Cadillac Europe (formerly General Motors Switzerland S.A.)They Built Buicks In Switzerland?
by Ronan Glon on Motor1.com, 15 Aug 2017General Motors Suisse SA
on Bloomberg is the Swiss

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of US-based company

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

that imports and commercialises

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

vehicles for 25 countries across Europe. In the past, it was also active as a manufacturer, producing

Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

, La Salle,

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

, and

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

vehicles in its

Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German: ''Biel'' ; French: ''Bienne'' ; locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the country's tenth-largest city by population. Th ...

factory. As of 2025, the only three models imported by Cadillac Europe are the

Cadillac Lyriq The Cadillac Lyriq is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by the Cadillac division of General Motors. As Cadillac's first fully electric vehicle, and the first GM production vehicle using the BEV3 platfo ...

, Cadillac Vistiq and the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

History

was looking for a suitable location for an assembly plant in Switzerland in the 1930s.Christoph Zürcher
General Motors (GM)
Auf:

Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse; DHS) is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. It aims to present the history of Switzerland in the form of an encyclopaedia, published both on paper a ...

. 15 August 2016. (retrieved 26 October 2019) Guido Müller, the then city president of

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, offered a finished factory and tax exemption for five years. On 2 May 1935, "General Motors Suisse" was founded in Biel/Bienne. The

company register A company register is a register of business organizations such as companies in the jurisdiction they operate under. Registration is normally mandated by the government of that jurisdiction. A company register serves a purpose of protection, acco ...

derogates from 1 May 1935.Marcel Motzet: ''Montage Suisse Automobile. Katalog zur Sonderausstellung 75 Jahre General Motors Suisse SA.'' Swiss Car Register, Sektion Montage Suisse, 2009
PDF
/ref> The first vehicle was produced on 5 February 1936. Until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, about 2,000 vehicles were produced each year. Gm suisse interior c1937

After the end of the war, production continued and expanded. At the end of the 1950s, annual capacity was 14,500 cars. In the mid-1960s, more than 1,000 people were employed. In 1970, 17,102 vehicles were created. In addition, imported vehicles were sold. At that time, problems started. Switzerland belonged to the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. ...

, not to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. A

Free Trade Agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...

of 22 July 1972 between the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

and Switzerland was in force from 1 January 1973. The plan was to assemble

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

cars such as the

Opel Diplomat The Opel Diplomat is a luxury car manufactured by Opel from 1964 to 1977. Opel's top-ranging models were traditionally the Opel Admiral, Admiral and Opel Kapitän, Kapitän, introduced in 1938 and 1937 respectively. In 1964 these models were joi ...

. The following oil crisis from 16 October 1973 caused the sales of such vehicles to fall rapidly, after which cheaper models were assembled again. The last vehicle, an

, was produced on August 14, 1975.Marcel Motzet
Historie der General Motors Suisse in einem Clubmagazin
(PDF; retrieved 26 October 2019) A total of 329,864 vehicles were manufactured. The company was then limited to

import An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

s and distribution. In 1994, it was renamed "Opel Suisse SA", later "Opel Svizzera SA" and "Opel Schweiz AG".Übersicht des Swiss Car Register
(retrieved 26 October 2019) On 17 November 2003, the old company name was accepted again.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 31 December 2003
(PDF; retrieved 26 October 2019) Alternative or translated names were "General Motors Schweiz AG", "General Motors Svizzera SA" and "General Motors Switzerland Ltd." On 13 April 2004, there was a merger agreement with

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () was a automotive industry, car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. ...

Schweiz AG, which was acquired.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 26 April 2004
(retrieved 26 October 2019) Saab belonged to General Motors at the time. On 14 April 2004, the head office was relocated to

Opfikon Opfikon (; in the local Swiss German dialect: )Andres Kristol/Gabrielle Schmid, ''Opfikon ZH (Bülach)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni sviz ...

.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 19 May 2004
(retrieved 26 October 2019) On 24 May 2012, there was another merger agreement, this time with

General Motors Europe General Motors Europe (often abbreviated to GM Europe) was the European subsidiary of the American automaker General Motors (GM). The subsidiary was established by GM in 1986 and operated 14 production and assembly facilities in 9 countries, an ...

AG.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 20 June 2012
(retrieved 26 October 2019) On 6 March 2017, Opel was sold by General Motors to the

Groupe PSA Peugeot S.A., trading as Groupe PSA () (formerly PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles and motorcycles under the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhal ...

. The next merger agreement followed on 30 June 2017. As a result of this, General Motors Suisse changed its name to

Europe GmbH in the legal form of limited liability. An alternative or translated company name was ''Cadillac Europe LLC''.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 12 July 2017
(retrieved 26 October 2019) On 16 February 2018, the headquarters was moved to

Glattpark Glattpark is a large construction project in Switzerland that took shape in Opfikon, close to the border to Zürich. As part of the construction project a new neighbourhood was built by 2020; it is designed to provide room for 7,000 residents and ...

.Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 6 March 2018
(retrieved 26 October 2019) The obvious spelling mistake in ''Cadillac Europe LLC'' was later officially changed to "Cadillac Europe LLC".Änderung im Handelsregister, Mitteilung 8 March 2018
(retrieved 26 October 2019)

Brands

Gallery

Some models produced by GM Suisse: Buick Eight Special 1936 (General Motors Suisse).JPG, 1936 Buick Eight Special Chevrolet Styleline 1951 (General Motors Suisse).JPG, 1951 Chevrolet Styleline Pontiac Chieftain 1951 (General Motors Suisse).JPG, 1951 Pontiac Chieftain Chevrolet Bel Air 1959 (General Motors Suisse).JPG, 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air Swiss made 1960 Vauxhall Victor Super August-2020.jpg, 1960 Vauxhall Victor Opel Ascona 1700 1968 (General Motors Suisse).jpg, 1968 Opel Kadett

References

External links

*
Chevrolet Europe
(operated by Cadillac Europe) {{Automotive industry in Switzerland Automotive companies of Switzerland General Motors subsidiaries Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1935 Cadillac Swiss companies established in 1935 Companies based in the canton of Zürich