CADILLAC is expanding its direct-to-consumer sales model Down Under with a follow-up to last October’s opening of the flagship Sydney showroom coming mid-year when the brand’s second Australian ‘Experience Centre’ launches in Brisbane, along with pop-up activations in Melbourne where it is still looking for a permanent home.

Across the Ditch, Cadillac’s Auckland Experience Centre will open in April, along with pop-up activations in Melbourne, Sydney, and potentially Brisbane in the coming months, to increase awareness of its all-electric luxury SUV portfolio.

Speaking with Australasian media during a video conference in which Cadillac announced the Optiq medium SUV and Vistiq upper large SUV for these markets, General Motors Australia and New Zealand managing director Jess Bala suggested there was some agonising over the venue of the Melbourne showroom.

Experience Centre Zurich

“We are still looking for our forever home here in Melbourne, said Mr Bala from GM Australia’s head office at Turner Street in Port Melbourne.“We’re very particular as to what we’re looking for, so we haven’t found anything yet,” she revealed.

“But we are working through an alternative go-to-market strategy to make sure that we have the Melbourne market represented because we know it is critical to our success as well.

“We’re working through what that looks like, and the team is already doing a phenomenal job running test drives with customers here and really harnessing that unique customer experience and tailoring it to them.”

Cadillac says its direct-to-consumer sales model, which like South Korean rival Genesis enables customers to purchase vehicles online or at one its Experience Centres, offers a more convenient and personalised experience.

Cadillac Australia Pop-Up

“There’s a lot of activity still to come to further support our launch in Australia and New Zealand,” Ms Bala said.“Given we don’t have a permanent site (in Melbourne) just yet, we will announce more pop-up activations and things like that in the coming months, but we do have a plan for something here in Melbourne, also in Auckland and also in Sydney and potentially Brisbane as well.”

Cadillac says its Experience Centres are designed to provide customers with a premium retail experience. The centres feature a variety of vehicles on display, as well as interactive displays and knowledgeable staff.

Ms Bala said the company has received 9000 expressions of interest about the first Cadillac to launch here, the Lyriq large SUV, an increase on the 7500 it had when the brand’s Sydney Experience Centre opened within the fashionable Roseberry Engine Yards precinct.

Jess Bala

“We are working on and still executing, delivering an exceptional and customised purchasing experience to each and every customer who reaches out to Cadillac and expresses interest in our brand and our vehicles,” said Ms Bala.“One of the greatest benefits of our direct-to-customer sales model is the ability to test and learn and to fully own that customer experience, allowing us to adapt with every unique experience.”

Ms Bala would not be drawn on how many of those 9000 have so far converted into firm sales but did confirm that initial Lyriq deliveries were yet to commence – although she said the company was “very, very close to getting certification”.

“Based on the conversations we’ve had with the relevant government bodies, that should be in the next couple of weeks,” she said.

Describing Cadillac’s direct-to-customer sales model as a “unique proposition”, Ms Bala said it enabled the company to “have a true single customer view” which provided “greater one-to-one customer service”.

Cadillac Australia Pop-Up

Another all-electric premium brand, Polestar, previously shared similar sentiments but has recently started supplementing its factory-owned retail ‘Spaces’ with franchised dealerships that often piggy-back onto existing showrooms of sister brand Volvo.

For now though, it seems Cadillac is focused on its direct sales method.

“It is our mission to innovate with our customers and to provide an elevated and more personalised experience,” said Ms Bala.

“We are staying close to our customers so we can listen and continually evolve that experience as their needs and requirements change.”