Cadillac’s new designed-for-Europe “entry” model will be called the BLS and will be built with both left- and right-hand drive. Engine options for the new model line – due to make its public debut at next month’s Geneva show – will include the turbodiesel essential for success in this class in Europe.

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Sales start in spring 2006, about a year after the European launch of Cadillac’s redesigned, US-sized, Seville-replacing STS sedan on this side of the Atlantic.


Cadillac claims the BLS is “specifically targeted to meet the needs of the European customer, as well as, other global market customers”. The four-door sedan, 4,680mm long, 1,762mm wide and 1,449 mm tall, is about 150mm shorter than the CTS and very closely resembles the US-market Caddys inside and out – but with everything scaled down to dimensions better suited to narrower European (and British) roads.


According to Cadillac, “the show car provides a clear preview of what can be expected…” but the photos show an apparently production-ready product with no visible parts in common with other General Motors Europe (GME) products apart from the door handles, which look like those on the Opel Vectra.


As previously reported, the baby Caddy will share GM’s Epsilon architecture, basis of GME’s Vectra and Saab 9-3 model lines.

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Newly announced is the engine line-up: starting with a 1.9-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel with common-rail direct injection technology – like most GME diesels a joint effort with Fiat – that will have a maintenance-free diesel particulate filter and be Euro 4 emission standards-compliant. With diesels now accounting for over half of sales in some European markets, this could well be the most popular option.


The range of petrol engines – all turbocharged like Saab’s similar engine line – will consist of a pair of two-litre four-cylinder units and a newly launched 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 from GM’s Global engine line – larger 3.2- and 3.6-litre versions are already used in US-made Cadillacs. All engines will be offered with either manual or automatic transmissions and the BLS will be built in Saab’s underutilised plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, which assembles the 9-3 and 9-5.


Cadillac claims the BLS will “offer the dynamic driving performance customers have come to expect from this brand” and will be positioned at the top of its market segment – potential competitors include BMW’s newly redesigned 3-series, the Audi A4 and Toyota’s upcoming redesigned Lexus IS200, which will finally get a turbodiesel option.


The Geneva show BLS will preview top production versions’ high quality leather upholstery, brushed aluminium trim, BOSE audio system, DVD-based navigation with touch-screen operation, Bluetooth-capable telephone systems and remote controls on the steering wheel.


Though the basic design of BLS chassis will be shared with GME’s Vectra and 9-3 lines, the Cadillac will have its own specially-tuned variation of the McPherson strut front, and four-link rear axle set-up.


“The development of the chassis was focused to enable dynamic driving, but at the same time ensuring a ride with comfort,” said Larry Craig, program engineering manager for the BLS.


“Apart from that, we also devoted attention to achieving effective noise and vibration isolation,” added Craig. “Environmental influences are, as far as possible, kept away from the passengers.” A number of measures have been taken to achieve this, and both the diesel and the petrol engines will reap the benefits. The rear axle and the chassis, for example, are decoupled from one another with the aid of special rubber bushings, and the wheelhouses, roof and trunk are especially sound-insulated.”


“With the BLS, Cadillac will add a premium mid sedan to its model range that is geared to the specific demands of European customers. The new entry-level model underlines the brand’s global ambitions and its key role in the premium segment,” noted Cadillac general manager Jim Taylor.


Graeme Roberts