General Motors has invested heavily in re-launching the Cadillac brand in Europe and in bringing an extensive range of right-hand drive Caddys to the UK. The biggest-seller will be the BLS compact executive model, but first up is the CTS, somewhere between a BMW 3- and 5-Series in size and costing from £24,000. On sale since 2002 in the USA, it has been heavily revised for 2005, and the range now includes the 400 bhp V8-engined CTS-V, the most powerful production car Cadillac has yet made and developed with specific reference to European tastes. This hasnt been confirmed for UK sale yet, but looks likely as with Chryslers 300C HEMI, its by far the most appealing version in its line-up, and not just in terms of its out-and-out performance...
The two mainstream versions are a 2.8 V6 (215bhp) and 3.6 V6 (257bhp), both offered in the UK with a five-speed automatic gearbox only. There will be no diesel versions, at least during this model-cycle. The 2.8 V6 is the same Holden-sourced engine to be used in the Saab 9-3, and the CTS uses much componentry familiar from elsewhere in the General Motors empire.
