catera anyone?
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not_just_a_basher 12:00AM (4/03/2006)
Wow, talk about bland looking. Cadillac already has a distinct and stylish look with the CTS and STS. Did that look test badly in Europe? I personally think a mini-CTS with a hatchback trim would look great.
Another half-hearted attempt by GM.
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not_just_a_basher 12:00AM (4/03/2006)
Wow, talk about bland looking. Cadillac already has a distinct and stylish look with the CTS and STS. Did that look test badly in Europe? I personally think a mini-CTS with a hatchback trim would look great.
Another half-hearted attempt by GM.
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Mal Fuller 12:16AM (4/03/2006)
This is just the first Cadillac diesel that GM wants to talk about. They did have a 350 CID V8 that burned diesel fuel, at least for the short time it lasted before it self destructed. Those were the days! The "General" was its own biggest basher back then.
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Eric 1:21AM (4/03/2006)
--- Hmm...let's see. The Toyota Camry and the Lexus RX330 are built on the same platform, but have different "sheet metal." But I guess that is okay to do because it is not GM "badgineered" work. Just because it is the same platform, that doesn't mean the entire car is the same. ---
Hmmm...no. ActuallyI think the RX330 is ridiculous too. For me it's not just a GM thing. Though you could argue that they wrote the book on badgineering.
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Gunnar Heinrich 1:38AM (4/03/2006)
Cadillac should sell this 9-3 based CLS here in the States. Why should the Europeans have all the fun? GM would also be more likely to sell more here than there.
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
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Jim 2:16AM (4/03/2006)
I'm curious about the "billet craftsmanship" statement. Last I looked BMW, MB, and Audi were hardly taking home prizes for reliability in the US or in Europe. (Then of course that isn't GM's forte either.)
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Player 2:37AM (4/03/2006)
The story is that this car isn't coming to the US because they would not be able to price it any lower than the CTS.
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