Cadillac brand chief Bob Ferguson seems to have retracted any sort of claws he may have when it comes to Ford Motor Company’s Lincoln brand.
“I root for the folks at Lincoln,” Ferguson said to AutoGuide, who has more experience at being a lobbyist  than running an automotive luxury brand. At any rate, Ferguson looks at the bigger picture with regards to the auto industry. His words don’t exactly echo GM design chief Ed Welburn, who at one point noted that Lincoln isn’t a global luxury brand, and doesn’t view it as much as a competitor to Cadillac.
“Not at all,” Ferguson said with regards to whether or not he dismisses Lincoln as a competitor. “I’m not dismissive.”
He merely thinks that both auto brands within their companies help the overall American auto industry originating from Detroit to combat other auto brands coming from their foreign competitors.
“The better we do as American luxury makers, the more credibility it adds to our offering,” Ferguson said.
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He’s saying that if one is doing well, the others will ride their coat tail. It is like saying Japanese cars are of better quality than American cars. Japanese manufacturers have ridden the coat tail of Toyoda for that last 45 years, though most of them have worse quality than GM and Ford.
I respect Mr. Ferguson’s comment towards the Lincoln brand. Looking at the big picture of what the American automotive industry has and is trying to accomplish is far more important than trying to jab at who they feel they’re superior to. Both brands are indeed competitors but, inadvertently, compliment each other, as both have taken different paths to their approach of offering luxury cars to the American people.
Wrong!
This is where people let your emotions get in the way of doing your job! Your suppose to destroy your competition! Not promote them!
The claws he showed first are the ones that we need to see out of our people!
In my opinion, there are only 2 American luxury automakers:
Cadillac and Tesla.
Competition breeds better cars and it is to GMs advantage to have a viable Lincoln.
This is not war it is business where they feed into each other better than if there is no one there.
Let’s put it this way if you want a new better Camaro you have a better chance for the business case to be approved if there is a Mustang at Ford.
One has to be smart here as you have to have a real understanding of how the industry works.
While Cadillac may be competing with the Germans they would still get more of what they want in money and models if Lincoln shows any growth.
There is this thing called self motivated! Which means you do the best you can regardless who’s watching!
So if you are one of those types of people then you should not have to have a competitor cuz you judge yourself against yourself not others!
People need to stop worrying about what other people/companies are doing and pay more attention to yourself and focusing all your energy on what your doing!
Brian if there is no hot there is no cold. No smart without ignorant.
The reality is in business most all companies work to be better than the others but with no others they tend to fall back on good enough. GM today is a great example of competition making them better. It forces a company to better balance quality vs. profits. With out that you get a Yugo or Geeley.
Business is about balance and not all in.
If GM wants to compete with Lincoln, they must produce more advanced “plug-in” hybrids than Lincoln’s MKZ. The Cadillac ELR is the first step. The next Cadillacs should have more EREV technology in its lineup.
There is always a fine to balance, with competition and cooperation. Some parts benefit with multi corporation… Transmission, Ford/GM. Hydrogen, Honda/GM… etc.
Cooperation can save boo koo bucks on development, and cost per part.
There are always avenues for competition, but right now… Cooperation between American auto manufacturers will save all three, or more, expanded room for profit… and profit is the name of the game.
Thank you Scott, it’s good to see some common sense here. Competition when legitimate does breed a better you. Therefore it is good to want Lincoln to step it up and do better in our market, that way Cadillac strives to be even better yet.
Wrong!
If the German’s acted your way, they would not be viewed as the finest automotive engineers. America must be regarded for quality across the board in order to restore the auto industry’s reputation for both the value and luxury segments.
It’s called good sportsmanship. If football teams acted this way, it would be bad for the league. Imagine the Giants asking fans TJ boycott the Superbowl because they were not in out?
What’s good for Lincoln is also good for Cadillac and Buick.
Making excuses for your competitors is just wrong! The main problem is that people don’t view the other side as enemies!
Here’s a little dose of reality they are enemies and should be handled in that matter!
People act like this is something other then war, but this is just what it is! Destroying the competition should be the top priority!
If you build cars and trucks that are leaps and bounds better then the one it replaces then you will find your way to the top!
Remember you competition should be trying to figure you out not the other way around!
You people are to god dam nice!
Grow some stones!
Stop Brian as you have already proven you do not understand how the industry really work.
There is a lot more to this than you present.
Then the industry needs to change!
No, you need to change. You’re the extremist of the “GM-religion”, and are very disconnected from realities of the industry.
Brian, Do you not understand that a strong Lincoln and Tesla help Cadillac’s image and brand profile?
The world, including many Americans, do not see Detroit as capable of building true luxury. Cadillac suffers greatly from this perception gap, and sales suffer as a result.
This is why VW can build a lemon of a car yet still sell it at a premium.
Seems to me that you have no love for your brand but, instead, just hate for the rest.
I really see Buick as the more similar GM brand to Lincoln. They both simply are upgraded FWD cars from their respective mass market brands.
You hit the mail on the metaphoric head. Brian sees GM as religion in the same way that some sports fans obsess over a team.
Reminds me of when Brian branded me a “trader” for my respecting recent Mazda and Kia designs. He doesn’t understand that the entire industry is interconnected, not does he know how to be a good sport.
I would include Buick. They are slowly becoming the poor man’s Audi with cars like Cascada (coming soon) and Regal GT.
My point a long was that you don’t need to have great competitors If you are on top of your game! You also don’t need other car companies to make yours look better if people would just get off of their assets and go drive these cars instead of just reading or listening to other people tell you what car is better!
The Big 3 fell behind for so long, did significant damage to their brands, that getting buyers to even consider much less test drive is a challenge. Reuss just recently spoke on this regarding market share.
As a result, I see the futures of Ford and GM as highly interconnected in that these turn around are prompting people to take US cars seriously once again.
Most people aren’t into cars. They want a Pepe mover to get from point A to B and on weekends point C. This means they aren’t going to test drive every make and will instead rely on reviews, word of mouth and whatever car is socially correct so to keep up with the neighbors.
Example: Pontiac G8 was better than any Lexus but lacked the social capital, it just wasn’t “in”, so few shoppers would even bother with a test drive. This need for a brand to be “in” is why Lincoln’s success matters to GM.
So you are referring to these people as lazy
No, he’s referring to those people as being discriminating in their choice; people choosing cars as expressions of their status or wealth or ambitions. A Lexus can do that easily; a Pontiac cannot. A more contemporary example would be the C7 and long list of cars it can outgun, but not outclass.
stephen marcus used the phrase “social capital”, and I recommend you look it up, mr. ritter.
By the way, because I hope you’re not going to jump to conclusions, ‘discriminating’ and ‘discrimination’ mean two completely different things and are not interrelated.
No Brian– Cadillac, Buick & Lincoln are still seen as overpriced, unreliable and an uncool favorite of the senior citizen set. Because of this, GM (and Ford) have to fight harder than the import competition to woo test drivers and buyers.
Perception, brand image, identification are key to selling cars. No one could be considered lazy for not test driving a vehicle that they would never dream of buying.
As an example, Forbes did an article on Buick and interviewed a young man who really liked Regal; however, he resisted buying because the brand just isn’t sexy. He didn’t want to tell women “I drive a Buick”–he was single and wanted a car with status to work like a “chick magnet”.
The problem is Detroit autos lack status. People are like sheep when it comes to purchasing, whether we like it or not, and some in the auto industry actually hold Sloan responsible for this with his ladder to Heaven (Cadillac).
Grawdaddy explains this better than me, Brian. We aren’t picking on you, man, but just trying to explain the industry as to why the fates of all the Detroit brands are linked.
Lincoln is killing it when it comes to interiors for sure and the new Navigator is fantastic all around really. But, they still have nothing that comes close to a performance vehicle which is a bummer. Then again, cadillac has spent tons of money making the CTSV and ATSV happen and then no one bought them. I would still love to see a Lincoln version of the Mustang.