Currently reading: Cadillac hasn't given up on Europe, says GM chief

General Motors president Dan Ammann tells Autocar that success on this side of the Atlantic is still an ambition

Cadillac is still pushing to sell cars in Europe, General Motors president Dan Ammann has told Autocar.

"Clearly our number one priorities are the US and China, but in the longer term there is a role for Cadillac," he said.

Ammann is also realistic about the prospect of Cadillac's fortunes in the world's most competitive luxury market and taking on Audi, BMW and Mercedes in their home markets.

"Is Cadillac going to be a volume contender [in Europe]? Probably not. And we're not going to try and 'out-German' the Germans – but we do want it to be a success," he said.

Cadillac has already had several aborted attempts to take on the European luxury market and it's believed that the current BMW 3-series-sized ATS saloon and larger CTS were both engineered to be sold in Europe. But financial constraints and the promise of easier and quicker success in China meant that European sales were shelved.

The company would also have to engineer a credible diesel engine suitable for longitudinal, rear-drive installation to have a hope of competing properly in Europe. 

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Halfabee 28 June 2014

"Cadillac hasn't given up on Europe"....

....but Europe has given up on Cadillac
Citytiger 28 June 2014

If they want to be

taken seriously in Europe, they need to have interiors that are more expensive than recycled crisp packets, they need to massively increase the quality, American cars are cheap in America for a reason, they are bloated, nasty and tacky.
optima 27 June 2014

Should have re badge SAAB

GM should have merged Cadillac and SAAB using the same mechanics but giving them their own individual flair. Instead they used Opel/Vauxhall and SAAB and look what happened to SAAB. GM have no chance with Cadillac in Europe and less chance of up scaling Vauxhall / Opel to premium.
Dark Isle 28 June 2014

The Thing Is...

optima wrote:

GM should have merged Cadillac and SAAB using the same mechanics but giving them their own individual flair. Instead they used Opel/Vauxhall and SAAB and look what happened to SAAB. GM have no chance with Cadillac in Europe.

They sort of tried something like that with the Cadillac BLS which was a re-bodied 3 year old SAAB 9-3, but the end result was disappointing.

Citytiger 29 June 2014

Dark Isle wrote:optima

Dark Isle wrote:
optima wrote:

GM should have merged Cadillac and SAAB using the same mechanics but giving them their own individual flair. Instead they used Opel/Vauxhall and SAAB and look what happened to SAAB. GM have no chance with Cadillac in Europe.

They sort of tried something like that with the Cadillac BLS which was a re-bodied 3 year old SAAB 9-3, but the end result was disappointing.

And I believe the 9-3 was just a re-bodied Vectra, so it never really stood a chance anyway, GM just dont understand the market requirements, either that or they do but just choose to ignore them .