Like any other car manufacturer – premium or not, General Motors is keen on increasing its presence in China, which means more localized production. GM’s luxury brand Cadillac wants to start building the all-new ATS compact sports sedan in the country as early as the end of this year, while it also has plans to import the new generation of the CTS mid-size executive saloon.
“We’re eager to get (the ATS) in the marketplace late this year, early next year,” Cadillac global marketing chief Bob Ferguson told WardsAuto on the sidelines of the New York International Auto Show, where the company revealed the CTS Mk3.
In February, the wreath and crest brand kicked off production of its new XTS front- and all-wheel drive large sedan at its Shanghai plant in China. The locally produced the XTS and the ATS will be sold only in China.
“The XTS is off to a great start there,” Ferguson told the publication, adding, “Orders are strong.”
Cadillac delivered some 30,000 vehicles in China last year, with GM’s plan calling for an annual sales target of more than 100,000 units by 2015, doubling its share of the luxury car segment from 5 percent today to 10 percent. In March this year, Cadillac sold a record number of Cadillac 3,629 vehicles. Overall, GM and its local joint-venture partners, delivered a little over 816,000 cars in China during the first quarter of the year.
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