Cadillac Offers Free Nav Systems

Cadillac will give buyers of any ’07 model a free screen-based navigation system.

The deal continues until Jan. 2 and is available for anyone purchasing or leasing any Cadillac, including its performance-based V-series models.

It also extends to the CTS, which Cadillac is redesigning for the ’08 model year. The entry-level model likely will makes its premiere at the Detroit auto show in January.

A Cadillac spokesman says the brand reconfigured and re-priced some of the options packages on its ’07 vehicles. Navigation systems cost about $2,000 but typically are bundled with other audio or interior features.

“It’s a way to get a richer mix and get more consumers aware of more of the technology and up-level content in the vehicles,” the Cadillac spokesman says of the special offer. “We benefit when we make things simple.”

All '07s get free navigation system.

The spokesman says the deal is not related to high inventory levels. He does not expect Cadillac will make navigation systems standard after the offer expires, but acknowledges that appears to be the directional trend with premium-level vehicles.

Cadillac U.S. car sales are down 9.7% through September vs. year ago. Sales of Cadillac’s light trucks, which include the Escalade SUV and the cross/utility SRX, are down 1.5% from year ago.

GM largely has steered clear of broad-based, and typically money-losing, cash incentives, favoring more targeted vehicle or brand incentives to move products.

[email protected]