Modern Holden Caprice successor confirmed: 2025 Cadillac Lyriq EV in Australia by end of next year, gunning for luxury electric cars like BMW iX, Audi Q8 e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV

General Motors (GM) will finally return to Australia with factory-built and right-hand-drive-engineered SUVs for the first time since the demise of Holden in 2020, starting with the Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle (EV).

Perhaps this year’s worst-kept automotive secret, the mid-sized luxury alternative to the BMW iX, Audi Q8 e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV will be on sale by the end of 2024 in two standalone capital city locations initially, Melbourne and Sydney, with Auckland in New Zealand being a third site announced.

Pricing, specification and other details will not be divulged until sometime in the first quarter of next year, according to GM Australia and NZ Managing Director and ex-Holden veteran, Jess Bala.

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Note that the Lyriq will not be sold alongside GM’s Special Vehicle division models such as the popular Chevrolet Silverado full-sized pick-up truck, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray sports car and coming gargantuan GMC Yukon eight-seater SUV which is set for a 2025 debut.

Furthermore, it will be followed by other Cadillac models in time, though GM management is remaining tight-lipped about what they will be and when.

That said, as the brand goes full EV by the end of this decade, a smaller SUV and the coming Escalade IQ are rumoured to be on the local shortlist. All will be EVs of some description.

The mid-sized luxury SUV will be on sale by the end of 2024.

“Cadillac will be in a position to offer a fully electric portfolio by 2030,” Bala said. “(This) positions us well to be able to select the right models for (Australia and NZ) – just as we are doing with the Lyriq."

Interestingly, Australia and NZ will be the first markets in the world to commence RHD Lyriq sales, despite the electric SUV being announced earlier this year for the United Kingdom.

“Australia and NZ are at a formative stage of the EV transition, which presented new opportunities for Cadillac and were important factors in selecting these countries as the first RHD markets for Lyric,” according to GM’s Strategic Markets, Alliances and Distributors Managing Director, Ernesto Ortiz.

Pricing and specs of the Cadillac Lyriq will not be divulged until sometime in the first quarter of next year.

GM also revealed that Australia and NZ were always in the mix for Lyriq, ever since the program commenced in 2015, meaning that Cadillac might have fallen under Holden’s watch again had the Lion brand survived.

Of course, Holden had planned to release the Cadillac CTS-V sedan as a competitor to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class way back in the mid to late 2000s, before the global financial crisis of 2008 and GM’s lurch towards Chapter 11 bankruptcy the following year put an end to that.

All RHD Lyriq production will be sourced out of GM’s Spring Hill manufacturing facility in Tennessee, though future models may also come out of the brand’s factory in Shanghai, China.

Charging is via a 190kW DC charger or 19kW AC charger.

Based on GM’s BEV3 all-EV skateboard architecture and using advanced battery tech known as Ultium, Lyriq sales commenced in North America in the middle of last year.

Currently, the 2.6-tonne five-seater SUV is offered in rear-mounted 254kW/441Nm single-motor/rear-wheel-drive and 370kW/610Nm dual-motor/all-wheel drive guises, with the 100.4kWh Ultium lithium-ion battery pack offering 502km and 494km of range respectively. Charging is via a 190kW DC charger or 19kW AC charger.

One-pedal driving is part of the spec, though whether Australians get to see the ‘Hands Free Super Cruise’ semi-autonomous driving tech is not yet known.

All RHD Lyriq production will be sourced out of GM’s Spring Hill manufacturing facility in Tennessee.

Further details, including final performance, efficiency and charging data, as well as the all-important pricing – will be announced in the first quarter of 2024, so stay tuned.