Loading ...In his blog post today, A Cadillac for Europe, Bob Lutz announced that the new-small Cadillac, the BLS, will have its European launch within the year. Then he went on to make this statement:
This vehicle, the Cadillac BLS, is about bringing the right products to the right markets, and doing it effectively and efficiently. It was developed specifically for European roads and drivers, and, as such, is not intended for American needs or tastes.
Now I don’t know about where you live, but out here in Los Angeles the freeways are crawling with all manner of vehicles originally designed for the “European market”, the BMW 3-series, the Audi A4, and soon the A3 series, VW Golf & Jetta, Acura TSX (originally the European Accord), some Smarts, and all the old 2002s, VW Beetles, Minis, et all. Sorry Bob, that statement just doesn’t make much sense. The reason that the import brands have been kicking the backsides of the domestic makers for years in cars (not in trucks until just recently) was because of the special characteristics their products had because they were “developed specifically for European roads and drivers” You new Cadillacs feel and drive the way they do because their ride & handling was finalized at the Nurburgring!
Even back in Tulsa, OK, over 20 years ago there were a lot of 3-series Bimmers, Bugs and the occasional Mini, so a recent phenomina this isn’t. What we suspect is that for the U.S., GM would like for Pontiac & Staurn to supply the smaller-sized high content vehicles with the new G6 and Aura and that the addition of the BLS to our market would put too much downward pricing pressure on these, or worse, would hinder Cadillac in its desire to continue its upmarket push.
Too bad for us. The BLS looks like a really neat vehicle. If it works well in Europe, maybe we’ll get it later.
