Cadillac will show a concept version of its new European car at the Geneva motor show in early March, and display the production version at the Frankfurt IAA in September.
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General Motors vice chairman Robert Lutz will give a sneak preview of the sedan on Tuesday February 8 when he opens the new headquarters for Cadillac Europe, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Kroymans Corp., which distributes Cadillacs in Europe, according to Automotive News Europe.
The smaller Cadillac will be built on GM’s Epsilon architecture using the Saab 9-3 body shell. Sales of the car are scheduled to start early next year.
Despite previous suggestions, the Cadillac version probably will not get a convertible version which the 9-3 line offers. The car will come with a 1.9-litre diesel engine, which sources say will come from the Fiat-GM Powertrain engine joint venture, and a V6 petrol engine from Holden, GM’s Australian subsidiary, which builds the GM Global engine line.
The baby Cadillac will be produced in Trollhattan, Sweden, where Saab assembles the 9-3 and 9-5. Saab’s Swedish assembly operation has been in doubt as GM consolidates its manufacturing capacity.
In full production, the new Cadillac could sell 10,000 units a year, GM sources say.
“The model is developed for Europe, but could be sold in other markets,” a GM Europe source said. “But it won’t go to the US.”
In 2005, Cadillac Europe plans to sell between 3,500 and 4,000 Cadillacs in Europe.
Cadillac Europe says the brand sold 2,150 units in western Europe in 2004. But market researcher JATO Dynamics says 1,157 Cadillacs were sold last year in western Europe.
