The financial crisis has claimed another victim - well, sort of. The plan was for Cadillac to be launched in Australia last year, and well, that never happened obviously. But now, GM-Holden CEO Mark Reuss has gone public with the news that Cadillac will not be coming to Australia, and the plans have been well and truly shelved to gather dust. So the financial crisis didn't really claim a victim, exactly, because we never had Cadillac here down under anyway.

Cadillac was all systems go in Australia, even after it was first delayed - Cadillac showed off it's CTS Coupe at the Australian International Motor Show (formally the Sydney Motor Show, until Sydneysiders decided they were more important than that), saying it would join the CTS sports sedan to make up their first two models, both released by the end of 2009. The sedan was, in fact, meant to start selling in March.

So just before the boats set off for down under, Mark Reuss has bailed on us - it's not his fault, you understand. General Motors is, generally (forgive the pun), in a lot of strife at the moment, so the number one priority at the moment is to keep Holden above board. But, having said that, it has been confirmed that GM-owned brands Saab and Hummer will be staying in Australia for the forseeable future. We just won't be getting any more GM brands for a while yet. Mark Reuss had this to say on the demise of the Cadillac Australia project:

“There is only one chance to properly launch this brand in Australia and in these challenging times, we believe we couldn’t give it the best chance of success. There is no doubt the Cadillac CTS is a magnificent vehicle and the response since it was revealed at the Australian International Motor Show in October 2008 has been very positive. “But obviously since then the market for new cars has continued to deteriorate, the challenging broader economic environment remains largely unchanged and the exchange rate has worsened for imports."

Which I've been thinking, probably crazily on my part, is quite a shame. I can't believe I actually wanted Cadillacs to arrive on Aussie shores. Why? The vehicles in the pictures here are really quite nice - for the past 45 years the US has been turning out grotesque vehicles, and yet, suddenly, as if from nowhere, they've found their mojo. The CTS looks cutting-edge, original and athletic, as does its coupe sibling, and Cadillac Australia were even had sketchy plans to import the SRX in 2010. That too, is a brilliant looking X5 and ML-Class rival. For the first time since the fifties, Cadillac have reborn, become modern and individual, and we're going to miss out sampling the fruits of their renaissance. Knowing our luck, by the time Cadillac has settled back into mediocrity, they'll arrive on our doorstep again.

Another reason why I wanted Cadillac to launch in Australia is because I honestly think that the German juggernaut of Merc/BMW/Audi is getting a little too complacent for my liking. When they produce such counterproductive things as iDrive and COMMAND, you know they're starting to lose touch with consumers. Cadillac would be a good influence to shake things up, after all, the Germans have next to no competition - not enough people are brave enough to buy an Alfa Romeo, Saab is almost irrelevant because of its lack of prestige, and Volvo, though slowly gaining some youthfulness, still rests on it's staid safe laurels.

And here's the clincher: because we aren't getting the Cadillac CTS, we also miss out on the brilliant 410kW CTS-V. Now that really is a sad face thought... wait for it... :( there we go.

NEWS: Cadillac Not Coming to Australia, Boo Hoo...