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Cadillac VISTIQ Charges Into Europe With 615 HP and Three Rows of Luxury

Cadillac has chosen Stockholm, Sweden—home of ABBA, meatballs, and one of Europe’s most EV-hungry markets—as the stage for its latest act: the debut of the VISTIQ, a fully electric, three-row SUV that Cadillac hopes will anchor its European ambitions. The reveal coincided with the opening of Cadillac City Stockholm, the brand’s first experience center on the continent, signaling that the American luxury marque isn’t just dipping a toe into Europe’s EV waters—it’s diving in.

The Power Play

On paper, the VISTIQ comes armed to disrupt a field dominated by the Mercedes EQS SUV, BMW iX, and Volvo EX90. A dual-motor AWD setup produces 615 horsepower and a stump-pulling 880 Nm of torque. Engage Velocity Max mode, and this family hauler reportedly rips from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds—numbers that would embarrass a Corvette from just a few years ago. Range is a WLTP-estimated 460 kilometers, which won’t rewrite records but should be more than enough for the daily grind and a weekend cabin run into the Swedish countryside.

Cadillac VISTIQ Charges Into Europe With 615 HP and Three Rows of Luxury

Technology First, Luxury Close Behind

Cadillac is leaning heavily on tech to woo buyers. A 33-inch curved LED display stretches across the dash, paired with an augmented reality head-up display that beams navigation arrows and hazard alerts onto the windshield like something out of a fighter jet. The infotainment system runs on Android, with access to Google Chrome, Prime Video, and even mobile games—a nod to the Tesla-style “screen as entertainment hub” trend.

Cabin tech doesn’t end with screens. Five-zone climate control targets only occupied seats to save juice, while a 23-speaker AKG Studio Reference system with Dolby Atmos promises to turn Swedish death metal—or Sibelius, if you’re more refined—into a surround-sound experience worthy of Carnegie Hall.

Big SUV, Big Comfort

Unlike many so-called three-row EVs that treat the last row as an afterthought, Cadillac claims the VISTIQ gives even third-row passengers real amenities: armrests, cupholders, USB chargers, and smartphone storage. Materials vary by trim, from carbon fiber and engineered wood to Cadillac’s vegan-friendly Noveauluxe. The exterior sticks close to the brand’s new EV design language, with a sharp profile, a Black Crystal Shield grille, and a stance that looks more planted and muscular than some rivals.

Cadillac in Europe—For Real This Time?

This isn’t Cadillac’s first flirtation with Europe. Past efforts fizzled under the weight of strong German competition and Cadillac’s uneven global strategy. But the brand is betting big on EVs as the equalizer, and Europe—where buyers are both EV-hungry and brand-agnostic when something genuinely compelling shows up—might finally be fertile ground.

To that end, Cadillac isn’t just selling cars; it’s selling an experience. The new Cadillac City Stockholm showroom is pitched as a chic, tech-savvy hub where buyers can explore Cadillac’s EV lineup—including the smaller OPTIQ and the mid-size LYRIQ—with personal, concierge-level attention.

The Price of Luxury

The VISTIQ will roll out first in Sweden, Germany, France, and Switzerland, with orders opening May 28, 2025, and first deliveries in September. Prices start at around €99,640 in Germany and SEK 1,213,500 in Sweden for the Luxury trim, with Premium Luxury spec nudging higher. That puts the VISTIQ directly against BMW’s iX xDrive50 and the Mercedes EQS 450 SUV—not an easy crowd to impress.

The Cadillac VISTIQ isn’t just another big electric SUV—it’s Cadillac’s attempt to prove it can compete with Europe’s best on their home turf. With serious power, legit three-row usability, and a tech-forward cabin, the VISTIQ checks nearly every box. The big question is whether Europeans—who traditionally favor understatement over Cadillac’s bold American swagger—will buy into the package.

If they do, the VISTIQ could mark the moment Cadillac finally became a global EV player, not just Detroit’s luxury icon.

Source: Cadillac Europe

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Leapmotor B10: China’s Smart SUV Heads for Europe — and It Means Business

The Chinese invasion continues, and this time it’s not cheap knock-offs or badge-engineered oddities — it’s the Leapmotor B10, a smart SUV that’s just set sail for Europe, and it’s gunning for the establishment. The B10 will make its grand entrance at the 2025 IAA Mobility show in Munich on September 8th, and — in a bold move — deliveries will kick off at the very same time. No teasers, no endless “concept” limbo, just straight into customers’ driveways. Take note, legacy automakers.

Built on the company’s shiny new LEAP 3.5 technology architecture, the B10 is more than just another EV with a big battery. Leapmotor wants to position it as a benchmark smart SUV — think Tesla Model Y levels of ambition but wrapped in a price tag that starts at just €29,900. That makes it one of the most aggressively priced electric SUVs in Europe, undercutting not just the Germans but even some other Chinese rivals.

And this isn’t just about exporting cars. Leapmotor insists this is about exporting quality. Big words, but the company has reason to be confident. In just a few years, it’s grown from a domestic contender to a global player with 700+ sales and service outlets across 30 markets. By 2025, the B10 will be on sale everywhere from Berlin to Buenos Aires, with Europe clearly being the jewel in its crown.

So what do you get for that headline price? Leapmotor is promising long range, clever tech, and the sort of cabin smarts you’d normally associate with brands whose names come with German umlauts. Expect AI-driven infotainment, semi-autonomous driving features, and the kind of connectivity that will make your smartphone feel like a Nokia 3310.

Make no mistake: the B10 is here to poke the establishment right in the ribs. It’s affordable, it’s global, and it’s here now. Whether it can really live up to its promise of “redefining the standards of smart SUVs” remains to be seen, but if you’re sitting in a VW ID.4 or Hyundai Ioniq 5 right now, you might be shifting in your seat a little.

IAA Munich. September 8th. The Leapmotor B10 arrives. And suddenly, the smart SUV game looks a lot less German.

Source: Stellantis

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The Hybrid Trojan Horse: How China’s Carmakers Are Outsmarting Europe

Europe thought it had built a wall. A big, tariff-shaped fortress designed to keep the advancing army of Chinese EVs from storming the castle of Volkswagen, Peugeot, and Fiat. Since October 2024, Brussels has been slapping chunky import duties on electric cars from the People’s Republic—up to a wallet-clenching 45 percent in some cases. The idea? Protect Europe’s car industry from Beijing-backed brands flooding the market with cut-price EVs.

But here’s the problem: the Chinese didn’t bother with the front gate. They’ve found a side door—marked Hybrids.

See, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) sit in a cushy grey area of EU tariffs. Instead of being battered with 27 or even 45 percent duties, they get a far friendlier 10 percent. For buyers, that can be the difference between “Ooh, that’s cheap” and “Sorry, darling, we’ll just buy a Golf.” For Chinese manufacturers, it’s basically the difference between a profitable invasion and a money-burning retreat.

Take BYD, for instance—the battery giant turned carmaker that’s been gleefully gnawing away at Tesla’s lunch. Its Atto 3 EV in Germany suddenly costs an extra €10,000 thanks to the tariffs, which moves it from “shrewd bargain” to “well, maybe I’ll just buy a Kia.” Meanwhile, the plug-in hybrid Seal U? Only slapped with about €4,000 in extra duties. Result: BYD’s PHEV registrations in Europe tripled in just six months, with 20,000 units already on the books.

MG, the once-British badge now operated by China’s SAIC, has gone the same route. Faced with an eye-watering 45.3 percent tariff on its EVs, it’s quietly pivoted to hybrids. Sales of the MG HS, ZS, and MG 3 are up, while its EVs have fallen off a cliff—down 60 percent in just half a year. And then there’s Lynk & Co, the “hipster” Geely-owned brand that hands out cars on a subscription basis. Yep, they’re stuffing as many PHEVs onto boats to Antwerp as humanly possible too.

“It was only a matter of time,” says Beatrix Keim, a German car industry insider. She’s right. You don’t need to be Sun Tzu to see that when one battlefield is hostile, you retreat and attack from another angle. The EU tariffs are a blunt instrument, and the Chinese are already adapting faster than Europe’s regulators can type out a press release.

The most delicious irony? Brussels knows all this. It’s not even pretending hybrids aren’t a loophole—it just seems happy to look the other way. Officials are apparently banking on future negotiations with China’s hyper-aggressive automakers rather than tightening the screws. Which means, in the meantime, European streets will keep filling up with cheap Chinese PHEVs, while local brands fumble around trying to reinvent the compact hatchback.

So, has the EU bought itself some breathing room? Perhaps. But if history has taught us anything, it’s this: when the Chinese can’t get through the front door, they’ll climb in through the window. And right now, that window is the hybrid.

Source: Handelsblatt