Cadillac is about to open two new sites in England. One will replace Stratstone Reading which recently closed. The other will be a new location at Southampton.

Reading was the second Stratstone Cadillac dealership to close. Its Edinburgh site shut last year.

Cadillac director Jonathan Nash said Pendragon, Stratstone’s owner group, had decided it was not a successful operation. A new appointment in Reading is due to be announced in the next 10 days. 

Cadillac is still in talks with a number of parties regarding replacement of the Edinburgh site, which is more likely to be in central or northern England.

Nash said Cadillac dealers need to sell between 50-60 new cars each a year to break even.
Last year, the brand sold 171 cars, an average of 21.2 cars for each of its six dealers.

Nash said Cadillac is always sold at multi-franchise sites because it is a niche brand which could not stand alone.

The brand is unlikely to become sustainable until it introduces diesel engines to the range, which is at least a year away, Nash said. 

The introduction of the left-hand drive supersaloon CTS-V, priced £56,495, to the UK is a brand halo product rather than a sales pusher and is expected to sell in “very small numbers”, added Nash.

He said he was being conservative with plans, trying to allow dealers to get through difficult times and focus on orders rather than pushing sales.