[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

First of all, this CTS-V is going to be a beast.

But the thing is Cadillacs simply aren't suited to European needs.

First there's the engine. The base is a 2.8-litre six cylinder when some rivals end their offerings there. That means that while it has respectable power it uses a lot of petrol. 11,8l/100km (20mpg US) to be exact and that's a lot. If you compare to the base 520i or E 200K they get 6,7l/100km (35mpg US) and 8,2l/100km (29mpg US) respectively. Considering our prices that's very relevant.

I think those mpg estimates you have may be so far apart because of British/Euro to American gallon measurements. Cars like the Toyota Corolla here have trouble getting 35 mpg, but some Euro estimates for cars have them making 50+. Also, I think since you guys have much better petrol, the CTS-V's gas mileage may increase a couple digits. Our 87 is like you're 95 octane.

Then there's the weight. The Cadillac weights 1840kg which is a lot compared to the Mercedes-Benz (1585kg) and the BMW (1535kg). That means that despite the power advantage (40bhp over the BMW and almost 30bhp over the Benz) the CTS isn't that much faster. It's just 4 tenths of a second faster than the 5-series and 8 tenths faster than the E-class to 100km/h (62mph). And the Merc has a much higher top speed, 236km/h (147mph) versus 225km/h (140mph).

Weight isn't an issue for buyers in this segment. They're not buying track cars, they're buying luxury rockets. What they will see in the end is that the CTS is a couple of tenths faster. If the driving dynamics are there, which I think they will, buyers will be interested.

And while the E200 K costs about 3.000€ more than the CTS 2.8, the BMW is actually cheaper by about 1.000€. Couple all that to the fact that Cadillac has no brand image in Europe whatsoever and it's not hard to see why they aren't selling any.

Brand image will definitey be the Cadillac's demise in Europe, but this current CTS and CTS-V should pioneer a new era of GM respect in places outside of America. The CTS is a good car, but people have trouble looking past American history to throw away the stereotype. Also, $3000 isn't much when taking into account the MSRP and available options on all cars.