Cadillac does not build many cars like the Cadillac BLS: a 4-door saloon / 5-door estate with Petrol engine, built from 2005 to 2010 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Its designer of record is Bryan Nesbitt.
How it came about
The Cadillac BLS is a compact executive car that was marketed in Europe by Cadillac, sharing General Motors' Epsilon architecture, as a restyled variant of the Saab 9-3. Development was carried out by Saab and the car was manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden, alongside the Saab 9-3 and the Saab 9-5. Sales of the saloon began in March 2006, with an estate joining the line for 2007.
Starting in 2007, the BLS was sold in the Middle East, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. BLS production reached 3,257 in 2006 and 2,772 in 2007. Production ended in 2009. Until the GT4 was introduced in 2023, the BLS was the only Cadillac never sold in North America.
The hardware
Under the skin sits Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 5-speed automatic / 6-speed automatic / 5-speed manual / 6-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2680 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in Cadillac's history is not in doubt: the Cadillac Cimarron came before it; the Cadillac ATS followed it; it was built at Trollhättan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Kia Sportage, the Audi Q7, the Aston Martin Vantage. Its Cadillac stablemates include the Cadillac 353 and the Cadillac ATS.