BLS Goes Boom

AutoWeek reports: Thud!

The U.K. failure marks the second time that GM has hit a pothole trying to sell Cadillacs in Britain—and may be a sign of trouble for the company’s global aspirations for the brand. Cadillac previously tried to market the Seville STS in the mid-1990s through GM subsidiary Vauxhall. This time around, GM appointed Dutch distributor Kroymans to run the sales operation.

Despite U.K.-specific models with right-hand drive, such as the BLS, the CTS sedan and the SRX, sales have barely broken 600 cars in two years. Kroymans can’t even furnish figures for 2007 because dealers haven’t provided the numbers. Some 300 cars sit unsold.

Is this a case of bad marketing or is there just a lack of appeal on the models themselves? The BLS is a Saab 9-3 with Caddy influences and since Europeans can already get a 9-3... Do you think marketing can fix this?

Comments

[Jeff]

Two words: Jeremy Clarkson