Actually, we"re talking...

Actually, we"re talking two separate brands here - Cadillac and Corvette - and the aim isn"t to sell big numbers. Discerning clients will be offered prestige, exclusivity and dreams; qualities not consistent with volume products, be they cars or any other type of luxury goods.

Cadillac/Corvette isn"t daft enough to draw a comparison between itself and Ferrari, but it does intend to follow a similar business model. That broadly consists of customers eagerly queuing up for the few, highly desirable cars on offer. One hundred available vehicles (at or near full retail price) for every 101 serious customers is the sort of ratio that the recently appointed Pendragon dealer group would probably be happy with. And I was delighted to hear from the mouth of chief executive Trevor Finn that there will be no special deals for Premiership football players or any other celebs who fancy a new Caddy. Sensibly, freebie and massively discounted cars won"t be handed out, as is the case with some other brands.

You only need to look at the muscular appearance of the latest Cadillac XLR roadster, CTS saloon and SRX crossover SUV to appreciate that the design team has got the styling right. And if the new Corvette C6 is a little less pleasing to the eye (because its styling is much more familiar since it"s very similar to its long-established predecessors), it more than makes up for this. How? By being very well screwed together and exceptionally satisfying to drive.

After several hours behind the wheel of the C6 on unforgiving Spanish mountain roads and a private test track, I was shocked at how well it met my craving for a rapid but safe, scary but not too scary, no-nonsense sports car experience. You"d never believe it unless the point was proven to you with the aid of a tape measure, but the seemingly large, muscular C6 is smaller than a Porsche 911. And while my heart says I"d rather have the German machine than its US rival in my drive, my head (and wallet) tells me it should be the Corvette. After all, at around н‚бЈ40,000, it"s going to be about н‚бЈ18,000 less expensive than the entry-level 911.

A few days ago, I checked out the first of the new UK network of Cadillac/Corvette showrooms, in London"s prestigious Park Lane. It looked and felt more art gallery than car dealership. And the fact that the world"s most famous motor industry executive - GM North America boss Bob Lutz - flew in from Detroit to inspect it shows how seriously the firm is taking this launch. I asked him how good he thinks this latest two-seater is. His instinctive response was to claim it"s the best sports car ever to come out of America, adding it"s more than a match for the 911, too. As ever, he was pushing his luck. But at the same time, he wasn"t far from the truth.