Although small and compact luxury SUVs form probably the hottest market segment right now, we won’t see one from Cadillac sooner than four years from now, CEO Johann de Nysschen announced. The executive said a small SUV is a critical part of the brand’s expansion plans, which include eight new models.
“Product development life cycles being what they are, I don’t have a date in mind but I would estimate it is at least four years away,” Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen was quoted as saying by Reuters at the Washington Auto Show.
The small Cadillac SUV will be priced less than the larger Escalade SUV, which starts from nearly $68,000 in the United States. Cadillac plans to spend $12 billion for eight new vehicles that will be rolled out over the next five years, and the smaller SUV is one of them. Besides the Escalade, Cadillac also currently sells a mid-size SUV, the SRX (pictured), which is priced from just over $38,000.
GM wants to rebuild Cadillac into a global brand, but first has to fix things at home, as sales declined 6.5 percent in the United States last year. Cadillac’s global sales rose 5 percent.
The segment of small luxury SUVs grows really fast in the US, China and Europe, with Cadillac’s rivals alreadly offering such models – including Lincoln and its MKC crossover.
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