Tested: A Half-Hearted Cadillac

Filed in archive on April 25, 2006

Sometimes I tease our site visitors with views and opinions of desireable cars we can't buy in the US. Here's one you're better off without, according to this Edmunds Inside Line test drive. It's the Cadillac BLS, designed in America and built in Sweden for European markets, in a half-hearted effort at competing with the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4. The BLS is actually "a Saab 9-3 in drag," the review reminds us, which also shares its platform with the Opel Vectra. The tester concludes with "... it might wear a Cadillac badge, but the BLS feels like what it is - a half-hearted car built on a budget to soak up some excess (Swedish factory) capacity. This is a strange and disappointing way to treat a famous brand. U.S. buyers should not feel like they're missing out."