There’s no shortage of armchair critics willing to fling their dissenting opinions at Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen over his recent decision to relocate Cadillac’s headquarters to New York City.
De Nysschen has finally begun firing back, issuing a defense on his own facebook addressed to “all the indignant souls.”
According to de Nysschen, the decision comes down to doing whatever is necessary to distance the marque – both in proximity and ideology – from the corporation that owns it. He wrote: “This has nothing to do with Detroit. And certainly has nothing to do with where I choose to live. It has everything to do with creating an awesome car company. We must develop corporate processes, policies, mindsets, behaviors, attitudes, which are right sized for Cadillac… No distractions. No side shows.”
The defense came in the wake of de Nysschen’s perceived chronic skepticism from the media toward every announcement that Cadillac has made since his taking the helm, as well as letters that the executive claims to have received from Cadillac retirees, calling the move “the dumbest idea since the Cimmaron.”
It’s a strategic maneuver whose merits are up for debate, and until Cadillac has crossed over into the other side of the move, there will be advocates on either side of the fence. But we applaud Mr. De Nysschen and stand with him, insofar as we agree that the products coming out of Cadillac over the past few years deserve branding and marketing as ground-breaking as they are. A relocation of the company headquarters to New York City has at least a strong chance of eliciting that.
The new headquarters in New York City will house a staff of around 50 persons in marketing and sales. The vast majority of jobs at Cadillac will remain in Detroit even after the move. You can read a larger excerpt of the defense at Jalopnik.
Comments
Finally someone with Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell like balls.
I like also what he said about Cadillac going it with their own engines and more models. I stated C6 may not be the largest car as we could see a C7-8 well he said today two larger models are possible and even two sports cars along with two CUV/SUV models
This is just what they needed but I never thought they would get someone to commit to this. It will take time and investment to complete this but it will work.
The NYC move is more about how to do business than image. Detroit is no longer the automotive marketing capital in the world. Nearly all your top marketing is done by and in Companies in NYC.
Haters , is this De Ny’s reaction ? If you don’t love me you hate me ? What kind of reaction is that ? Not a healthy response , to be sure , unless the HATERS caption was the words of the writer of this message , and not De Ny . Regardless , the autonomy of this division is amazing in its ability to expand its vehicle selections . It appears to have a mandate to pursue or manufacture whatever it wants . . If it doesn’t make money , or lose money big time , just redo the product or move on to something else . If you look at the vehicle selection , there are two coupe designs on the market here . Where are the coupe designs for your big volume division , Chevrolet ?? The big volume Cruze or Malibu etc. The markup or profit is lower here but this is what gets the public into the showrooms in the first place !! Once there , the more expense car or crossover , SUV lines are available to be seen , and perhaps attract the buyers . This is merchandising 101, folks , and it is practiced by other vehicle manufacturers or you local grocery supermarket . The Hyundai Elantra is right near the top of car sales in the USA and it offers ,as standard, a lot of features other makers charge extra for . In doing so it must cut into their profit big time , however , once in the showrooms , this clever manufacturer offers an excellent selection of crossovers and SUV types . Needless to say , sales of these products are very popular in a fast growth segment of the marketplace ! Question , what stops Chevy or Buick from expanding their selection to include a coupe design ? Does Cadillac have that much power within the company to prevent this , and if so , WHY ??
Coupes are a tough sale no matter how you spin it. Unless it is named Camaro, Mustang, or M4 coupes are difficult to sell.
Now sedans are kissing sales to CUV and SUV models.
You can complain but if sales are no better we will be lucky to get the ones we have.
Cadillac has great products. I drive one, a Cadiilac ATS 2.0 turbo with 4 wheel drive. I have the car over a year and the roads have given it a beating but it’s still tight as a drum with no squeaks or rattles. I was going to purchase a Bimmer but went for the Caddy because the interior on the Bimmer 3 series was too stark for my taste. That said, Cadillac sales are less than what they should be because Cadillac is not seen as a status symbol in NY where I live but Mercedes and BMW are perceived as status symbols. As the song goes regarding NYC if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Well folks I don’t think there are many songs or people saying that about the city of Detroit. So yes Cadillac must distance itself from Detroit at least for now and sorry haters for Cadillac to truly be a world class marque again change is needed. Maybe one day Detroit will be what Manhattan is today and if that happens heck who knows maybe the Cadillac name will move closer to the Great Lakes. For now a great vehicle needs to be associated with one of the most amazing cities in the world. Simply ask yourself if you owned the company and wanted it to be perceived as a status symbol would you locate that company in Manhattan or Detroit?