The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq is well on its way to the Chinese market. Pre-production of the EV began earlier this month, indicating that the all-new battery electric crossover is nearing the start of regular production before making its way to dealers. Now, Cadillac has announced the name of the Lyriq for the local Chinese market.
The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will be known as Ruige, written as “锐歌” in Mandarin. For the sake of translation, “Ruige” can be broken down into two parts: “Rui,” which means “pioneering or cutting-edge,” and “ge” translates to “song.” As with the Lyriq nameplate, Ruige was inspired by Cadillac’s deep connection with music, as it is the automaker most often named in song lyrics. As such, the battery electric crossover will be referred to as the Cadillac Lyriq 锐歌 in China.
This marks the first time that the luxury marque has given a market-specific name to a vehicle offered in the Asian country since it began selling vehicles there back in 2004. Until the Lyriq 锐歌, Cadillac models were referred to by their Latin-character nameplates.
Alongside the announcement of the Lyriq’s local name, Cadillac also pulled the veil off of two new trim levels for the battery electric crossover for China – including Luxury RWD, Premium RWD, and the range-topping high-performance Premium AWD.
The rear-wheel-drive variants each feature a single Ultium Drive motor mounted on the rear axle, capable of 342 horsepower (255 kW) and 325 pound-feet of torque while offering up to 312 miles of driving range on a single charge. Meanwhile, the all-wheel-drive variant features two Ultium Drive motors, one on each axle, that combine for a total output of 503 horsepower and 524 pound-feet of torque. This model is capable of traveling 287 miles per charge.
Production of the Cadillac Lyriq for the Chinese market takes place at the Jinqiao Cadillac China plant in Shanghai, China.
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