The Australian new car market continues to be a honey pot for international brands, with US industry giant General Motors (GM) announcing the launch of its Cadillac luxury brand here, spearheaded by the arrival mid-next year of the battery-electric Lyriq SUV.

Built on a dedicated EV platform and boasting a contemporary design that sets it apart from other ICE-powered Cadillacs, the Lyriq is both the first all-electric Cadillac and the vanguard for what will become a full range of battery electric offerings from the GM luxury brand, which has previously committed to being all-electric by 2030.

A large five-door, five-seat SUV built on GM’s modular Ultium electric vehicle platform, the Lyriq launched in the US in 2022 where it competes with rivals including the BMW iX, Genesis GV60 and GV70, Jaguar iPace, Mercedes-Benz EQE, and the Tesla Model X.

Available Stateside with a dual-motor AWD and single-motor RWD, and in Luxury, Premium Luxury, Sport and Platinum variants, only the Lyriq Platinum AWD is expected to be offered here initially.

The Platinum AWD’s $US90,000 price suggests a price tag here of about $A150,000, although GM stopped short of revealing pricing and specification at the Melbourne brand launch, noting that customer deliveries were not expected until sometime in the second half of 2024.

“The Cadillac Lyriq, which will be available in Australia and New Zealand as a 2025 model, is a fully electric SUV that redefines modern luxury as the industry moves to electrification,” said John Roth, Vice-President, Global Cadillac.

Mr Roth was one of several GM heavyweights rolled out for the launch, alongside President and Managing Director of GM’s Strategic Markets, Alliancesand Distributors, Ernesto Ortiz, and Managing Director GM Australia and New Zealand, Jess Bala.

Ms Bala, who will oversee the establishment of the iconic brand in Australia, said the all-electric Cadillac portfolio would begin with the Lyriq and grow with more entries.

“Cadillac will be in a position to offer a fully electric portfolio by 2030,” she said.

“Launching our all-new, all-electric Cadillac EV business in Australia and New Zealand positions us well to be able to select the right models for these markets – just as we are doing with Lyriq.”

Like rivals Tesla, Genesis and a growing number of other brands, Cadillac will pursue an online sales model but will also establish dedicated ‘Experience Centres’ in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland to allow customers to see the vehicles firsthand.

“Our Cadillac Experience Centres will be destination locations where customers can discover more about Cadillac as a modern luxury brand and explore, test drive and buy a Lyriq,” Ms Bala said.

In the US, the dual-motor all-wheel-drive Cadillac Lyriq boasts outputs of 373kW/611Nm and an EPA rated range of 494km from its 102kWh lithium-ion battery, which can be DC fast charged at up to 190kW.

Dimensionally, the Lyriq is longer at 5m and wider at 2.2m than a Genesis GV70, and sits on a 3,094m wheelbase, which is longer than a Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series (2,850mm).

Despite this, it’s a five-seater only, with the extra space largely given over to a generous rear-seat accommodation and boot space.

The display car shown at the Melbourne launch showcased the Lyriq’s dramatic, futuristic styling, including its signature illuminated grille.

The roomy cabin featured lashings of Nappa leather and an eye-catching 33-inch LED infotainment display that stretches halfway across the dash, with dramatic startup animation.

The infotainment system in US models incorporates Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a top-shelf AKG 19-speaker sound system.

Other niceties include heated and ventilated power adjustable driver and passenger seats, a heated steering wheel and more.

The Lyriq also features GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance system which rivals Tesla’s Full Self-Drive Mode – although it’s not yet known if the feature will be offered here – and frequency-dependent dampers which promise a soft ride over bumps but firmer damping in curves.

Standard safety features of US models include automatic emergency braking, forward collision alert, front pedestrian braking, an HD rear-vision camera, blind- zone steering assist, HD surround vision, adaptive cruise control, automatic parking assist, automatic emergency braking and more.

Unlike GM’s other local offerings, including the Chevrolet Silverado pickup, which is converted from left to right-hand drive in Melbourne, the Lyriq will be manufactured in factory right-hand drive at GM’s Springhill Plant in Tennessee.

The company said it had chosen Australia and New Zealand to be the Lyriq’s first right-hand-drive markets globally because they were at a formative stage of the EV transition, so presented new opportunities for Cadillac.

“Cadillac is experiencing great sales momentum thanks to our strong product portfolio – and we are now expanding our business globally,” Mr Roth said.

“The introduction of a right-hand-drive Lyriq will enable new opportunities in important markets where EV adoption is strong.”

Ernesto Ortiz said Cadillac’s iconic brand and Lyriq’s bold design made it a compelling combination for Australians and New Zealanders who had an eye for quality, loved technology and wanted to challenge the status quo and stand out from the crowd.

It’s not the first time GM has attempted to launch Cadillac here, though, with the luxury brand having been previously mooted to arrive on several different occasions, most recently in 2009 when it was poised to launch the combustion powered CTS sports sedan under Holden stewardship.

That plan went as far as having 89 cars imported to Australia for the media launch, before it was skittled by GM’s deepening economic woes.

Ms Bala will be hoping this is not another false dawn for the brand and that Cadillac will smoothly take its place within the entity she heads up, alongside other business units including GM Specialty Vehicles, Chevrolet Racing, ACDelco, GM Trade Parts, Holden Certified Service and Holden Heritage.

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