Cadillac's Strangest Since The Cimarron
Published: January 9th, 2015
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In the annals of Cadillac’s history, there is one vehicle that stands above them all as the biggest flop of all time. And it’s not the Cimarron.
The Cadillac BLS was based off of the GM Epsilon platform. Essentially a restyled Saab 9-3, the BLS was built in Sweden and never exported to America. Its sole intention was to give Cadillac a product optimized for the European market. Production averaged around 3,000 units annually, and sales were marginal at best.
But, there was a wagon.
N.B.: Title changed. I was made aware of the original song – I got the original from reference from a Kanye West song. No malice intended.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Cadillac's an enigma - a mystery to europeans. A representation of american excess. Like wise to GM executives trying to market it for there. New world meets old. It gets lost in translation.
The best thing for GM to do is finally realize that in Europe, Cadillac is, at best, a niche curiosity that might be imported in the single digits by avid admirers of American sedans in their most stereotypical state (huge sedans with huge V8 engines and loads of decidedly non-European style and presence). Sort of how Europeans probably see the Charger/300 duo. Therefore, no more overt focus on marketing Cadillac overseas. Instead, make the luxury marque a purely American phenomenon that the rest of the world might be lucky to get as an expensive single import. That involves moving Cadillac away from fighting BMW and Audi with 3/5-series and A4/A6 clones and more towards distinctive offerings that actually offer something different from the norm. If GM still wants to market overseas luxury, it should go with Buick. It lacks Cadillac's baggage, offers conservative styling that can be modestly tailored to European tastes and it already carries the scent of success in an important overseas market (China). An Opel-Vauxhall/Buick pairing in Europe makes much more sense than marketing Cadillac and Chevy by their lonesomes. There's no shame in keeping Cadillac in the U.S. and making it as ostentatiously American as possible. At least consumers will respect it then, even if it means GM giving up dreams of Cadillac as a volume luxury seller.