Major US car brand to launch TWO new EVs in the UK within months amid international expansion
A MAJOR US car brand is set to launch two new EVs in the UK within months as it targets international expansion.
The firm is looking to rival European marques like BMW and Audi in the luxury market amid the push to net zero.
Cadillac will release the Optiq crossover in the autumn as part of a blockbuster double bill.
The larger Lyriq is already available in the EU, but will hit British shores later in the year.
Manufacturing will remain US-based, with the cars shipped to Europe from the factory.
The GM-owned company is targeting an expansion in the UK market after years of low returns on this side of the pond.
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Until now, they only sold the XT4, a petrol equivalent to the Optiq, through third-party dealers - and even then only in one spec.
In contrast, sales across all models totalled over 147,000 in the US in 2023 and Cadillac clocked in as the 15th most popular brand in the states for the first quarter of this year.
In an effort to gain a foothold in the UK, the brand is now looking to kick off an EV-based resurgence, beginning with the pair of new models.
More are expected to make the crossing in the coming years based on the Ultium EV platform, while the company has hinted at setting up its own dealership infrastructure.
Jaclyn McQuaid, head of GM Europe, told Autocar that the manufacturer views the UK as a "strategically important market".
She said: "What the Ultium architecture does is allow us to factor in right-hand drive in a much more efficient way than the internal combustion engine architectures.
"It’s a case of shifting the steering wheel to the right, and then it's really coding, it's electronics, it's calibrations, so it allows us to do the factory right-hand drive so much simpler.
"We're currently in the process of defining our initial sales footprint in the UK and where we're going to have our experience centres in the UK."
The executive added that GM will "have some very definitive announcements to make" in that regard this year and sees a "vision for the UK going forward".
It comes as an iconic '80s sports car is rumoured for a revival, 16 years after it was discontinued.
