Cadillac to conquer Europe with new CTS saloon. Possibly

Newswheel staff :: 11 January 2007 :: Filed under Saloon, Cadillac, Cadillac CTS, Europe & UK, US

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Don’t mention the d-word

For GM’s indigenous luxury brand, Cadillac, the only way is up when it comes to European and particularly UK sales. Just 200 Caddies found homes in Blighty in ’06. Still, that’s at least a 100 per cent boost over 2005. But will the all-new CTS be good enough to turn America’s only luxury into a genuine player in the olde worlde?

BMW beware? Will Caddy’s new CTS conquer Euroland? (Flex your finger for the bigger picture)

Well, if there’s any metric by which Europe’s premium brands make their superiority known, it’s interior quality. So, we look forward to giving the CTS’s new dash a good poke and prod but these first PR images reveal a solid looking, if hardly world-beating, cabin.

As before, power from a range of V6s lumps is delivered to the rear wheels, but new for the latest CTS is a direct-injection 3.6-litre VVT bent-six. It’s a 300 pony, 270lb/ft unit and joins the existing 2.8- and 3.6-litre engines from the outgoing model. What’s more, the CTS will be optionally available with four-wheel drive and both manual and auto gearboxes are six-speeders.

Conspicuously missing, however, from Cadillac’s launch info is mention of any diesel engines, without which the CTS which surely struggle to crack the Euro nut.

Price-wise , the new CTS is likely to remain a tweener, straddling the abyss twixt the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Merc C Class, and the 5 Series, A6 and E Class. Incidentally, Cadillac recently confirmed that it is seriously considering coupe and estate variants of the new CTS.

The first right-hand drive cars go on sale in the UK in early 2008.