General Motors Corp. has started licensing its luxury car brand and logo to Kent International Inc., which has created a Cadillac Bicycles unit and is producing a line of mid- to high-end bikes. The bikes cost $500 to $1,900, according to the company.

At least one Toronto-area Cadillac dealer is giving away a Cadillac bike worth $615 to those who buy any traditional four-wheel Cadillac.

Officials with Cadillac said the licensing agreement is part of a strategy to attract younger buyers to its luxury cars.

"The more unexpected brand contacts we can have, the more surprising it is for the consumer and the more chances we have to break through preconceptions of what they think they know about Cadillac now," Doug Schumacker, Cadillac's accessories manager, told the Detroit News.

Kent, a New Jersey-based family-owned bicycle company, has created a Cadillac Bicycles unit to handle the new product line.

"Our target customer is someone not necessarily bicycle-brand conscious, but brand conscious," Ron Lippner, Cadillac Bicycles general manager, said.

General Motors already licenses the Hummer name to Montague Corp., a company that supplies bicycles to the military. The "HUMMER Tactical Mountain Bike" folds for easy carrying in a backpack, according to an announcement released by GM in March, 2003.

http://money.cnn.com/2005...lac_bikes/

Hey, I'd buy one of these. Who wouldnt want a Cadillac bike?


http://www.cadillacbicycles.com
[Edited 7/26/05 14:19pm]