GM Australia’s Jess Bala believes Cadillac has found the gap the Germans and Chinese can’t fill

We’ve spent more time in the Cadillac over the past few months than we expected. An OPTIQ on our own roads. A VISTIQ around Melbourne. Our dog has logged enough hours to form an opinion, and she accepts it. Enough kilometers, in other words, to have our own opinions about what we do, and most of them are positive.

So when we got a chance to sit together Jess BalaManaging Director of GM Australia and New Zealand and the woman who literally brought the brand home.

Jess started at Holden, went to Detroit, served as Mary Barra’s Chief of Staff and then ran global product planning and strategy for Cadillac. He helped steer it towards its all-electric future before returning to Australia to launch it. She is also the mother of three children. When the first LYRIQ arrived, he described it as the unboxing of his baby on Australian roads.

We started where every Cadillac conversation begins, with heritage.

The brand has the kind of name recognition most car companies would die for. It’s in the songs. By some accounts, it is the most tattooed car brand on Earth. But inspired awareness and genuine desire are two very different things, and Bala knows this.

“In a lot of industries, I think we’re a lot more fashion forward, a little more avant-garde, and that’s really what these cars are all about,” he told us. The pitch is modern luxury, aimed at a market she sees as more design-led and wanting to stand out more than others.

He argues that technology has ruined everything. The screen, the software, the phone in your pocket, it all pulls brands onto the same playing field. So you win on design or you don’t win at all.

“How do you stand out? I think design language is a big part of that for us.”

The best thing about these cars is their interior. We’ve been in a lot of new EVs recently, and most of them have a big screen strapped to some brown recycled plastic. That’s not a cadillac.

“A lot of it is tactile, palpable and feelable,” he said. “The best feedback we have received is the attention to detail in our interiors.”

You sit in one, and you immediately see that it’s no Chinese knock-off. The little details are still there, the script logos in the sill plates, the knurled finish on the knobs. This goes on in every generation, and you realize it as soon as the door closes.

Bala feels that our market is different from any other Cadillac selling. The only EV, right-hand drive, has been dropped in one of the most competitive new car markets on the planet.

“I think we’re very unique. It gives us the ability to position the brand where we see fit.”

The euro is the obvious rival. Then there is the wave of Tesla and Chinese brands rising every other week. Cadillac’s answer is to work hard on it all, in the interior, the AKG sound system, the Dolby setup, and the messaging.

Then there’s the money, which is the part that really shocked us. The VISTIQ, the larger three-row flagship, reaches $116,000 before on-roads. It underpins the Volvo EX90 and Kia EV9 GT-Line. Considering what you get for the money, VISTIQ is good value.

“That car has attracted a lot of people and sales are going incredibly well,” Bala said. “The price is surprising a lot of people in a very good way.”

Jess is right about the focus and price. Before the interview even started we were talking about how you can’t drive without seeing someone. Low stance, six-seat layout, second row captain’s chairs. It is more expensive than the price mentioned on the sticker. It feels like it’s in the same area as the Range Rover. Which is a good thing.

LYRIQ contains the same drug. A quick drive-away deal pulled it into what Bala calls “the true sweet spot” and the sale followed.

“Sales of that car have increased dramatically. You’re getting a lot of car for the money.”

We asked whether the recent surge was due to price or noise. “Both, Formula 1 is doing a lot of work,” he said. Cadillac launched the OPTIQ and VISTIQ around the Australian Grand Prix, and it was impossible for the brand to miss that weekend.

“This is a huge milestone for us nationally,” he said. “It provides access to customers. They can also get a Cadillac at a very attractive price.”

We told him that we see Cadillac as an “if you know it, you know it” brand, like the best watch makers. it’s a compliment. It’s also a problem when you’re making a permanent debut in a country that hasn’t had a badge on its forecourt since 1969. How do you maintain the cool factor without becoming a mystery that no one buys?

His answer was partnership. Three pillars, he said: lifestyle, sports and music. When the marketing budget isn’t bottomless, you borrow other people’s audiences and get the rest through word of mouth.

That’s why Cadillac went direct to consumer with small pop-ups along the way, rather than an experience center and a line of dealerships in Sydney and Auckland.

That part is changing now. “The announcement we made a few weeks ago about the expansion of dealer franchises in Melbourne and Brisbane is a very deliberate one,” he said. What is undeniable is that the experience remains luxurious. Walk in, get in the car, bring it immediately.

We asked Jess whether Europeans are ahead or behind in EVs?

“It really depends on who you ask,” she said extremely diplomatically. Everyone is being forced to do so by tightening emission regulations. BMW and Mercedes lineups are coming. According to him, the advantage of Cadillac is that it is EV only and is not hedging its bets.

And because we had to, we asked about the Escalade coming to Australia. Full-fat, biblical-proportions.

“I want to. I hope so.”

Cadillac has done the hard thing, that is, making cars that actually justify the badge. The interior is exclusive, the price is higher than it should be, and the design really stands out in a car park full of beige.

The open question is about patience. You don’t build a luxury brand in one Grand Prix weekend, no matter how good the cars are. But if Bala continues to fail in the seats, then the other seats also follow. We have sat in them. We got this.