Spotted! Cadillac CTS tested on Australian roads

It’s on, and then it’s off. Plans to bring American premium brand Cadillac to Australia have always been hot topic at parent company General Motors and its Australian subsidiary Holden. After years of discussion, it seems those talks have finally gained traction, as evident by this Cadillac CTS, spotted completely undisguised on the streets of suburban Melbourne.

The sleek saloon bears the badge ‘3.0 TT’ which means lurking under that elongated bonnet (or hood, more appropriately) is a 3.0-litre twin turbo petrol V6 packing 301kW and 542Nm of torque. Driving the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic, the 5-Series and E-Class beater is good for a 0-100km/h sprint time of just over 5 seconds.

As can be seen from the sneaky interior shot, this CTS was a left-hand drive model, so don’t expect to see one at your local Holden dealer anytime soon. But words on the street are that Cadillac is eyeing to fill the void left by Holden’s bespoke performance models, namely the HSV range of high performance V8 Commodores.

While HSV currently offers a right-hand drive converted Chevrolet Camaro for the local market, Cadillac is positive that large sports saloon will also rhyme well with Australian enthusiasts. According to a previous report, former Cadillac marketing head Uwe Ellinghaus was quoted saying the high performance rear-wheel drive sedan segment was “exactly the spot of the market” that he has in mind in Australia.

While this may be good news to Holden fans, Uwe said that they should not expect Commodore prices if Cadillac does enter the market. He said that he sees the American brand as almost on the same level as BMW M or Mercedes AMG.

While Cadillac’s recent focus is America and China, it also has Europe on its growth radar, something that would require right-hook cars for countries like the UK – opening opportunities for Australian-bound RHD Cadillac’s.