GM is creating a new organisation for the import, distribution and marketing of Cadillac models to Europe from the US.
Called Cadillac Europe, the vehicles will retail through a fully-authorised Cadillac sales and service network and will include the CTS Coupe by the autumn of this year. The move comes one year after the company’s distributor, the Dutch dealership group Kroymans, went bankrupt.
Specific details are yet to be announced but a spokesman for the company said that, due to low anticipated numbers, the organisation “will be a very small and a very lean one”.
Cadillac sold around 3,000 cars in Europe in 2008 but Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac general manager stated that it was still an important market for the brand. “Re-establishing distribution of our premium offerings is good news for those who seek import exclusiveness,” he said in a statement.
The carmaker currently uses US-company International Fleet Sales (IFS) for the import of vehicles to Europe via IFS’s branch in the Netherlands, but GM has not confirmed whether it will continue to use the company.
“We do not know whether we will work with them in the future or not. We are working on a new structure and a new organisation. We have not finalised this information,” Hanspeter Ryser, Cadillac Europe Communications spokesperson, told Automotive Logistics News.
IFS was also unable to confirm whether it would be working with GM. “We have been informed that GM is setting up a new organisation for Cadillac in Europe. We don't know yet if we can play a role in that new organisation,” said Jeroen Beek, Director IFS Europe BV.
Cadillac is showing the CTS Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show which begins on 4 March and it will be the first time the vehicle is available in Europe.
The Coupe joins the CTS Sport Sedan, CTS-V and new CTS Sport Wagon as the foundation of Cadillac's lineup. A high-performance V-Series edition of the Coupe will also be released this year.
