Cadillac Catera

History

The Catera was previewed at the Detroit Auto Show in 1994 as the Cadillac LSE concept, proposed by Cadillac as an entry-level model that would compete with sedans from Acura, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, Jaguar, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz.

In 1996, an early-production model was shown at the Detroit, Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto auto shows. Cadillac began marketing the Catera in the United States in the fall of 1996 as a 1997 model with a base price of $29,995 ().

Some of the standard features on the Catera included a cloth interior, front bucket seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, AM/FM stereo radio with cassette player and eight-speaker sound system, airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control, keyless entry, security system, alloy wheels, compact spare tire, and full instrumentation. Optional equipment included leather interior, heated seats, cassette player and CD player combination, Bose premium sound system, power sunroof, Homelink, OnStar, and chrome wheels.

A Sport model was offered beginning in 1999 with eight-way power adjustable seats, heated front seats, 17-inch wheels, driver's seat memory, audible theft-deterrent system, three-channel garage door opener, high-intensity discharge headlamps, and a rear spoiler.

The Catera received a facelift in 2000 with revised nose, tail, wheels, interior trim, mirrors, optional HID headlamps, stiffer suspension settings, and side airbags.

The model's engine was a 200 hp L81 54° DOHC V6 manufactured in England at GM's Ellesmere Port facility, using an FR layout. The GM 4L30-E automatic transmission was manufactured at GM's plant in Strasbourg, France.

Marketing

Catera launch marketing used the tagline "the Caddy that zigs," with advertising featuring supermodel Cindy Crawford and a small animated bird named "Ziggy," a reference to the heraldic merlettes (adaptations of the martin, without legs or beaks) featured in the various iterations of Cadillac's logo from its inception through 1999.{{cite web

In 1997, John Tinker, a producer of television medical drama [Chicago Hope, was inspired by an inadvertent pun in a Catera commercial, saying "Who is Lisa Catera?"—in response to the Catera tagline "Lease a Catera." He introduced a character named Dr. Lisa Catera, played by Stacy Edwards. Coincidentally, the main demographic of Chicago Hope viewers were exactly the same demographic Cadillac hoped to attract with the Catera, and Cadillac/General Motors management responded extremely positively to the reference, becoming the main advertiser on the show and giving Edwards a complimentary three-year lease on a Catera. In one episode, Edwards' character said "when you can't zig, you zag," a reference to the Catera's original marketing tagline.

Related vehicles

In Europe, the platform underpinned the Opel Omega, marketed as an executive car. Rebadged variants of the Omega were marketed worldwide. In addition to the Opel version, the car was sold in Great Britain as the Vauxhall Omega. As with the Rekord which preceded it, re-engineered versions of the Omega were manufactured in Australia from 1988 as the Holden Commodore (and its derivatives) since 1999. Commodore-based cars were in turn exported to South America as the Chevrolet Omega and to the Middle East as the Chevrolet Lumina.

A relative of the Catera, using a modified version of the same Opel platform, continued to be in production until 2006. In the U.S. market, the platform was used for the Pontiac GTO, which was an almost identical derivative of the Holden Monaro coupe. Both were manufactured by GM Holden in Australia. These performance coupes were themselves derived from the sedan platform that originated in the Australian market as the VT-series Holden Commodore in 1997.

Yearly American sales

References

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References

1. "2001 Cadillac Catera".
2. "Cadillac Catera 2000".
3. "'Lisa Catera' Comes to Life on Chicago Hope".
4. (13 December 2005). "Cadillac Says Name Game is No Plot".
5. "GM Sales news".
6. "GM Sales news".