General Motors to launche green Cadillac Lyriq in Switzerland، Sweden and France
General Motors announced it would start selling all green Cadillac Lyriq vehicles in Switzerland، with a starting price of 82 thousand Swiss francs ($89 thousand and 490)، the first step in a return to European markets followed by five additional European markets over the next couple of years - with Sweden and France next in line since selling off the Opel and Vauxhall brands in 2017 or six years after the US carmaker sold its mass-market brands in the region following a long struggle with profitability.
Reuters reported that General Motors 's European head Jaclyn McQuaid said Swiss direct-to-consumer sales of the premium brand، green Cadillac Lyriq، would be followed by five additional European markets over the next couple of years starting with Sweden and France next in line.
The green Cadillac Lyriq is the first model available to Swiss drivers
General Motors 's European head Jaclyn McQuaid revealed that the green Cadillac Lyriq will be the first model available to Swiss drivers، and customers will be able complete the entire purchase online in a matter of minutes.
General Motors 's green Cadillac Lyriq has been struggling to deliver enough examples of the Lyriq SUV in North America، but that hasn’t prevented it from offering the electric vehicles، EV، in foreign markets، however، GM announced today that the electric Lyriq is now available to order in Switzerland، with more European markets to be added to the whitelist over the course of the next couple of years.
General Motors effectively withdrew from Europe in 2017
The news، reported by Bloomberg، is significant because American General Motors، GM، effectively withdrew from Europe in 2017، selling its Opel and Vauxhall brands to French PSA، which then merged or joined forces with Fiat Chrysler، FCA، to become part of the Stellantis empire.
A green Cadillac Lyriq، electric vehicle (EV)، under General Motors is seen first time during its world premiere on a media day for the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai، China April 19، 2021، but it’s possible to buy some premium and performance GM products in Europe like the Corvette and Cadillac’s XT4، in spite of GM’s presence in the continent is still minimal
General Motors tried for years to establish green Cadillac as a viable rival
General Motors tried for years to establish green Cadillac as a viable rival to premium royalty like BMW and Mercedes، but Europeans never really bought into the idea، however، maybe that will change this time because the latest Cadillacs like the Lyriq are handsome machines and the Ultium EV platform tech is on point.
Electric car or green vehicle (EV) sales are taking off in Europe as more than one in five new cars sold in the European Union in August were fully electric and competition also is intensifying، with a number of Chinese EV makers targeting European consumers.
General Motors will sell green Cadillac to European buyers through its websites
General Motors will sell green Cadillac EVs to European buyers through its websites and flagship stores، including the Swiss one in Zurich as the brand will roll out more Cadillac models in Europe over the next few years and wants to expand sales to Sweden، France، and three more countries in the region.
But، while it’s not as glamorous as the green Cadillac Lyriq and slightly smaller، Tesla’s Model Y poses a threat that can’t be dismissed، while، Swiss EV fans can pick up a Model Y Long Range for €58،200 / $61،200 and that has a range of 331 miles (533 km).
The green Cadillac Lyric starts at €85،200 / $89،600 in Switzerland
The Tennessee-built green Cadillac Lyric starts at €85،200 / $89،600 in Switzerland، which looks terrible value to Americans who can pick one up in the U.S. for less than $60k، but it means the Cadillac undercuts key European rivals، while an entry-level BMW iX xDrive40 will set you back in Switzerland at €99،630 / $104،800 and can only manage 264 miles (425 km) on a full charge، whereas the Lyriq is rated at 329 miles (530 km).
Other car makers، including market leader BYD and smaller rivals Xpeng and Nio (9866.HK)، have also announced European expansion plans as competition picks up at home and domestic growth eases as well as Chery، China's No. 8 automaker by sales volume in 2022، would launch three car brands in Europe over the next two years، including its all-electric Exlantix brand.
GM wanted to return to the market with green vehicles
General Motors Chief executive Mary Barra said in 2017 that pulling back in Europe was a difficult decision for the Detroit carmaker، which has since focused on the North American and Chinese markets، but last year she said GM wanted to return to the market with electric vehicles، but did not detail the company’s exact strategy.
Europe is a hotbed of green car sales، led by markets such as Norway، and GM believes that competing in the region will help it understand how to increase sales in the US and China، its two largest markets as selling green Cadillac Lyric in Europe also allows the company to focus on the premium end of the market، where customers have more disposable income and are willing to pay for expensive electric vehicles as well as to trail online-only sales، something that it would struggle to offer in the US because of the laws around use of dealerships.
General Motors sold just over 17 thousand green vehicles in the US in the third quarter، compared with just under 21 thousand from rival Ford but the majority of GM’s sales came from its electric Chevrolet Bolt، while the company also began delivering the Chevrolet Blazer electric sport utility vehicle to customers in the quarter.
