Cadillac starts taking orders for Lyriq in Europe

General Motors is making its comeback to European fleets official by opening its order book for Swiss customers. Only the all-electric SUV Cadillac Lyriq is on sale, with deliveries starting in May or April 2024. France, Sweden, and three yet-to-be-disclosed markets will follow shortly.

The return of GM on European shores was already announced in late spring 2023. As part of an electric offensive, the automotive group was expected to embark with Cadillac in the Nordic countries first. But the company has chosen Switzerland as its key market to restart its European operations.

Direct-to-customer sales

The maiden model is the Lyriq, a five-metre long but sleek-looking SUV with a price tag of 85 000 euros and a range of 530 kilometres. Sales flow through a direct-to-customer model on the website and in the flagship store in Zurich. The news was made public by President and Managing Director of GM Europe, Jaclyn McQuaid.

So far, registrations of the Tennessee-built Lyriq have been accelerating slowly in its home market, and it remains to be seen how it will perform in European corporate circles with its premium pricing, the high inflation and the slowdown in incentives.

General Motors left Europe in 2017, when it sold Opel to PSA, which later was absorbed by the Stellantis group. For a while, it left its premium brands, like Cadillac and Chevrolet, behind on a respiratory machine in Europe before finally pulling the plug. The Chevrolet Equinox EV and Blazer EV are other BEV models expected to join the Lyriq.

Image Source: Cadillac