GM to Sell Insignia as a Cadillac

2009 Opel Insignia

As part of its attempt to revamp sales in the United States and rely more on European cars and less on large-displacement models having absolutely no interest in reducing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption, GM may start selling the popular Opel Insignia in the United States. Nothing surprising until now because Ford did the same thing with Fiesta, a small-displacement model that attracted millions of buyers in Europe.

But the most interesting thing is that General Motors plans to sell the Insignia in the United States under the Cadillac brand and not as a Opel as some may be tempted to believe. For those of you who missed the news, there are some reports claiming that Opel will arrive very soon in the United States, but it's not yet clear whether the German brand will act as a GM division or as an independent company.

Getting back to the Cadillac, you're probably wondering which are the elements that convinced the American parent company to bring this particular model in the United States.

Well, maybe it's the "Car of the Year 2009" award the Opel Insignia received in last November. As you probably remember, Insignia gained the grand prize after the jury analyzed key elements such as the price, styling elements and equipment levele.

“The Insignia is not only a new Opel; it heralds a new world where Opel customers have not been before. The Insignia features a contemporary design which will take the Opel brand further: thrilling driving precision, high class ride - as well as acoustic comfort, dynamic safety, full passive safety package and innovations such as the Flexride, exceptional ride on 20” tires, a 9-program auto lighting system, road sign information and unintended white line crossing warning made the decision easy in the end,” Peter Aaboe from Denmark, member of the jury who gave a 10 to Insignia, said about the winner.