Cadillac explains its unique sales strategy in Australia

Cadillac is establishing an independent retail business in Australia, selling cars directly to customers rather than through franchised dealers.

This is in stark contrast to General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV), which offers both factory-built (Chevrolet Corvette) and locally remanufactured (Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Yukon) right-hand-drive vehicles through a network of franchised dealers, many of which once sold Holden vehicles.

Cadillac will open its first “experience centre” this year at Sydney’s Rosebery Engine Yards retail and lifestyle precinct, featuring multiple car parks, delivery and repair bays and “state-of-the-art” repair facilities.

The company has previously announced it will open an experience centre in Melbourne, but has yet to confirm a location.

“We do have to build a network as well, so part of the reason is we don’t have a timeline,” Shilpan Amin, GM International senior vice president and president, told Australian and New Zealand media.

“We’re not going to force companies to have a certain number of customer experience centers at a certain time and sell all of those products because then we’d be stuck and then we wouldn’t be able to really build the customer experience and the brand.”

“We entered this space not just thinking about going in quickly and scaling up, because going too fast and just going into the traditional network brings a lot of negative experiences.

“That’s why when we remove the pressure of when, where and how much from the system, we find that teams execute based on real customer experiences, no details are missed, and we learn as we do.”

The retail model is reminiscent of rival luxury brand Genesis, which has also launched a limited number of company-operated stores in Australia.

Cadillac will allow buyers to use an online ordering system and says it will use the system to identify geographic trends.

“They might go through the online ordering system and say, hey, I’m in Brisbane, we can deliver the car there,” said Lauren Indiveri-Clarke, GM International’s director of communications.

“But if we had 50 staff in Brisbane then we might consider opening an experience centre there. So it’s actually a good opportunity for us to sit back and learn some lessons along the way and see what’s happening in the market.

“So it’s going to be strategic and service is a critical part of that for us.”

Cadillac will return to Australia this year with the electric Lyriq to compete with the BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUVs.

The company plans to sell only electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia and has revealed more product releases will follow next year.

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