Comments on: Cadillac BLS a flop in Europe?

By: Jacob

Jacob — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:38:32 +0000

This car is just a souped-up Vectra at double the price, why bother ??

Dodge will be a lot more succesfull with the Caliber, they have a better strategy to enter Europe

By: mark the motorhead

mark the motorhead — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 21:25:28 +0000

Cadillac has to try and sell the BLS in Europe (with diesel engines) because not as many Europeans as Americans can buy one of the real Cadillacs – CTS; STS; XLR; SRX or DTS. And why not? Because European governments believe that car buyers are meant to be milked for any number of reasons by charging them a sales tax of 15-25%, plus a 10% import duty, plus an 80% tax on a liter of petrol. When you combine these high car taxes with lower paychecks (once again because Europeand earn less and pay more in taxes) it makes it much harder for the average European to indulge a passion for a big engined torquey petrol Cadillac. So no wonder Cadillac sells 250K Cadillacs in the US and 1500 in Europe. And as we all know, BMW, Mercedes and Audi sell more 6 and 8 and 12 cylinder cars in the USA than any other country.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:48:11 +0000

We found one person! If this were America, the rest of the rejects would end up at Hertz rentacar. Do they do that over in Europe?

Edit: I just read that Bob Lutz and Rick Wagnor each recieved roughly 349 new Cadillac BTS sedans. Something about taking the badging off and marketing them as GMC’s?

By: Hugh G Rection

Hugh G Rection — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 19:57:29 +0000

I bought a Caddy BLS.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 16:38:07 +0000

Funny thing is the Chrysler 300c seems to sell quite well becuase it isn’t trying to be a swedish drag queen in american clothing. Its a head to toe american car and design so deserves the sucess it has unlike this peice of shit. kILL THE BRAND IN EUROPE

By: Kickin

Kickin — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:31:20 +0000

BLS = Englands Cadillac Cimmaron…

By: Donfuy

Donfuy — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 12:16:23 +0000

I agree with Jon. I prefer a Saab 9-3 than a Cadillac BLS. But I think European people are getting full of Mercedes and BMW’s. So my opinion is that it will sell a little more than what they are selling right now. (Sorry, my english is not so good)

By: Zan

Zan — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 11:43:31 +0000

I guess GM thought Europeans wanted a break from well designed sporty sedans with good styleing. I guess they were wrong.

By: Mathew

Mathew — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 10:59:16 +0000

Thanks Onur… I was wondering whether GM knows it!

By: mbc

mbc — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 08:59:48 +0000

nice dame edna

By: Onur

Onur — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 06:39:48 +0000

… not factory, corporation actually.

By: Onur

Onur — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 06:38:05 +0000

It stands for svenska aeroplan aktiebolaget or svenska automobilen aktienbolaget (sweedish plane (or car) factory)

By: Mathew

Mathew — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 06:30:49 +0000

A Cadillac based on a Saab! Not as bad as a Saabaru! Come on! Who will leave a BMW/Audi/Merc/Jaguar to buy this quick-fix car! As far as I understand though none criticised it heavily, nobody was particularly impressed either. Its design was considered fresh though! The 9-3 is available from quite some time. Basing a new car (a new brand too for Europe) on a not-so-new fwd platform was not a brilliant idea to begin with… And then to expect it be a success against the 3, C-class, A4 etc is… err… strange!

GM…. What does Saab mean by the way?

By: Dame Edna

Dame Edna — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 05:00:36 +0000

Big Lump of Shit?

By: Kris Benson

Kris Benson — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 04:40:50 +0000

Does anyone know the BLS pricing? Does it use the same engines and powertrain as the Saab?

I thought the BLS styling looked good, but the Saab platform is already starting to get long in the tooth.

By: Al Kida

Al Kida — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 02:41:31 +0000

I like it, export it to N.A. and sell a bunch GM !

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 02:12:59 +0000

Its not a flop yet (notice the question mark). But it is off to a very poor start. Should have been RWD.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:25:38 +0000

Who would have guessed a Cadillac would of flopped in Europe. (Apparantly everyone but GM’s CEOs).

By: Phil Mynuts

Phil Mynuts — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:58:14 +0000

If GM were smart (they’re not), they would follow in BILL FORD’s footsteps: Take the platform of the Cobalt, spruce it up, and sell it as a ‘premium compact’ Cadillac!!! (see JAGUAR X-TYPE for an X-ellent (ha!) example of this strategy! or the Volvo S40!). Now that type of leveraging takes VISION. It takes SIGHT. It takes FORETHOUGHT. But, being GM, this advice will fall on DEAF EARS.

Think about THAT, you.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:38:57 +0000

As much as I want caddy to succeed… it looks like the kia in a german world of hondas.

By: Surprise! Cadillac BLS Flops In Europe » Doocie

Surprise! Cadillac BLS Flops In Europe » Doocie — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:27:55 +0000

[...] Source: Left Lane News [...]

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:29:10 +0000

People in Europe would rather buy a Saab in its original form than a Saab-based Cadillac, makes sense to me. That and the name is horrible, who thought of BLS, really? Were they eating a BLT at the time?

Jon.

By: Northeasterner

Northeasterner — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:25:39 +0000

I agree with #1, it is an Ok car but does not offer anything that would make someone to trade his/her Audi/MB/BMW for a BLS.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:25:26 +0000

…also, is it just me or does anyone else think a model name like “Cadillac BLS” is too close to Cadillac BS?

The CTS V-Series with its Corvette engine is the only model I would remotely consider and I’m American. The car has had some very good reviews, the drivetrain has a great heritage and while a BMW M5 may be a better car overall, that particular Caddy isn’t a bad choice.

I can’t say anything about the rest of the lineup. Not interested.

By: W1ck3d / Dirk

W1ck3d / Dirk — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:09:37 +0000

Quote: “Are Europeans simply taking their time to warm up to Cadillac?”.

Why would we? With BMW, Mercedes and Audi we have way better and more advanced cars then Cadillac will ever make. And don’t get me started about the design that is more eighties then The A-team or Knightrider.
Back to the drawing board and try to get some modern looks when you’re at it.