Cadillac makes its way to Japanese showrooms

TOKYO February 25, 2003; Yuri Kageyama writing for the AP reports that General Motors Corp. plans to start selling its new baby-size Cadillac in Japan next month in an effort to challenge domestic makers in the highly competitive entry-level luxury segment.

The Cadillac CTS will roll into Japanese showrooms March 8 and start at 4.95 million yen ($42,000) for a model that includes a navigation system, CD player and side air bags as standard features, GM said Monday.

In Japan, people have generally favored Mercedes and BMW models over the Cadillac because of the image here of American cars as poor-quality gas-guzzlers. Only about 600 Cadillacs were sold in Japan last year.

"Cadillac must be perceived as an elite premium luxury brand," if General Motors hopes to win globally, said Mark LaNeve, general manager for the Cadillac division.

GM officials said they did marketing research in Japan while the CTS was being developed to ensure its appeal to Japanese drivers. Rajeev Chaba, director of marketing for GM Japan, said the company hoped to sell more than 400 Cadillac CTSs a year in Japan.

The Cadillac CTS has done well in the United States, and the Detroit-based automaker raised its annual sales target to 40,000 from the initial 30,000.