http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/11/europea...not-crossing-a/

(Though of course Europeans get several supersedans and especially superwagons that we don't get here).

I don't understand this move. Could someone wiser in the ways of the automotive world explain why the best high-performance sport sedan the US has ever built will not be offered in the continent that turned high-performance sport sedans into an art form?

No it does not suck, because the CTS-V is a crap car....no offence. They have a gagillion better cars over there

Are you familiar with the second-generation CTS-V? I'm not talking about the first-gen.

If so, what's your basis for saying that the second-gen CTS-V is a crap car? It now has a no-excuses interior (see link below--and reports suggest that materials are just as good as design, and on a different level entirely from the first-gen), the wheel hop issues have been fixed, and it's obscenely fast. Like zero-to-sixty in 3.9 seconds, 7:59 around the Nurburgring fast. Not bad for something nearly as big as a 5-Series.

http://www.netcarshow.com/cadillac/2009-ct...allpaper_11.htm

Fair enough then. yeh it was based on first gen, and I had no idea about a second gen, and it does look pretty cool. Is it a blown V8?

Weak dollar?

^ Can't be the reason. A weak dollar is good for american cars because this makes them cheap thus competitive in Europe.

6.2L supercharged V8 rated at 556 horsepower, 551 lb-ft. The engine is closely based upon the Corvette ZR1's, though not identical to it.

^ in regards to the above picture


mmmm... faux carbon fiber. My mom's Accord has that trim.

I think it's actually textured aluminum edging, and a piano-black center console. No fake CF. Check out the same interior in this photo:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans...v/photo_05.html

Yeah I did the mental math wrong.

[sarcasm]I'm so upset.[/sarcasm]
This car has been hanging around so long, I can't imagine anyone being hyped to see it arrive in Europe anyway.

No it doesn't. People barely know about the CTS over here...so its not really a loss.

Hanging around so long? The second-generation CTS-V is new for 2009! Are you sure you're not talking about the first-gen car, introduced in 2004? The first-gen car is two steps down in terms of performance and four steps down in terms of refinement and interior quality.

You know... considering the absolute smorgsabord of performance machines that only Europeans get and North America doesn't.... I honestly can't think that anyone over there will miss the CTS-V regardless of how improved it is over its previous year model.

Regardless of how good it is, I suspect the Europeans are still too busy looking down their noses at the Cadillac brand to buy the CTS-V in any appreciable numbers.

It seemed like an age ago I saw the first concept of the new car. Like Phix and Clark say, no-one will care.

The second-generation CTS-V came out a year after the second-generation CTS. The M3 came out two years after the E90 3-Series debuted. You don't see people saying that the E90 3-Series has been around so long, that nobody would be hyped about the E90/E92 M3. I don't see where the analogy fails.



I guess you're right. Maybe European sport sedan buyers wouldn't care. Though I'm starting to think that Clark is the one who really came up with the reason why.

As for Phix's reasoning, we have lots of fast sedans over here in the US and you still see people bitching that we don't get X or Y model that Europe has (i.e., the new RS6). I had assumed that dynamic was equally true in Europe, but perhaps not?

Cadillac has no brand power in Europe and the CTS-V is a niche car.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/14/lock-an...rope-after-all/

Whoops! The "second-gen CTS-V not coming to Europe" report was from Top Gear, and they got it wrong. Cadillac took umbrage with the statement and has confirmed that the new CTS-V will be headed across the pond.

What Top Gear was focusing on is that the CTS-V will only be available in left-hand-drive, so its UK availability will be limited (though it will be available in small numbers in the UK). As for continental Europe, it will be just as available there as it is in the US.

I can't wait to start reading the European reviews of it.

Mitch_f1, however, is out of luck because it's not headed to Australia at all because of the LHD/RHD issue.

Oh, allow me.









Saved you 100% off the cover price.

^I think that's a bit harsh.

If the interior quality is better, its priced well (below an M5/RS6) and there are fewer bongs letting you know you have successfully opened the door, I think Clarkson will like it. Its kinda like an upscale version of the Vauxhall VXR8 (over simplification) which he enjoyed.

I cant really give an opinion on the others, since my wallet stopped letting me buy CAR and Evo a while back, but whats not to like? Supercharged insanely powerful V8, RWD, kinda neat to look at...

Don't get me wrong, I personally love it (saw its debut in Detroit) and test drove a first-gen CTS-V last Saturday. Loved that too, its on my short list for next purchase. But that's neither here nor there. Clark hit the nail on the head, Europeans (and the rest of the world) will be busy looking down their noses at it due to its national origin. I hope that's not true, I think Cadillac has a winner and I look forward to my first drive of the second-gen V.

Speaking about Clarkson in specific...You honestly think Cadillac has less prestige than Vauxhall in Clarkson's eyes?

Clarkson is a lot of things...but I personally think he is usually pretty open about where cars come from. I know a lot of people get up in arms when he says bad things about their favorite model or brand...but he's just honest about his personal taste IMHO. RWD supercharged V8 sedan is definitely to his taste.

As far as the European press is concerned, yes I'm sure there are some preconceptions...but to be honest, there has been a lot of crap American cars pedaled in Europe over the years. It'll take time...but as long as more cars like the CTS-V mk. II and C6 Z06 get sold in Europe, and fewer cars like the old STS and Crossfine make the trip, those preconceptions will be challenged and eventually defeated.

Clarkson is sporadic in what he likes and does not like, but his biases are very deeply rooted.

He hates Porsche. He loves Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. He enjoys what the Aussies do and thinks the Americans can only make bonkers, unrefined cars that he may like occasionally but nobody should ever buy.

In any case, we should really stop caring about what Clarkson likes or not because he's an idiot. A very entertaining idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

I thought it was hilarious, personally.



Too true. Maybe instead of "I can't wait to see what European reviewers say," I should have written "I can't wit to see what Tiff Needell says." Because that's what I was really thinking.

Though I would certainly spend a lunch hour watching whatever Top Gear did with a second-gen CTS-V.

I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "european reviewers". It's the assumption that "european reviewers = Jeremy Clarkson plus some other guys who we don't really care about" that bugs me.

As for Top Gear, I love to watch it and learn about the cars not for the things they say, but to see them in motion, and to hear them, in a way that's as good as you can get without getting behind the wheel yourself, since their cinematography and sound work is so good.

Sorry, I do have a bit of a Clarkson-centric take on European reviewers...the only other ones I can name off the top of my head are Chris Harris (who has some brilliant videos on youtube though Autocar) and Colin Goodwin (aside from the rest of the TG team and Fifth Gear).

No but I see them as the same evolution of the 3 series. The problem here is that although things have been improved it looks very similar to the first gen, which in my opinion just seems all wrong for a sporty car. It's just my opinion and honestly a lazy stereotype of American vehicles, which I think the average buyer in this market would pretty much share, given what else is available.

Sorry for the bump, but I stumbled upon the first UK review of the second-gen CTS I've read, and it was enlightening. It's Car Magazine's (a UK magazine) review of the CTS with the 3.6L direct-injected V6 and the six-speed manual. It's the first non-US review of the CTS I've read, and I wanted to see whether the glowing reviews the CTS has received were just American patriotism or were really objective.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search...content-block=0

Overall, the review is glowing, and it received four out of five stars in every category (handling, performance, usability, feel-good factor, and readers' ratings). A few highlights:









So while I agree that most European buyers probably still assume that the Cadillac is American crap and not something they should consider over the various German options, I don't think that such a belief really has a basis anymore.

Of course, I don't expect people like Jeremy "Americans are good at herding bison -- the end" Clarkson to look at it with an open mind, but you can't win 'em all.

Well, this is a good thing - the beginning of a turn around perhaps.

It's ironic to me how European's bitch about not getting some American cars, and Americans bitch about not getting some European cars.

The grass is always greener on the other side.