Trademark hints at Cadillac coming Down Under

AMERICAN luxury brand Cadillac could be set for an Australian introduction under the GMSV banner if recent patent filings from General Motors are anything to go by, with the automotive giant applying to trademark both the Cadillac name and badge locally.

Not only would the move plug a sizeable hole in the local market – especially in the performance sedan segment – it would also expand GMSV’s portfolio considerably, depending on which models it chose to offer here.

Ever since production of the V8 Commodore and subsequent HSVs came to an end in 2017, the large performance sedan market has been catered for almost exclusively here by the Kia Stinger GT given the Commodore’s arch rival, the Ford Falcon, went out of production in 2016.

The introduction of Cadillac to the local market would thrust General Motors right back into the thick of the action with models like the CT4-V and CT5-V, both of which are good for more than 240kW – especially the latter, which develops a Stinger-scaring 265kW/550Nm.

For reference, the CT4-V is powered by a turbocharged 2.7-litre four-cylinder petrol engine developing 242kW/515Nm while the CT5-V utilises a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6.

Rumours surrounding the local introduction of Cadillac have been swirling for more than a year now with various CT5 prototypes and test mules having been spotted on the roads around Melbourne since the middle of last year with the general consensus being that the CT5 would replace the failed ZB Commodore once supply ran out.

The official line from General Motors back in February when a camouflaged CT5 was snapped in Melbourne was it was undergoing engine management system and transmission calibration, and that GM vehicles from all over the globe were still being brought to Australia for fine-tuning.

Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground in the Gippsland region south-east of Melbourne was used for engine and transmission calibration as part of GM’s global product development program, but has since been sold to Vietnamese car-maker Vinfast following Holden’s exit from the local market.

However with these new patent filings, it is looking increasingly likely that the CT5 could be offered here with the testing around Melbourne being a precursor to the folding of the Holden brand.

Despite the growing evidence, GMSV is still downplaying the possibility, instead saying the patent filings are merely security measures against unapproved brand name usage and that its focuses lay elsewhere.

“It is common practice for GM to secure key trademarks globally,” GM international communications officer Lauren Indiveri-Clarke told GoAuto.

“GM has several brands registered, to protect them from unapproved usage. Given the strong interest, it’s not unusual for some registrations to create excitement.

“But we aren’t making any announcements about Cadillac. Our focus is on bringing the Chevrolet Silverado and the Chevrolet Corvette successfully to market.”

Besides the CT4 and CT5 sedans, the rest of Cadillac’s range is comprised of SUVs ranging from the compact XT4 to the borderline gigantic Escalade, with a new generation of the latter due to go on sale in the US later this year.

The booming and increasingly crowded SUV segments in Australia arguably offer an even bigger opportunity for GM than the mainstream performance sedan market does, with SUVs accounting for 48.7 per cent of all new-car sales so far this year ending September.

But while SUVs would undoubtedly make the most sense from a sales perspective, none of them, perhaps apart from the Escalade, have quite the same niche appeal in the current market as a performance sedan as the passenger-car market in general continues to shrink.