Cadillac will match its rival luxury brands in Australia with the introduction of increasingly commonplace features.
The American premium auto brand commenced local customer deliveries of its debut model, the Lyriq electric SUV, earlier this year.
From late 2025, the Lyriq will gain Cadillac Connected Services, a suite of features that includes mobile app connectivity, over-the-air update capability, and what the brand refers to as Connected Infotainment.
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This suite of technology will also be offered on the Optiq and Vistiq electric SUVs, both of which are due on sale here in 2026. All buyers will receive eight years of Cadillac Connected Services from the date of first registration.
But customers who take delivery of a model year 2025 (MY25) Lyriq before these connected services are introduced will still be able to access them later this year, courtesy of a complimentary upgrade at a Cadillac Service location.
Connected Infotainment is Cadillac-speak for the presence of Google built-in, featuring embedded Google apps such as Google Maps and Google Assistant, with more available to download via the Google Play Store.
This also features smart routing, with Google Maps suggesting charging stops along your route.
Cadillac says it will continue to offer wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in the Lyriq. It’s unclear if this smartphone mirroring technology will be offered in the Optiq and Vistiq locally; it’s not in their home market.
Outside the car, you’ll be able to use a smartphone app to remotely check the vehicle’s status including its location and charge level, and control the locks, alarm, lights, windows and air-conditioning.
“In today’s highly connected world, customers expect to be able to access everything they need from their smartphones, and the Cadillac Mobile App means that they will now be able to communicate with their vehicles and check on them, which opens up a whole new world of convenience and amenity,” said General Motors Australia and New Zealand managing director Jess Bala.
Previously only the domain of brands like Tesla in Australia, there has been a surge in recent years of automakers offering this kind of app connectivity – belatedly in the case of many brands that had offered it in markets like the US for many years already.
This includes major mass-market brands such as Toyota and Hyundai.
Cadillac says it’s “constantly evaluating new technology for its vehicles, software and mobile app”.
One key piece of technology it offers in North America but not here is Super Cruise, which allows hands-free driving across over a million kilometres of roads on the continent.
GM has said Australian legislation doesn’t support the feature’s use locally, and the cost to map a country is in the millions of dollars.
MORE: What it’ll take for GM’s clever hands-free driving system to come to Australia