American luxury brand Cadillac has confirmed entry into the Australian market with its first car, the electric SUV it calls the Lyriq.
The Lyriq will be offered in Australia under two variants with pricing starting at $117,000 before on-roads, including GST and luxury car tax. These two variants include:
- Luxury – $117,000 before on-roads
- Sport – $119,000 before on-roads
Interested customers will soon be able to place orders with the company taking orders before the end of October.
“The Lyric is the perfect vehicle to launch the Cadillac brand in Australia and New Zealand,” Jess Bala, the local head of GM said in a statement.
“It delivers a uniquely Cadillac experience, with the refined luxury and technology that the brand is famous for around the world.”
The Lyriq will be manufactured in the USA for our local market at Cadillac’s Spring Hill Manufacturing Plant in Tennessee. This would make the Lyriq the only new US-built EV to be available to Australian buyers.
Powering the Lyriq is an all-wheel-drive powertrain that can deliver up to 388 kW of power and 610 Nm is fed by a 102 kWh nickel-cobalt-manganese battery pack which is capable of delivering up to 530 km of range.
This is also a special battery pack which it calls Ultium, developed in-house by Cadillac’s parent company and previous owners of the Holden operation in Australia, General Motors (GM).
With the Ultium battery pack, 50/50 weight distribution is achieved in the Lyriq allowing for a lower centre of gravity for a sporty and responsive drivetrain.
Fast charging packs are also available with speeds of up to 190 kW on the right DC quick charger, helping the car receive up to a 200 km range in 15 minutes.
When it comes to equipment, both models of the Lyriq are equipped with:
- 21-inch alloy wheels
- Curved 33-inch diagonal advanced LED display
- AKG Studio 19-speaker audio system
- Full glass roof with power sunshade
The 33-inch diagonal screen is one of the biggest we’ve seen so far in the Australian market.
Given the luxury market the new SUV from Cadillac is entering, it’s packed with safety features which include a full suite of airbags, blind zone steering assist, adaptive cruise control as well as forward collision alerts.
Other key safety features include:
- HD Surround Vision
- Rear Pedestrian Alert
- Enhanced Automatic Parking Assist
- Intersection Automatic Emergency Braking
- Power folding and driver-side auto-dimming mirrors with integrated turn signal indicators
- Puddle lamps
Moving onto the colours, this SUV is available in Crystal White Tricoat, Stellar Black Metallic, Radiant Red Tintcoat, Argent Silver Metallic, Emerald Lake Metallic, Celestial Metallic and Nimbus Metallic.
On the warranty front, the new Lyriq SUV comes with:
- 5 years unlimited kilometre factory vehicle warranty,
- 5 years roadside assistance
- 5 years scheduled servicing/5 scheduled services7
- Eight-year/ 160,000km Electric Vehicle Propulsion Battery Warranty
The new Lyriq is expected to be available to order later this month. It is set to compete with other luxury offerings such as the recently launched Polestar 3, BMW iX, Mercedes Benz EQE SUV and possibly even the upcoming Porsche Macan EV.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.