Provisioned home charger incentive for early birds.

ORDERS are now being taken for the electric vehicle that returns the Cadillac brand to New Zealand after a break of more than 50 years.

The Lyriq large luxury sports utility opportunes initially in $117,000 Luxury and $119,000 Sport variants, with a higher performance V-Spec edition set to land later on for an undisclosed price.

During a briefing for media earlier this week in respect to future announcements that are subject to an embargo that runs to late afternoon of March 7, the make indicated some Lyriqs are already here, but did not specify if these were customer cars.

It is not clear when anyone ordering a car from now will receive it.

The Lyriq is being represented by General Motors, but rather than being sold via the seven national speciality vehicles’ dealerships that sell Chevrolet Corvette and Silverado, can be solely bought from a bespoke single agency in Auckland that has a direct selling mandate.

The on-sale announcement today comes as the brand is still readying its ‘Experience Centre’ for business; the outlet - ironically located in a premises that until last year was the primary national home to Tesla - is expected to open around April.

Cadillac represented in NZ in the early part of last century and was an one-and-off presence until 1969. It represents as America’s leading maker of premium cars.

Today’s news will be welcome to intending buyers, as when the make’s return was announced in 2023, the brand then asserted it would have cars here by the end of last year.

The two models kicking off the Lyriq’s charge in the main differentiate in trim level, Cadillac putting it that “Luxury models are crafted for a sophisticated journey, while Sport vehicles are designed for expressive power and presence.”

The product push includes the car achieving a five-year unlimited-kilometre factory vehicle warranty, a five-year roadside assistance package and a five-year complimentary scheduled servicing programme. The battery technology is has an eight-year/160,000km cover.

Buyers achieve a $400 charging credit from ChargeNet and Cadillac has partnered a home charger specialist, Evnex; customers who purchase before end of next month achieve a 7.4kW single-phase home charger free; that promotion including installation cost. Customers who already have a home charger can instead increase their charging credit from $400 to $1200.

In announcing in 2023 that New Zealand and Australia were set to be the very first right-hand-drive markets for the car, Jess Bala - the managing director GM for Australasia - indicated other Cadillacs are set to follow.

The Optiq mid-size sports utility, the Celestiq sedan, Escalade IQ full-size SUV, and the Vistiq are all reportedly set for global distribution.

Lyriq, Escalade IQ and the Optiq are developed atop the Ultium platform, a flexible architecture GM has developed for a wide range of electric cars, from everyday passenger models to hefty commercials, plus SUVs including one already in production, the GMC Hummer EV.

Cadillac seemed set to re-emerge on the NZ scene in 2007 with the second-generation CTS, but while that car did get here, it was not in official capacity, these being orphan stock from the brand having u-turned on a plan to set up shop in Australasia.