No one can stop talking about Cadillac and Johan de Nysschen. The decisions he’s made since he hopped on board with the company have landed it surprising amount of exposure, which is testament to his leadership abilities, if anything. Automobile recently shared their thoughts on his new naming convention, Cadillac’s hip New York office and his big claims for the CT6, adding to the minor press frenzy.
Automobile’s op-ed focuses on Johan’s Facebook rant in regards to the backlash he received over the brand’s new alphanumeric naming scheme and decision to separate itself from General Motors. They’re not convinced moving Cadillac to New York will do much good for it, using Ford’s relocation Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover, Lincoln and others to Southern California as evidence. The truth is that no one can be sure it will result in positive change, but so far it’s gotten it quite a bit of attention it otherwise would have missed out on.
A lot of people also have problems with Cadillac’s new CT/XT naming convention, which Automobile says is “dull.” It’s certainly not exciting, but de Nysschen’s already said it was necessary in order to accommodate more models and remove as much confusion as possible. You can’t forget the brand is trying to expand into Europe eventually, either.
No matter what you think of Johan’s decisions for Cadillac, there’s no denying he’s given the brand some additional exposure and helped put it on some consumer’s minds. He’s going to be around for a while longer, too, so the changes have only begun.
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While the exposure is needed, it’s mostly garnering negative reactions thus far. In lieu of all these decisions to try and better the Cadillac brand, there’s quite a bit of uncertainty and skepticism regarding what’s to be done, primarily in the short run, to attract newer buyers and improve sales. You’ve got the higher pricing scaring off traditional customers, not yet enough brand cache and prestige to garner some of its competitors’ customers, a new nomenclature that the vast majority is rejecting, and what seems to be an unnecessary move to NYC.
I believe Mr. de Nysschen has a pretty solid vision for the brand, although his approach towards achieving that goal seems rather questionable in some regards…….
No game is won in the first quarter.
Johann has had to make some major changes and has been given the support that Cadillac has needed for decades to do the right things and not cheap out.
So many want to make a fuss over the name issue. Well Cadillac in their prime sold cars with numbers not names. It is the product that makes the name not the name making the product. This has been part of the problem as Cadillac slapped names like Eldorado on cars in the 80’s that were no where close to the original concept of the name.
For Cadillac to move forward they have to leave some things in the past. A lot of damage has been done and to repair their image it will take a whole new approach to things.
While some here long for the days of the 90’s Fleetwood I and the general public no longer have use of product like that in todays market. Those product were ok but still fell short of what they needed. Taking a Caprice and making a Cadillac of it is no way to build a legend or image. You can get away with a Cadillac build and then made into a lower content Chevy but not the other way around. Technology and quality must trickle down not up.
I expect better of Cadillac. My impressions of their present product is much better than in the past but now with the full GM commitment I have higher expectations. While some of you are willing to settle for the 90’s image I will not settle for anything less than a Segment leading 2020 image.
If you look at BMW, Benz and Audi all have had highs and lows and all have gotten their footing. If they can do it then GM can do it but it takes leadership that knows what to do and investment. At this point we have both. Now it just will take time to get the work done.
I think in time we will learn the move to NYC was to remove Cadillac more from GM influence and they would rely more on their own. In Detroit the bad culture people who are still around would be looking over Johann’s shoulder as they have been looking over Marks.
In NYC they are hundreds of miles away and can not try to influence any of the new Cadillac work as has been going of even on the XT6 with Mark. There was a good argument over the quality of the door handles while it was in development. Mark wanted better and the bad culture leaders said they wanted cheaper. This should not have even been a argument. What is the first thing a person touches when they get in a car? You send a bad signal there and you are fighting an up hill battle from the start.
As for Automobile Magazine. You may want to note they moved from Detroit recently to LA and the offices of Motor Trend. Why? Well because the magazine was not up to the level it was expected to be. The Publisher fired nearly all the staff and you may note they have a lot of new names running the magazine. Being Detroit/Ann Arbor did little to help them.
Those who can build damn good cars,,,,,,, those who can’t write about them.
Isn’t this a solid argument that Chevy, GMC, GM and Buick also need to not be in Detroit? That’s kind of the message GM is sending to me and Cadillac specifically What’s really the purpose of having 3 of the 4 in Detroit if the “bad culture” you’re identifying exists. Why would I consider purchasing any vehicle whether conceived(not designed, built, or really anything of substance provided) by the NY team which has severe limitations OR from the Detroit culture crew which offers nothing?
As someone in their mid 30s shopping for their next vehicle the naming convention means absolutely nothing to me. And really the move to NY of certain positions doesn’t matter much either. But The Dutch Terrier’s arrogant attitude? I would rather die than drive a Cadillac now. So Audi/Lincoln/Lexus now are the main considerations for me. And while I’d rather die than drive one the chances are better of their current consumer dying than living to buy another Caddy based upon the demo. Essentially Caddy has become the slightly nicer overpriced Buick.
I’m out – best wishes in NY – as a NY worker who lives in Detroit – there’s nothing the NY advertising agencies are doing that is going to change Caddy’s fortunes.