'We do really well': Iconic US car brand confident in Australian launch with EV-only portfolio

Despite a global slowdown in EV sales, Cadillac is remaining bullish about its prospects in Australia.

The iconic General Motors badge has withstood every ounce of uncertainty that has been thrown at it in its 123-year history.

That includes two world wars, the Great Depression, and now, a second Trump administration, which is vowing to rip up the Biden-era EV incentives that have helped spur on demand for its cars in the US.

Which is why the challenge of launching in Australia for the very first time with an EV-only portfolio isn’t keeping John Roth, its US-based Vice President, up at night.

"The thing I have learned most in my 30-year career with General Motors is we adapt and have the ability to shift and move as the situation calls for," said Roth.

Despite a market-wide slow down of EV sales in the US last year, the brand’s flagship electric SUV, the Lyriq, experienced a banner year of growth.

Sales grew by 210 per cent to 28,402 units for 2024, making it the best luxury mid-sized electric SUV in the country, besting rivals such as the Mercedes-Benz EQE, Lexus RZ and Audi Q8 e-tron.

“We were number one in 29 states, including places you would think of, like New York, but also places that you wouldn’t think of, like Texas,” said Roth.

The commendable sales growth has given the brand the increasing confidence to expand its products to right-hand drive markets, such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Cadillac is marking its debut in Australia with the 547km-driving-range Lyriq ahead of deliveries commencing later this month, which will be followed by its high-performance sibling, the Lyriq V, in 2026.

Two additional SUV models, the smaller entry-level Optiq and the larger top-of-the-range Vistiq, have been announced for further down the track next year.

“We’re in launch phase, we’re in growth phase, we’re in expansion phase, and we don’t see any reason why the EV portfolio should not be a real segment dominator across the board [in Australia],” said Roth.

“When you have the right EV with the right attributes, range, styling and that price equation…making sure that you have those three things dialled in, we do really well in the market place.”

Demand for electric SUVs is growing in Australia, a segment that was previously dominated by the Tesla Model Y but now welcomes increasing competition from a range of budget Chinese rivals from BYD, XPeng, Deepal and Geely.

Chinese brands are locked out of the US market due to a 100 per cent tariff on all Chinese-made EVs, which ultimately reduces price competitiveness in the US market when compared to Australia.

And that’s likely to prove a challenge for Cadillac. The Lyriq starts at $117,000, before on-road costs, locally thanks to dedicated right-hand production in the US.

Meanwhile, its self-described “premium” Chinese rivals, which offer many of the same luxury features, start around the $55,000 mark.

Managing Director of Cadillac Australia, Jess Bala, said the brand isn’t aiming to be a major volume seller in Australia, however.

“Obviously we have our internal volume targets, we just don’t talk about them externally, so we know what we have to do as a brand.

When we say we’re a niche luxury EV brand, that means we’re really focusing on what that customer experience is and we’re living up to the Cadillac brand…and really wanting to build customers for life,” said Bala.

One way it plans on doing so is through its Customer Experience centres in Australia’s capital cities, which take a more bespoke, direct-to-consumer approach rather than a traditional dealership model.

Bala wouldn’t be drawn in on how many orders had been placed for its Lyriq model yet but she did confirm that over 9000 expressions of interest had been made for the car since it was announced all the way back in 2023.

“We keep that [order] information pretty close to the chest, but I can tell you that we are very pleased with the interest we have received,” said Bala.

“We’re very confident now that once people can get into the vehicle and [test] drive it that interest is only going to climb.”