De Nysschen Wants More Autonomy For Cadillac
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In a previous era, General Motors marques operated autonomously, which made GM unique among all the automakers. But times change, and GM had to change with the times, taking advantage of economies of scale under the corporate umbrella. However, Cadillac‘s global head feels it’s time to give Cadillac some autonomy.
“Securing 100 percent mind share and dedication on the needs of the premium business is going to be an important change to the status quo,” Johan de Nysschen told Automotive News. “Cadillac will begin to develop its own identity, its own corporate culture.”
As the architect for Audi’s ascension into parity with its German luxury compatriots, de Nysschen helped create “a vision of a premium brand,” according to Russ Hill, who was head of sales for Audi in North America when de Nysschen arrived in 2004. “He had conviction that Audi was in a position to raise both price and volume. It was an iconoclastic position. But it was the right one, and it worked.”
And just like Audi, Cadillac has emerged as a contender on the world’s stage. In fact, this week Cadillac announced that it will produce a flagship model next year, which is the perfect opportunity to start setting Cadillac apart from the GM umbrella. De Nysschen says he’s “prepared to dedicate 10 or 15 years” to make Cadillac “the pinnacle of aspirational brands, stating, “The playbook is very similar.
De Nysschen, who Cadillac in August, says his first job is having Cadillac develop vehicles to match the top Germans as well as to think like the Germans. One of the hurdles he faces is Cadillac’s dependence to GM’s other brands, which he says isn’t a problem with Audi, BMW, or Mercedes, all of whom have one focus. In order to become a global premium brand, he feels GM must give Cadillac more autonomy, which should also include a unique powertrain lineup. He told Automotive News that Cadillac’s chief engineer, Dave Leone, will be working with the brand’s executive team and will assist “Cadillac-focused” engineers within product development to “plug into the corporate resources.” “That way, you’ve always got people who are wearing the Cadillac hat and setting the agenda,” de Nysschen says.
De Nysschen added that one problem that has prevented Cadillac from acting like a stand-alone company was its lack of scale compared to its global competitors, but globalization − especially with the Chinese market − should “give us the economies of scale.”
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I’ve been Preaching this Like No Other 4 a Long time which some has Ridiculed, don’t understand why, like I said and the Article pointed out, they was Autonomous before the mesh-up and not to long ago, remember the Award winning Northstar & STS not to Long ago (The 90’s), they need to get back to Cadillac being…..Cadillac, but with the Focus and Direction that they have now, but I say change the Mantra from “match the top Germans as well as to think like the Germans” to “Exceed the Top Germans as well as To Think Beyond the Germans”!!!!! 🙂 🙂
This is right in line with what I commented recently about Cadillac needing its own facility that only produced Cadillacs. Cadillac will do much better as a stand alone brand from GM. They started to do this a few years back when all GM labels were removed from Cadillac vehicles, but it ended there. Now with de Nysschen and Cadillac moving to New York I hope they pursue this separation.
But AUDI uses the same TDI’s as other VW brands, GM needs to develop a diesel engine for all its brands.
Yeah, I was waiting for someone else to mention how much VW and Audi share.
GM relies on Cadillac powertrains and platforms to trickle down for Corvette, Camaro and, hopefully, future Buick product.
Owning Cadillac allows GM to gift it’s other divisions with product that other wise would be financially impossible.
While I certainly support the idea of divisions over brands, I do think that Buick, Opel and Chevy must confine to benefit from Caddy expertise.
That’s the issue with Cadillac and GM: most of Cadillac’s current powertrain technology debuts within the Chevrolet and Buick brands. There’s been little to no powertrain development with Cadillac, and thus they have nothing to bestow upon the Chevy and Buick brands that’ll help generate appeal. It’d be better if Cadillac’s tech would trickle down to other brands, not the other way around.
“Cadillac will begin to develop its own identity, its own corporate culture. ” This is precisely where Cadillac needs to be going. This will create a stigma that Cadillacs are exclusive, they engineer the best GM has to offer, and the brand itself, after having developed the necessary brand cache and consumer confidence, can cast a whole new light on GM. Look at the Lexus brand. Much of its success can be attributed to the world-renowned quality of Toyota. VW and Audi are also wonderful examples of product development. Cadillac should bring the same level of confidence to itself and the GM brand as a whole. If there’s to be powertrain sharing, let only topnotch vehicles within the Chevy and Buick brands benefit from it. I.e,. The Corvette lineup and potentially a high profile Buick model, such as a flagship sedan or a revived GNX.
I am all in favor of them doing more of their own thing with the products. But with that said I also temper reality of cost with what would be efficient but the most effective.
Now yes you can do a separate plant for billions of dollars and their own engine for Billions of dollars. These would give us a great car and line but it would also bankrupt the brand in no time as you already complain about the prices they are now wanting to charge. These ideas while noble would only add to the cost.
Now it is a given that Cadillac needs to share platforms. Not only because of themselves controlling cost but Chevy needs to share too if they are to keep the Camaro and SS RWD programs viable.
The same can be said for the engine programs as Cadillac just can not afford to do it all themselves.
But here is the winning move. Take these shared basic platforms and engines and make them their own. Do not use the same engine in the ZL1 and CTS V. Sure you can supercharge them but give them different tunes and different Trim and dress. Offer things not available to the Chevy. Same on the Alpha platform. Keep it where Cadillac gets all the new stuff first and then pass it down as you replace it.
Let Cadillac make their own choices on product and changes internally and leave them out of the GM system.
VW is a good case on how to do this as they finally have it sorted out as best as you can in this day and era. VW, Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini all work separate but they still share many things. The engines and platform in an Audi 8 is bases on Lambo but they do their own things to it. VW and Audi have shared platforms and made their own thing for each brand.
While I would love to make Cadillac totally autonomous it is just so hard to do today in this era of high development cost.
I think the best thing for them is let them make their own decisions and leave corporate GM as more as a partner than a overseeing director.
This is one of these deals you want to think with your heart but you still have to keep your head in the game. You have to see just how independent you can make them but still keep them financially in the game. They should get to make their own call on products and technology. GM should work with them not over them.
To be honest the Corvette team is pretty much run this way now and we are seeing the results. If you trust the staff at Cadillac let them make the calls and help them succeed. If you empower them they will surprise you.
In the end it is the product and what you bring to the table more than where you build them or how you build them. I would like to think Chevys are getting the same quality controls that Cadillac would have. The goal is zero defects no matter the brand is it not?
Now I would also like to see Cadillac add a color section where you can custom fit your LTS to special paint and interior at an added cost. Get into the more custom one off deals like Ferrari offers as well as Bentley and others. This is not a strain on the company as if you want it you can get it if you pay for it. A smaller shop would do this work or even a custom shop like in the days of old and that would retain cost. It would be kind of like how Chevy did the Callaway.
The bottom line here is before you respond you must consider all the factor involved and yes that includes the money side of this. Cost are off the chart today and will only get worse. So they must take the liberties but be mindful is there going to be a worth while return for the actions taken. A image is built on careful planning not just doing it.