We’ve written our fair share of hot takes on former Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen’s departure. But, another voice had something to say about it: Bob Lutz.
Lutz penned a column for Road and Track following de Nysschen’s departure, which paints the entire relationship as something of a “bad marriage” from the beginning.
At first, Lutz wrote, de Nysschen seemed like a saving grace. He was an outsider with a pedigree at Audi and a short stint at Infiniti. He saw the major problems facing Cadillac and instantly worked to cut the fat from subsidized lease programs and rental sales. In the process, Cadillac sales tanked as the brand worked its turnaround.
While new product worked its way from the drawing board to production, Book by Cadillac and lackluster marketing messages attempted to fill a void. Per Lutz, they never truly did. We’d have to agree, especially on the marketing front.
Lutz, who spent years with General Motors, recalled the automaker’s ways: GM has a tradition of not investing in a place where an immediate turnaround isn’t happening. Cadillac needed years to recover from its “bargain” luxury status.
The former GM executive perhaps said it best in his closing.
“Cadillacs are superb. De Nysschen is a brilliant executive and leader. But he ran out of corporate patience, and vice-versa. No one, and everyone, is to blame.”
Comments
The little article by Lutz was pretty good.
I really wonder if GM and Cadillac could have forecasted better and had another CUV in the line up besides the SRX/XT5 (midsize) earlier, if that would have obtained more sales to help keep GM off of Johan’s back to let his plan come to fruition.
Even 10 years ago who would have even thought that Crossovers would be as big of a chunk of the new automobile purchases as they are.
the following is unfortunate…
Ford is eventually phasing out most cars.
Pontiac would be struggling hard right now if they still existed as they usually had a car-heavy line up.
Toyota discontinued it’s Scion division a few years back as the sales kept declining on the compacts.
Honda just announced that the Accord will no longer be available as a coupe, only now as a Sedan.
FCA said why bother with the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 after about 4 model years when they can just use the factory for CUV’s/SUV’s
Mitsubishi Lancer sedan gone. Buick Verano gone.
the list keeps growing.
»FCA said why bother with the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200 after about 4 model years when they can just use the factory for CUV’s/SUV’s« … and produce the cheaper cars in Mexico.
A fact which POTUS Trump also preferred not to notice
Sore loser much?
Everyday I wake up with gleeful joy knowing President Trump is in office because of people like you.
No sir, I am not responsible for the decline of the US Empire. I can’t be made responsible for this person. Remember: Trump himself acknowledged the decline of the US empire in his main election slogan: “Make America [he means the USA] great again“. The important word in there is AGAIN.
Above I mentioned that Trump bragged that FCA is moving production from Mexico to the USA, and that he ignored that FCA was simply exchanging: more profitable cars in the USA, cheaper cars with a lower profit margin to Mexico.
Trump is an ignoramus.
Bob is being kind here. He has a legacy at GM he wants to protect but I think he also feels for JDN as he thinks much the same way.
The real trouble is while JDN got some of what he wanted we also see the XT4 is not really the a GM free product like he wanted.
The problem is GM beat down Cadillac for decades. They made them like a Heroin Addict. They fed them tons of incentives and fleet sales to basically take them to the brink of death. Then they wanted them to clean up and not feel the pain for the past sins,
Cadillac can be saved but it is not going to be fast, cheap or easy. If it is then they are just repeating the past sins again.
I sense there was a much greater power struggle on this and knowing GM it is not surprising.
Bob when he was at GM knew how far to push things as he understood American automakers and how they function or fail to function. But outsiders just get eaten up. These are big machines and they eat us product people fast. Just look at the revolving door go GM executives over the years that were eaten alive. Some deserved it many did not.
GM wants people who color in the lines and some of the best auto executives do not color inside the lines. Just look at what Delorean did with his time at GM. He was successful for many years and stepped on many toes because he broke rules and increased sales where the old school failed. They saddled him with Ed Coles Vega and let them drowned.
The decades of mismanagement of Pontiac was are documented for years and it all leads back to the GM board wanting puppets to do as they please and what they want is not always the best thing for GM products.
I think I am resigned to the fact Cadillac will remain under appreciated for what it could be. GM is willing to settle for just good enough. They will remain an example of GM failing to get it.
I had hopes GM was finally going to give Cadillac a chance but I should have known better.
Save your money and just buy a GMC Denali for less money with the same crap in it. Might even have better resale since the Denali image is what Cadillac needs.
good comment.
Scott its bazaar why GM would want to continue to have Cadillac be some 2nd tier luxury brand like Lincoln or Infinity.
Cadillac definitely has the chops on performance. there is no need to not shoot for top notch premium….GM already has Buick for a 2nd tier “affordable” luxury division.
this is such a short sighted approach by GM.
I am only an armchair CEO but it really seems that they just want to get volume, perhaps outta Cadillac with a decent profit on each vehicle.
It’s understandable a bit as the Automotive landscape has changed and like you mentioned in the past…there is not an Automaker out there anymore that is “Too Big to Fail”.
Rationally it seems overall that the best move for GM is to make Cadillac a top tier Luxury Division.
GM does have Chevrolet that produces great volume in sales that other automakers cannot match. so they need to throw Cadillac a bone.
Scott3 why was Cadillac treated the way it was by GM in the 80s like it was? (as I am in my late 30’s and am not totally in touch with it)
It is like a football team owner, Coach and a quarterback. Even if the coach, and quarterback may know best some owners want to meddle. That is how Cleveland got Johnny Manuel.
GM wants to fix decades of issues at Cadillac and higher profits but they want it now. That is not going to happen.
Case in point it has taken over 20 years to get where it is today. The thing that helped GMC is that they already were turning a good profit. Denali was just frosting on the cake.
Cadillac is making money but GM wants more but they do not want to take the time to grow it properly. this may yet produce increased incentives and the inability to build a proper image.
BMW and Audi took years to get where they are at today. BMW and Audi in the early 70’s was that odd car that the strange neighbor down the street owned that wears a plaid cap and drinks his beer in a stein.
GM in the late 70’s was in a panic. They had decided they had to down size everything, They wanted all cars but the corvette and F body FWD.
They also wanted to cut cost as they were going broke back then as it did not just happen over night. They wanted to share platforms and drive lines. The downs sized FWD full size cars were a failure. They had to fix the Deville as fast as they could as added longer fenders and quarters.
-6
While this was going on they were just coming off the failed Diesel and entered into the 8-6-4 failure.
GM was also cutting back on development work and started having failed transmissions.
Things got better in the 90’s but GM never fully wanted to buy into to doing it right. They gave us better cars but still based on FWD GM corporate models with just some trim and option additions. They would fall back and rebody a Impala into a Fleetwood but that sent a bad signal to the customers who all migrated to the sport sedan styled models that began to hold the better image.
The real decline started in the late 60’s and really got worse in the 70’s and 80’s. The gas crises really got them second guessing and unable to understand you could build a smaller luxury car than they had if you do it right. The American companies just did not get it that bigger was not better and that smaller still needed to be better.
There is more to it than this but space is limited here.
There are a 100-1 reasons people give on the web for the issues but the basic problems have been Cadillac has been mismanaged as a brand. Corporate panic and interference has taken a great brand and just made it another corporate model.
Better marketing and many of the other suggestions are great but the outcome would not have been any better.
GM needs to let Cadillac be Cadillac and not just another GM division. Right now they are like Matthew McConaughey in failure to launch but GM will not let them live on their own.
To be Fair Ford and Chrysler are both guilty of the same thing.
After nearly 40 years of neglect as second-rate maybe it is finally too late to save Cadillac? Buick and GMC with Delani and Avenir already cover the laws of luxury. Gen X and Millennials already gave well formed , poor impressions of Classy.
Morgan Stanley thinks the Crest (without wreath) could be spun off for 20 billion–half that would be impressive, allow GM to focus on Avenir ad maybe buy a brand like Lucid with an eye in the future. 20 Billion could go far to building a deep alliance with either FCA or PSA and the purchasing of valuable stock.
GM will keep Caddy low rent brand.
GM for sure could always use money but $20 Billion is a drop in the bucket to what they could make long term if they restore Cadillac to what they could or should be.
As for what to do with the money it would not be to buy in on FCA or PSA. Fiat will die soon enough in America and the Chrysler brand may be on its way out. Dodge is not on stable ground either. Only Jeep and Ram matter and GM already has a truck. Alfa and the rest are money pits.
PSA? Not much interest there. What have they to offer other than some volume in Europe?
»PSA? Not much interest there. What have they to offer other than some volume in Europe?«
… and Latin America, Africa (Franceafrique), West Asia and Iran.
PSA inherited the old Rootes operation in monarchical Iran by the acquisition of Chrysler Europe, and is resuming control and delivery of parts after the lifting of the US sanctions against their European competitors who were not so resentful about the end of the bloody Shah dictatorship.
All major markets Not! GM is in Latin Amaerca already and Africa is not a major car market.
As for Rootes they were nothing then and investing in Iran is foolish as war is always around the corner and should have the sanctions placed back on as they threaten our allies and us. Not to mention abuse their own people and religious prosecution all while supporting terror.
The blood flows even deeper today than in the past.
In this sense, “major markets” are only China, Europe, and North America.
An emerging “major market” might be India, which has also thousand million inhabitants, but the majority very poor.
The only ones for survival.
Most other markets have fewer cars than a California.
They may show larger percentages of growth but volumes are very low and profits are meager.
Like India most models sold will be low cost small cars with limited profits. Not exactly worth the investment.
It is not the next China. Roads are poor, space is limited and still a large number of poor. Motorcycles still rule.
God I love President Trump…
Just sayin’.
appreciate the reply Scott.
Yeah I found it interesting that GM behind Robert Smith would basically change all car factories over to FWD except for the Camaro/Firebird and Vette.
that seemed like too drastic of a move and also continued to set back Cadillac.
It was so bad that the Camaro was set to go to the GM-80 platform in 1988 as a FWD. It was canceled.
Also the V8 Chevy was expected to die. It got to the point that the Vette team built a Citation with two V6 engines in it. They considered a twin engine Vette as a possibility. It never got past the mule stage.
Pontiac was set to die then too as they were tanking in sales till the Grand Am took off and increase the volume.
Just build the best luxury cars and trucks that run circles around the competition and the rest will take care of itself!
Speaking of trucks…. Was the Escalade EXT just ahead of its time?
YES!
I bet my life savings that if the EXT was around today, it would sell quite well.
What could have saved Johan de Nysschen was if he could have gotten the XT4 and XT6 to production 12-18 months earlier especially as these were evolutionary vehicles and built on existing platforms, Cadillac overall sales volume from the XT4 and XT6 would have made a difference.
The XT4 reeks of the same platform sharing as the XT5. Somehow I suspect the XT4 is not what JDN was wanting but what the GM board demanded. Note he left after it came out.
It may have saved his Job sooner but it still will not good enough save Cadillac. They will have to do better.
Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet are still too close together, in my opinion. Cadillac should continue to move upmarket while Buick shifts into the lower end of the space that Cadillac currently occupies. My aim would be to eventually replicate the 3-tier structure that VW currently operates with:
Bentley = Cadillac
Audi = Buick
Volkswagen = Chevrolet
You may not like it but at the moment I don’t think each brand is being given ample breathing space. There is still too much overlap and that takes time to fix that GM doesn’t seem willing to give.
For reference, this is the kind of thing I want to be able to picture when somebody says Cadillac.
Maybe not quite as far as this but certainly at this end of the luxury spectrum.
Gorgeous showroom in and out. That is the kind of showroom Cadillac should have in just about all of its dealerships.
GM can’t even get their Cadillac dealers to stop selling Cadillac’s as if they were Chevrolets. Just look at all the dealers who can’t even be bothered to present a unified public image for the brand under Project Pinnacle.
The days of old GM are gone forever. The mindset today is a common matrix. Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac with similar models rolling off the same assembly lines. Common engineering, part numbers, and management are the new ingredients that makes GM. Brands are just sales tools. Diversification of vehicle brands can be handled on the final line. JDN thought he could change that by moving his organization to NY but that plan was going against corporate doctrine. And before the other groups try to break away you pull the rope back. Let’s face facts GM business is making money but their business model has flaws. The brands are overlapped with same models with similar pricing. Styling is evolutionary to the brand. Brand exculsivity is limited to Corvette. Until the mindset is changed live with it. Profit per vehicle verses market share. Seems profit per vehicle has pressident over market share. Dealers want profit but want volume also. Cadillac needs exculsivity to be a luxury brand but the dealer needs a price leader sister brand ( like the old LaSalle) to keep the lights on. Unless there is change the fruit will die on the vine.
This strikes me as the problem of trying to shove 10lbs into a 5lb bag. Either JDN was very optimistic or was over-promised by folks upstairs that he would have the budgetary ability to transform Cadillac. No matter who was at fault, it didn’t end well.
Some thoughts/suggestions for the successor:
– GM has fine engines. Why invest in new exclusive engines and mechanicals? Why spend huge dollars fixing the least broken aspect of the Cadillac brand! The exclusive twin-turbo V6 was not the greatest success. Good luck with the V8.
– GM has gone from once-bad to relatively average interiors. Invest in better materials for your flagship brand. This is huge. Customers should know they are driving something special, not relying solely on badging
– Invest in better electronics and infotainment. CUE was a nightmare. Maybe it’s better now, but who knows if it got the same attention as building an exclusive engine
– Invest in making the cars/SUVs ride and drive like a flagship brand — whether the purpose is sport or luxury for each specific submodel – do both well!
– Maintain a value positioning relative to the Euro competitors until you have significant market share
Cadillac needed some product adjustments. It didn’t need to be re-imagined.
When has Cadillac ever had a great reputation ? Back in the fifties it was an older mans trophy and it never changed right thru the nineties . GM management never thought otherwise .Yet somehow , come 2000 to now ,management thought everyone that could afford it , wanted one . Caddie never built a car winner and was outsold by imports in it’s own country , no less . Delusional thinking gets you absurd results .
Jim Wilson, have you ever heard the expression “The Cadillac of X”, with X being almost any product or service, with Cadillac being the pinnacle? That’s because Cadillac had such a great reputation. Even in the recent ACA (Obamacare) health bill, people talked about a “Cadillac tax” on high-priced, all-inclusive, best-of healthcare plans. I don’t know where you’ve been, maybe outside the US and Canada? I guess you missed all those songs referencing Cadillac as well.
In terms of luxury market domination, while Cadillac did very well pre-WWII, it was after WWII that Cadillac truly ruled US home luxury market. All the way through 1998, that’s just 20 years ago. So if you want to go by market share, rather than perceived reputation, your proof is in those numbers.
You can deride the age of Cadillac ruling the US luxury market as “an old man’s trophy”, but in fact it was anyone’s trophy – if they could afford it. It’s true that a lot of people were older when they could finally afford a Cadillac, but that didn’t stop affluent people of other ages from owning them. But yes, Cadillacs were considered to be the cars of people who had “made it”, rather than those who were still hustling for the bucks. Same could be said for Packard, Rolls Royce, Duesenberg, etc. Ride 1st class on an airline today, and you’ll find an older demographic than in economy class. That doesn’t mean that the people in economy class wouldn’t trade their seat for 1st class, if they didn’t have to pay for the upgrade.
A post like yours is really laughable, and makes me wonder why you would even seek out a Cadillac forum like this for posting your antagonistic comment. The history of Cadillac is available if you choose to search for it. Or you could just ignore reality and make bone-head comments such as “When did Cadillac ever have a great reputation?”. If you are over 12 years old and remotely interested in cars, you should already know the answer to this.
@Drew:
You write that “Cadillac HAD such a great reputation”, the emphasis on the “had” is added by me.
So you admit that this reputation is a thing of the past.
This parallels the decline of the US empire (of which the outstanding symptom is the election of Trump as POTUS), as the demise of the British automobile industry was a consequence of the demise of the British Empire.
Nothing lasts for ever, and everything is changing all times.
The only constant element is permanent change.
Actually, the decline of the British auto industry was more to do with the implementation of socialism after WWII. Nationalising our auto industry meant regular strikes, poor quality and increasing wage costs (not to mention a top income tax rate of 83% that meant our best minds fled the country for our former colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.)
Over 25 years British Leyland became unmanageable and by the end of the 1970s when socialism had nearly bankrupted our country, Margaret Thatcher came in and, with an aim to paying our debts, sold off our nationalised industries to private buyers with Ford, BMW and VW buying up most of our auto industry.
The end of the Empire is related but it was not the direct cause of our auto industry’s decline.
Ob7, I was responding to Jim Wilson in the language he used. He wrote “When has Cadillac ever HAD a great reputation?”. I was not commenting on Cadillac today, regarding something that may or may not have been lost.
Now if you want to ask whether Cadillac has a great reputation today, that’s an entirely different question, one that Jim Wilson was not asking. I would say that Cadillac still has the strongest reputation of any car manufacturer outside of Germany and Japan, so that’s something. Is Cadillac still known as the innovator and leader in both styling and function, with exclusively roomy, luxury, comfortable riding, reliable, and refined cars as in the past? No, it has walked away from many of those qualities in pursuit of German track-performance. But in that area of track performance, it has met the goals it set for itself. And there’s nothing stopping Cadillac from returning to their former #1 position in US luxury sales, with the right leadership,
You can get sidetracked into a ludicrous comparison with “empires” and political statements, but this isn’t the place for such a discussion. The USA is not an empire, it’s a republic. Trump was elected because Americans were tired of seeing their country turned into a 3rd world socialist dictatorship, so I don’t see how that parallels anything, other than perhaps the election of Margaret Thatcher of the UK, or the more recent Brexit.
As far as the USA itself, there is no country of more than 10 million people that has a GDP per capita higher than the USA. The countries smaller than 10 million with high GDP/capita (such a Switzerland, Liechtenstein, etc.) rely on being banking and tax-evasion centers for other countries, rather than having a scalable model which coutd be supported in a large country. Also, very few countries have the low unemployment numbers of the USA, and no country has a military nearly as strong. In other words, the USA is still the most successful country in the world that is not someone else’s banker or tax-dodge. And if Trump makes it even better, then that’s fine too.
BTW “The only constant element is permanent change” may sound like great wisdom to a first-semester liberal arts major. But it’s bubblegum philosophy of no use to anyone who hopes to achieve something in their life. Next you’ll be telling us that “empires are built on sand” and they’ll “ultimately turn back to sand”. How “deep” you are “Observer”.
Does Cadillac have a great reputation right now? Yes they do if you look at certain models. Cadillac’s trucks are top notch, performance cars are the best! The problem is that nobody wants to discuss what they do well only what they struggle with.
So when a competitor has better interior but is not as good at handling. That’s all the writers will focus on ( the strong points of the competition ).
When Cadillac has a better design of a certain part of a car they always try to find a way to keep that hinden and search with a magnifying glass to find faults!
If this was Lexus they would not search as hard and would love all that they do. So Cadillac is in a no win situation. What ever they put out people will always find a reason to think it’s a failure!
Brian, I agree with you on this. Cadillac has succeeded in achieving the design and engineering goals they’ve targeted in recent years, up until the XT4 anyway. Cadillac’s exterior designs, prior to the XT4, were arguably the best in the business. Their track-performance times were also the best. The latter of those goals is not what I wish they would have focused on, but they did and they reached it. This just didn’t translate into the sales and profits they assumed would follow.
Cadillac – in my opinion – lost sight of some of the features that them great, that made them number one in US luxury sales, and highly profitable for GM. They still have a huge success in the Escalade, and a highly regarded brand name. They still have great designs for the most part. And to the extent that “track performance” matters in sedans, they’ve got that too.
Now if Cadillac can get back to genuine luxury interiors (instead of cheap black plastic, vinyl seats, and exposed cupholders), eliminate the “budget” trims (even if they call them “luxury” vs. “premium luxury”, bring back the plus “Cadillac ride”, make sure that there’s plenty of legroom for driver and all passengers, make sure that the engine and gear shifting are refined and reliable, and be a leader not a follower trying to copy every German “segment”, specification, look, and feature – then they’ll be back to being Cadillac.
What they shouldn’t do – which Johan tried to do – is to copy the Germans in every way. Cadillac needs to be Cadillac, period. If the Germans push them to make even better interiors, then that’s great, but in no way should they be settling for making cheaper-for-the-money copies. People who want German cars want the real deal anyway. If Cadillac’s leader doesn’t know what Cadillac means (as Johan didn’t) then he/she shouldn’t be leading Cadillac. Luckily there’s plenty of room in the luxury market for something other than German wannabes. Cadillac just needs to stay true to itself, respect its own history, and have the right goals. They’ve already shown that they can reach the goals they set. This is definitely not Rome as of September 3, 476.
From Lutz’s write-up:
“Expensive advertising campaigns showing emaciated, scraggly-bearded, tight-jacketed metrosexuals posed in rain-drenched back alleys, urging the viewer to Dare Greatly—at what?—flopped miserably. Moving the brand headquarters to New York City, always a bit of a mystery to me, was of little reputational value, but served to distance the Cadillac marketing people from GM’s powerful Detroit-based planning and product development groups.”
Also:
“GM’s powerful Detroit-based planning and product development organization never really relinquished their tight grip on design and portfolio decisions. Perhaps they trusted their experience, data and instincts more than they trusted a bunch of effete East Coast marketing genii. Outgunned by the bulletproof reputations of the Germans, the onslaught of competitor crossovers, the relative failure of the new Cadillac sedans, the lack of traction of marketing initiatives and the steadily-sinking profitability of the brand, circumstances conspired to lead everyone concerned to one conclusion—let’s end it. ”
It seems pretty obvious that Lutz was glad to see JdN go. Frankly Lutz was a lot more kind to Johan than I would have been, but maybe Lutz thinks its unseemly for a former CEO to come down too hard on a former brand president.
Lutz does mention that JdN was never going to get “pure Cadillacs” that he sought, but he doesn’t directly point out that JdN clearly didn’t understand the economics of the auto industry in seeking this. The whole point of a mainstream auto-maker having a premium brand is to be able to share parts, platforms, and technology.
On top of that, JdN didn’t even understand what Cadillac meant as a brand historically, and tried out “out-generic” the Germans in imitative blandness. JdN seemed to think that all you needed were strong track times for your luxury vehicles, and suddenly your brand would be hugely in demand. The heck with actual luxury, comfort, reliability, refinement, and innovative design. Furthermore, JdN talked about “premium product” and thought that raising prices would give Cadillac the cachet of premium, but at the same time he offered cheap base versions as well as complete car lines that were unworthy of the Cadillac name.
I see Lutz’s point that there was no single event that led to JdN’s firing, but I do think there were two “final straws” for GM, in addition to the weak sales, poor marketing, and low profits at Cadillac. One was probably when JdN announced that the new Cadillac twin-turbo V8 would not be found in any other GM products. Although that engine in its final form should be exclusive to Cadillac, there’s no reason GM couldn’t offer a tweaked version for Corvette or other brands, yet he seemed to rule that out also.
The other, and more significant “final straw” was likely the XT4 itself. JdN was a big talker about the great future products Cadillac would have, and the XT4 was the first “JdN proof” that he could back up his big talk. He said he wouldn’t bring it to market until he had it right. Then he delivered a very underwhelming, very generic vehicle. GM had to be wondering if JdN was simply a talker. And they probably reviewed his resume, and found it lacking in anything to give them a reason to believe he’s anything more than a talker. Exit JdN, stage right. Followed by a harsh letter from Lutz, but not quite as scathing as it could have been.
Time to give Carlisle a chance. I believe he’s got a much stronger, much better background to make Cadillac successful than JdN ever had. Carlisle grew up knowing what Cadillac is all about, unlike JdN. Carlisle is a production engineer, as well as a sales/marketing guy, rather than being sales/marketing alone like JdN. Carlisle is probably not as fixated on race cars as JdN was; I think JdN forgot or didn’t care that Cadillac is a luxury car brand, not a sports car brand. Carlisle also will understand automobile economics in a way that JdN never did. JdN took Cadillac for a wrong turn for 4 years, now Cadillac can be back on track to the great American luxury car brand, under Carlisle.
JDN’s XT4 debuted with lackluster fanfare while he was championing his $100K+ Escala sedan will “stun the world”…He was fired shortly after the Buick Enspire EV was revealed and replaced with an “Old GM” guy which is pretty telling…
The Buick Enspire EV’s overwhelmingly positive reception was the straw that broke the camel’s back, yet the “Old GM” writing was already on the wall long before…Buick created the uptrim Avenir line, removal of Project Pinnacle requirements and the $10K “keep them in the family” Escalade incentive…
So, y’all refuse to buy TTV8 sedans, TTV6 coupes that trounce BMW’s and Merc’s, refuse to buy the acknowledged best-handling cars on sale right now, … “because I don’t like metrosexuals in ads, I don’t want people to think I’m like that”.
Uh Huh.
And I’ve got a manly-man horse-riding Adonis who has some cancer-sticks for your lungs, and a lab-coat-equipped actor who has some health insurance for you.
And, if you give me the right self-identifying identity-politics ad, I’ll gladly lay down Camaro V8 money for a little cute-ute FWD CUV.
What happen to the people of the USA? We use to do anything possible to drive v8 machines! Now can are content being a boring as we can driving 4 bangers!
“We use to do anything possible to drive v8 machines!”
It’s called OPEC, and with the way the world is going V8 RWD machines are going to be a luxury, of which Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and Cadillac should have no problems.
You want V8 machines? Pay for the luxury and pride of exclusive ownership, because cheap V8’s (like those in the Charger/Challenger) aren’t even worth the money for what little quality you get from the rest of the car.
They started to buy Teslas…
Speaking as someone who wanted to buy a cadillac, but in the end didn’t and wont for the forseeable future, I think it comes down to price and value.
The ATS – a potential make-or-break bread-and-butter sedan for cadillac – was a loser in my eyes. Here’s why:
– Terrible rear legroom.
– small trunk
– annoying CUE haptic interface
– unpolished base and turbo engines from the GM parts bin. GM does V6s well- why wasn’t that the base engine? It’s almost exclusively sold in the camaro and larger SUVs.
– where are the LED headlights or little LED signature lights on the base models? It looks terrible on the road.
– poor exterior color selection. no “free” white. the only white was a $1k option.
– limited interior colors. Of course the fully loaded ats coupe has nice interior colors, but it’s very pricey.
– almost instantly dated design. with no knowledge about release cycles, my spouse once commented that the brand new ATS-V looked like an older car. Compare it side-by-side to an M4 or C63 or Q60 and you’ll feel like they’re from differently eras.
The ATS started off so good. Great steering, incredible seats, chassis, design, killer performance the the Vsport and V editions, but ultimately fell flat. Getting a respectably-specced model was too expensive and, dollar for dollar, didn’t compare with the fit and finish from other brands. If you don’t bring your A game, don’t bother showing up at all!
Those who think a Cadillac transformation cannot be achieved, need only look at Volvo, where design and elegance of interior have lifted the brand to become a very respectable contender in the luxury market almost overnight. The old XC90 could not be compared with a BMW X5 or Audi Q7, but the new XC90 outclasses them in appearance and interior fit and finish, which is why they’re selling so well. This design has trickled down to the lower models and the roads are full of XC60s where I live. And check out the name of Volvo’s simple LED headlight design “Thor’s hammer”. Well shhheeit. Modern Volvos are luxurious and exude luxury.
Cadillac can be saved, it just needs a decent short term AND longer term strategy.
What would I do? COPY from the best.
Good analysis but don’t copy or you will be four to five years behind which evolutionary styling gives you.
JDN was to focused on making Cadillac a German equal. I think he saw the 4-5 thousand 5series and E class that were sold a month by German brands and thought…….we can have a piece of that. Deep down I think he knew Benz owners wouldn’t pay almost equal money for a Cadillac currently in the his stable.
Some think Johan de Nysschen knew Cadillac’s future was in luxury CUV and not sedans; but one has to wonder why every concept car that Cadillac developed during de Nysschen’s time was either a coupe or sedan unless he was outvoted and if that was the situation then de Nysschen should have resigned earlier because if he wanted to take the company in one direction yet everyone else below de Nysschen didn’t listen and acted independently.
Bring back the proper naming nomenclature and offer more interior trim options.
Like names of cars drive sales!!! Interior options, just make them all fully loaded! Problem solved