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GM Director of Premium Brands, Parveen Batish, said the re-introduction of Cadillac to the Australian market signaled an exciting new chapter in the brand’s rich history,

“With cutting edge design, serious performance and a comprehensive package of luxury appointments, Cadillac will appeal to Australian prestige car buyers and offer a genuine alternative to the traditional European brands”

An almost infamous pop-culture icon, and the chosen car of bad guys everywhere, Cadillac has made its mark in film and song starring in over a hundred cult classic movies, including ‘The Godfather’, ‘Casino’, ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Terminator’. Clint Eastwood starred in the movie titled ‘Pink Cadillac’ and the CTS had a primary role in the film ‘Matrix’, which was actually shot in Sydney, hence being an appropriate location for the launch.

CTS sedan will hit Australian roads in early 2009 and will be followed by the stunning Cadillac CTS Coupe later that year.

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A bold, sharp look the Cadillac, General Motors’ global flagship brand, debuted its distinctly American style of luxury performance in the dramatic shape of its new generation CTS sedan.

Named “2008 Car of the Year” by Motor Trend magazine in the United States, the CTS is a rear-wheel drive sedan powered by a 3.6-litre VVT direct injection V6 engine generating 227kW of power and 370Nm of torque.

Cadillac calls the CTS’s sharp-edged design language “Art and Science”. It believes that, combined with strong performance and equipment levels, the car will quickly win customers who desire luxury performance and are looking for a competitive alternative to traditional European brands.

“Cadillac is built on a strong history of innovation and has undergone a renaissance driven by a new generation of vehicles with dramatic design, a focus on driving performance and technical innovation,” said the Director of GM Premium Brands, Parveen Batish.

“The CTS triggered strong demand in the US from luxury consumers following its launch last year, with sales rising 60 per cent, and its introduction to the important Australian market will continue to move the brand forward.”

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“Cadillac is built on a strong history of innovation and has undergone a renaissance driven by a new generation of vehicles with dramatic design, a focus on driving performance and technical innovation,” said the Director of GM Premium Brands, Parveen Batish.

For those of you unfamiliar with the CTS, you can find more information here. The car will provide an alternative to European luxury cars with its unique modern American styling. Driven via the rear-wheels, the CTS sedan is powered by a 3.6-litre VVT direct injection V6 engine generating 227kW of power and 370Nm of torque.

“The CTS triggered strong demand in the US from luxury consumers following its launch last year, with sales rising 60 per cent, and its introduction to the important Australian market will continue to move the brand forward.”

CarAdvice will bring you first steers of both the Cadillac CTS and Isuzu D-MAX in the coming month.

The Australian International Motor Show will will also include at leats 40 concepts and all-new or updated vehicle models when it opens to the public on the 9th of October.

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First it was Vauxhall’s VXR500, a supercharged version of our very own Monaro. Vauxhall saw the potential and the VXRs sold out straight away. Now it’s the Caddy Sportwagon. Be that as it may, the engine’s relocation to the wagon is only supposition at the moment.

According to Inside Line, the V versions in the lineup wouldn’t be too hard to adapt to.

“A CTS-V Sport Wagon could be a relatively easy add,” said Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell. But at this stage “the V wagon is a maybe. Not a maybe with a wink and a giggle. It’s just a maybe. A V version of the coupe is obvious.”

But seeing as the Cadillac also has a direct injection version of our Alloytec 3.6-litre engine, which it’s surmised will appear in later versions of the Commodore, why doesn’t Holden offer a similar powerplant to the CTS-V in any variants?

Because it will take away from the W427?  Or because Cadillac will bring the CTS-V here, eventually? Tell us what you think.

Pics courtesy Inside Line - Nick Wilcox

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The coupe will feature a backup camera, which you can see under the chrome strip on the rear. We can also see an elegant engraving of the “Cadillac” script on that rear strip.

Additionally, the coupe won’t have traditional door handles, but will instead use a touch pad setup.

The only things not production-ready on this prototype are the taillights. We’d expect the final car to have lights very similar to the “tailfin” lights we saw on the concept.

Powertrains for the Americans should include the regular 3.6-litre V6 and the 226kW direct injection V6. The V-series CTS Coupe will pack the 6.2-litres supercharged V8 known as the “LSA” motor.

Production of the regular coupe, as well as the V-series, will start in May of 2009 at the Lansing Grand River Plant. The official debut of the regular coupe is set for the LA Auto Show in November.

We previously saw the CTS Coupe with a little more disguise here. Plus we had a glimpse of the car’s interior here.

Will the CTS Coupe come to Australia? Holden will not confirm either way, however we suspect that if the CTS does well in Australia other variants, including the CTS-V and the CTS Coupe may follow.

Cadillac is launching the CTS sedan in Australia next month and CarAdvice will be there to bring you all the latest news and a first steer of the CTS sedan.

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To counter the inherent poor rear visibility, the Coupe version will feature a reversing camera which is not currently found on the sedan.

It also deletes the traditional door grab in favour of a new touch pad set up instead.

The overall design closely mimics the concept on which it is based, right down to the centre-exiting dual exhausts.

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Well now that we have ruined the surprise - because of course the President is an avid reader - we can reveal a few of the details surrounding his new ride.

‘Cadillac One’ is a heavily armoured behemoth which our spies in the US speculate is based on the Topkick platform - a medium-duty truck chassis.

The test mule was being escorted by two regular Topkick trucks at the time these photos were taken and the wheels were identical; only reinforcing this theory.

A snapshot of the opened rear door - estimated to be almost 8-inches thick - reveals just part of the simply staggering level of protection designed into this one-off special.

Weighed down by so much armour, bullet proof glass and every other go-go gadget imaginable, it is powered by a rather large diesel engine - apparently with an exhaust note quick similar to the accompanying Topkick trucks.

Styling wise, it is a bit of a mixed bag from the Cadillac range, wearing the Xenon headlights from the Escalade while the front and rear seem to have some STS influence.

A final dead giveaway are the two small holes above the front wheel arches - for two small American flags.

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 Click through to the next page for a comprehensive gallery.

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With 415 kW and a crazy good 747 Nm torque at 3800rpm, a stock standard CTS-V running factory-spec road tyres demolished the world’s most dangerous race track known as Nurburgring, or “The Ring” as known by enthusiasts, in the stunning time of 7: 59.32.

Whilst the ‘time’ is truly staggering for a four door family sedan, what is even more impressive is the consummate ease with which this car handles such a demanding and dangerous track. (see video)

Apart from a new generation of GM’s Magnetic Ride Control which is said to offer drivers, a far wider choice of suspension settings from extreme on track capability to smooth highway cruising luxury, and everything else in between, there’s also a new automatic box with a fast paddle shifting option.

While GM Premium Cars is bringing the less powerful 3.6-litre V6 to Australia in fourth quarter 2008, we can only beg the GM chiefs to please ship a few of these super taxis down here too.

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Not only does it handle, as proven by the Nurburgring time, but given the announced power figures, it must go like an absolute rocket. How does 0-100km/h in less than 4 seconds sound? Thought so. Quarter mile in 12 seconds flat? Yep, it’s going to be a weapon.

The CTS-V will go head to head with its German rivals such as the BMW M5, which, although spectacular in its own right, only has 373kW and 520Nm of torque. The B-em-veh does the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.7 seconds.

The American might is generated by the sport sedan’s 6.2-litre supercharged V8 which is a derivative of the new Corvette ZR1’s LS9. If anything, the engine is capable of more and has been detuned (to keep Corvette the king) for the CTS-V.

The CTS-V also gets the same technology as the HSV GTS with Magnetic Ride Control as well as a new automatic transmission with paddle-shift control.

Caddillac says the aim of the V project was to make the CTS-V the world’s fastest production sedan. So far no one is disputing that claim.

Will the CTS-V come to Australia? So far GM Premium has only confirmed the standard specification CTS will make it down under. In saying that, we suspect the CTS-V will eventually find its way here as Cadillac will benefit enormously from the CTS-V as a halo car.

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On the outside we can see the wagon will be riding on 18-inch wheels. Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires will surround those wheels in P235/50R18 size.

Codenamed GMX 206, GM will start building this luxury wagon in the Spring of 2009.

It will be built along side the CTS sedan and coupe at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant. Expect GM to build around 10,000-12,000 units a year.

Caddillac is expected to arrive in Australia in a few months time.

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