Cadillac CTS 2.8 V6 (2009) CAR review

In the United States the Cadillac CTS has become one of GM’s minor success stories. Cadillac builds 240,000 cars a year and the CTS, its 5-series saloon, has become a core part of the range. Now the latest Cadillac CTS reaches the UK this September, after the best part of a year on sale in the US. GM is desperate to export more than the current 5 percent of its production; this is the car it hopes will do the deed.
 
It’s a tough job for the new CTS though. In its recent history Cadillac has had two stabs at building its name in the UK, and both have bombed. Now with the operation taken in-house by GM, this is the third approach to an age-old problem – getting European buyers to understand that Cadillac is to be considered alongside Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.

So why is the Cadillac CTS going to work this time around?

With GM running the European sales operation directly it reckons it will keep a tighter reign on marketing. More importantly, the CTS has been built much more closely to British and European requirements.
 
So they say. One of the requirements most British premium car buyers demand is that the car is built in Germany. OK, Lexus isn’t but Cadillac would be delighted to match the sales of the posh Toyotas. Then there is style. The CTS has it in abundance, but there’s no arguing that it is an acquired taste. It does, we reckon, grow on you.
 
When Cadillac introduced the Saab-based BLS to the UK two years ago, it crowed about the ten percent price advantage over the competition. Was that a deal clincher? How many BLS have you seen on the road recently? It’s Cadillac’s biggest UK seller but the latest UK figures show that Cadillac has sold just 94 cars in the first six months of the year. The CTS has to offer much, much more to tempt A6, 5-series and E-class buyers. 

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