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Small Cadillac Looks Great, But Can It Handle BMW, Audi, Mercedes?
Prices Don’t Seem Low Enough To Spur Interest, Beat Prejudice
*** out of 5

    CHIPPENHAM, England The Cadillac BLS may be a Saab in disguise, but it’s a very nice disguise.

    The new, “small” Cadillac shares about 80 per cent of the Saab 9-3’s components and is made in Sweden. It offers a diesel engine, the U.S. luxury subsidiary of General Motors’ first oil-burner in Europe.

    Not that you’d notice the link with Saab. The body is all angles and edges, just like its American elder siblings, and not a bit like the smooth, rounded Swedish body. The Cadillac cues of vertically stacked headlights and tail-lights and wedge profile, set the BLS apart from Saab. The interior looks completely different from any Saab, apart from the handbrake, the lever of which is designed into the plastic structure between the driver and front passenger. The interior quality of the build and materials on the first versions of the BLS which were available to the press in late March were also very un-Saab like – very well put together with first rate content.

    The car certainly looks distinctive, but this machine will have to sell in the extremely rarefied atmosphere of the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes C-class and Audi A4, not to mention the Lexus IS. So to persuade potential buyers Cadillac will have to flaunt an attractive price.

    No rush to dealers
    The cheapest BLS starts at £21,473 (€30,750) for the BLS SE 1.9D (for diesel) manual. I’m not sure that’s low enough to start a rush to the Cadillac dealership nearest you. Standard equipment includes alloy wheels, trip computer, three-spoke (and very Saab come to think of it) leather steering wheel, cruise control, air-conditioning, electric windows all round and a CD player. The top of the range Sport Luxury with the 2.8 litre engine and automatic includes 18 inch wheels, sports suspension, xenon headlights, Bose audio, heated and electrically leather front seats, but costs £32,398 (€46,400).

    So the car looks the part. As soon as you get inside, the ambience will impress, particularly with the optional leather. The seats were comfortable and support you in all the right places. Instruments do the job unobtrusively; not a trace of “flash” anywhere. There’s loads of room in the back. On the road, the car’s handling was sharp and responsive. The suspension settings are no doubt inherited from Saab. On motorways the car was quiet and impressive. On the bendy bits handling was more than adequate. The diesel version, which will be the biggest seller, was quiet, and fast when needed.

    Four engines and a diesel
    The BLS will be available with a choice of 4 engines – the 1.9 litre, 150 bhp diesel, two 2.0 litre 4-cylinder petrol motors producing 175 bhp, and 210 bhp, and the range-topping 2.8 litre 255 bhp V6. All versions can be twinned with either automatic gearboxes or manual shifters.

    Cadillac’s targets for Europe are modest to say the least - 20,000 by 2010.

    To put the sales target into context: BMW sold about 240,000 3-Series cars last year in Europe. The 3-Series is the BLS’s main competitor, along with the Mercedes C-class, and Audi A4. Lexus, a massive player in the U.S., only sold about 29,000 cars last year in Europe after being in the market for 17 years.

    The quality of the BLS has been questioned since it was first displayed at the Frankfurt Car Show in September 2005.

    But the quality of the first cars available to the press here, were top notch.

    Dare to be different
    Cadillac said BLS prices across the range were 5 to 10 per cent below comparable BMW 3-series prices. Buyers would be tempted by this Cadillac by the thought of “daring to be different”, and by the style and distinctive design of the vehicles, Malcolm Wade, director of sales for Cadillac and Corvette in Europe said.

    Wade said Cadillac wanted to steadily build up its sales in Europe.

    “It took Lexus 17 years to reach 20,000. At the start nobody knew if Lexus was a lawnmower or a pickup truck. Cadillac has a big advantage because our brand image is very well known,” said Wade.

    But why buy a Cadillac? What is the compelling case which will convince BMW 3-series owners to move across? Cadillac says it believes Europeans are getting bored with the same old choices, and are eager to find something different.