- Soon after Cadillac advanced its European sales with its all-electric luxury SUV, the Lyriq, the model has won Germany’s prestigious Luxury Car of the Year award.
- The Cadillac Lyriq notably stands as an outlier, being the only non-European brand to win amongst the five award categories.
- Decided by 40 renowned German car journalists, the Lyriq beat nominees in the same category such as the Porsche Macan and Genesis G90, with the Lyriq taking the crown thanks to its high levels of design, luxury, and technology.
Cadillac EVs win in Europe
The winning of this annual award bodes well for Cadillac’s re-entry into Europe, with its range of EVs. The firm previously attempted a Europe-wide entry beginning in the early 2000s, but ended up pulling out of most regions. Analysts will give multiple reasons for this, but the gas-guzzling nature of previous ICE-powered Cadillacs was certainly a contributor – something that won’t be an issue, with its new efficient EV range, which is already being sold in countries such as Germany and Switzerland. This win, beating local European rivals, suggests a much more successful attempt this time round. The brand’s commitment to Europe was also on display at this week’s Paris Motor Show, with its Lyriq and Optiq electric cars on display at the event.
The winners in the other categories of the German Car of the Year award were also good news for electrification, with three of the other awards being models available in a fully-electric format. The compact award went to the Citroen e-C3/C3, the premium award to the BMW i5/5 Series, and the EV-specific ‘New Energy’ award going to Audi’s Q6/SQ6 e-tron. The only car awarded which didn’t have a BEV option, was the performance award – going to the albeit hybridised Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid – a notable step towards the possibility of a full EV winning the performance award in a year to come.
The overall winner of the German Car of the Year is yet to be decided – so there’s still a chance this even bigger milestone could go to the Lyriq.