Cadillac has not enjoyed very much success in the European market in the past. In 2016, General Motors moved just 781 Cadillac vehicles in Europe, while BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi sold well over 800,000 apiece in the region. Moreover, the brand has no real dealer network in Europe anymore, giving it very little presence and making it even harder to gain market share.
After selling about as many vehicles in Europe as a boutique sports car manufacturer for the past few years, we wouldn’t blame you for thinking that Cadillac is set to cease all operations in the region. However, our sister site, Cadillac Society, recently spoke to Cadillac President Steve Carlisle about his vision for the brand in Europe, who explained its extremely small presence in the region may prove to be an advantage once it begins producing more electric vehicles.
“I think Europe presents a really interesting opportunity for us,” Carlisle told Cadillac Society executive editor, Alex Luft. “We don’t really have a legacy there anymore. That market will make a very fast shift towards electrification just to the point in time that we start an aggressive rollout there. I like to say that we’re entering this decade as an internal combustion engine brand with better portfolio coverage than we’ve ever had. We’ve gone from about 63 percent a few years ago to 94 percent, so we’re covering all the important segments. But we’re going to exit as an electric brand. So it’s going to be a really exciting decade for us.”
Under former Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen, the brand planned to ramp-up efforts in Europe after seeing its “five new models by 2021” plan through to fruition. The idea behind this strategy, most likely, was that Cadillac would be better positioned to compete with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi in Europe with a more up-to-date vehicle portfolio. With de Nysschen gone, though, the brand seems to have shifted focus to its EVs to help give them the edge in markets like Germany and Switzerland. It’s easy to see why Cadillac thinks EVs can give them the edge in Europe, where increasingly strict emissions standards are expected to drive a major uptick in EV sales in the near future.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac news and ongoing GM news coverage.
This post was written in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
Comments
FYI: CT4 configurator is live.
Great article. I too believe Europe and China will be huge for Cadillac especially in the early stages of the EV Switch.
Cadillac is just a curiosity in Europe. GM lost its European chance when sold Opel and SAAB. Even new EV model strategy cannot change GM reputation here.
Agree. Fact is the European market is a very mature , savvy and demanding audience. It is essentially the opposite of China in this regard. In China, “good enough” plays all day for Cadillac, in Europe……..it sells 781 units.
The european market is also just plain saturated. It doesn’t mean BMW is a better car than Cadillac, not at all. It just means they have multiple brands that have been there forever and they are household names. They have extensive dealer networks, legions of trained techs, etc. It doesn’t matter if a cadillac is just as good or better than a BMW, they’ll buy the BMW. But a BMW is not better in any objective way. They’ve been plagued with reliability issues, and forced into using substandard light-weight interior materials in the name of fuel efficiency compliance, just like all the other manufacturers. I certainly hope you are not implying that german brands are better cars just because they are german, because that ship has sailed and gone 20 years ago.
As a European, I do think BMW is a better car than Cadillac for Europeans. The materials, the styling, the dimensions of BMW fit better in a European context.
BMW (and Mercedes and Audi) also have a way better image than Cadillac. Also for reliability. They do well in European benchmarks for reliability. Less so in American ones. Might have something to do with the environment of use.
But the main reason why Cadillac will fail in Europe again:
Trust: for the last 20 years, Cadillac has said multiple times they will seriously enter the European market. Only to pack up and leave a few years later. Destroying resale value for the brave ones who dared to actually buy one. Who would do that again? And what high quality dealer would invest in Cadillac after the history of coming and going?
And it’s not just Cadillac we don’t expect staying. GM very publicly sold off Opel a few years ago. GM just doesn’t seem to have a consistent strategy. For Europe, of anywhere else.
Even Jaguar has a hard time competing in Europe. And that’s with European styling. Why would Cadillac succeed? What does it bring to the table? Questionable styling (subjective, I know) an image of land yachts and bad quality.
Correction: Saab was not sold, but was not revived after bankruptcy in 2009.
On the contrary, there were some companies intersting in buying Saab brand, factory and the new Saab based on the new Epsilon II platform, but GM refused in order to protect her intellectual property.
Observer7
Saab was sold to Spiker N.V. The company tried to revive the brand after GM stopped production. The company eventually went bankrupt in 2012.
Point being GM no longer owns the brand.
On Friday, February 20, 2009, Saab Automobile declared to insolvency and made a request for „Företagsrekonstruktion“, which — I understand — corresponds roughly to the USA’s Chapter 11. On Tuesday that week, GM CEO Wagoner hat presented a program to cut 47’000 jobs world wide, 26’000 of those outside of the USA. Saab said that they wanted to continue production, but had to stop just five days later for a few days, since Saab could not pay the import duty for several materials or parts.
GM first tried to sell Saab to Koenigsegg (with participation of Chinese BAIC), a very small maker of very expensive luxury sports cars, but did not succeed, as Koenigsegg declared on November 24, 2009. GM declared on December 18, 2009 that the efforts to find a buyer for Saab failed, and that the company would be disolved. On December 21, Spyker came up declaring its intent to take over Saab, which was finally agreed in January 2010 and closed in February.
But already in March 2011, Spyker-Saab got problems paying their suppliers, production stopped intermittendly, asked on September 2011 for bankrupty protection and on December 19, 2011 the end. Further restructuring failed also because GM refused to sell certain patents which were used by the Spyker-Saab; I guess this was mainly the new Epsilon II platform which was the basis for the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, Buick Regal and Chevrolet Malibu, and in its long version for the Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Impala and the new Saab 9-5, of which then only 11’280 units were produced.
(All data from Wikipedia)
translation : we have no sales in europe so the only direction is up!!!!
Yeah but the point everyone is really missing is that Europe is going 100% Pure EV’s relevantly quickly through regulations that have already passed and the Only real Luxury EV option for them is Tesla. That means that if GM does the upcoming Cadillac EV’s correctly, they will have a huge opportunity in Europe.
Nah, they have way too much baggage. Cadillac tried to entered a few times already, just to effectively leave again. The brand is so tarnished.
Fresh, new players will have a way better chance.
@Klazterp
I somewhat agree with you but look at it from the lenses of a NON Cadillac fan. A lot of cities in Europe will not allow ICE Cars to drive through pretty soon. As of right now Tesla owns the European Luxury EV Space.
Audi has the e-Tron and Mercedes is trying with their EQC. BMW is nowhere to be found.
So if Cadillac can release their Luxury EV soon, they will have a great chance to grab some early Luxury EV customers. And then grow from there. What other choices will Luxury EV customers have in the short term?
Will be so interesting to see how all of thi splays out to be honest.
I get what you mean. Yet most luxury cars in Europe are leased or otherwise sold as company cars. Resale value is a big influencer of the monthly price.
And Cadillac extremely checkered history will have a negative effect on that. That’s next to convincing actual clients to go for Cadillac. With their less than refined styling and image. And questionable quality and history.
Why would anyone in Europe choose a Cadillac?
Furthermore : the EV battle in the luxury class is a bit further along than the other car classes. Tesla has done very well indeed. But now the Germans are gearing up. And they will have their home market stitched up (with attractive financing, an extensive dealer network and good pricing) (remember they own the biggest car leasing companies).
The real battle will be in the medium car class. And that’s a class Cadillac will not play in.
Countless newcomers have tried penetrating the European luxury class. Cadillac tried it four or five times. Lexus is just a blip. Infinity is retreating. Bigger Hyundais and Kias don’t sell. Only Tesla has succeeded. But long-term we don’t know how Tesla will do once the competition heats up.
And let’s face it: taking away the brand cachet Cadillac has (used to have?) in the US, what does Cadillac really have to offer?
Now Saab, that would be great fit for penetrating the European car market…
And for the kicker: Trump is driven around in a Cadillac. That itself makes the brand a joke for most Europeans with above average education and paychecks.
I hear what you are saying. I understand the Stigma Cadillac has with older European Customers. I have Family in Greece and Germany. The Older ones would never ever purchase a Cadillac. But my younger Family would be open to a Cadillac EV that will have the same features that a Tesla has.
I think younger buyers do not have such a Negative image of Cadillac and with the Industry shifting Hardcore to EV;s in Europe, I think they can succeed as long as the EV’s they offer are top notch and not half hearted tries.
I will keep it brief, cause my English is not top of the bill. My car is though !!! I am a European from the Netherlands and own a 2015 Cadillac 2.0 T premium. I’m very surprised that GM gave up on this beautiful styled model. The motor is perfect for Europe with its 267 HP and beats a lot of 3, 4, 5 series of BMW and Mercedes. The luxury is on high standards. Prove of the interrest of people in this sort of car is that I experience exactly what happens in the commercial for this car, because every where I go it gets the head turnes. Ofcourse I’m special in the Netherlands…., can you believe it’s the only one of this model here. So I think Cadillac has to do more research how to reach more Europeans…, because they like Cadillac as brand, but we don’t need the real power models here with the big engines. Continue with the size of the ATS with a good marketing and you will get a lot of customers here if…., the price is right. And for Europe that means that the cars should be a litlle bit cheaper. I’m proud to ride this thing and get the looks on the car it deserves. We like coupes especcially and it was a good start from Cadillac to put a sporty model on the road. Gave up too soon, and it did not get the chance to grow here.
PS: Yes…, it’s a coupe ! 🙂
This only makes sense. Tesla even with all of it’s baggage is making inroads in Europe. BMW and Mercedes are making efforts in EV’s but are not fully committed and are moving slow. VAG is pumping huge resources into EV’s but were late to the game and their technology is mid-pack. GM has a lot of EV technology and now that they see a road to profitability with EV’s are pumping huge resources into it. If Executed right they can get back into the European market. They won’t be winning any sales contests any time soon but will be able to field a respectable and profitable presence.
@Neromanceres
I completely agree with you. This is a unique opportunity for Cadillac to finally have a presence in Europe.
For years I drove Cadillacs here in Europe. However, I will never forget how the sale of Opel led to the closing of multiple dealers where I could service a Cadillac. When I tried to buy a new CT6 in the summer of 2019, I had to ask 5 times to a (far away) dealer to get a price quote, only to finally receive the answer that “no new Cadillacs would be available in Europe any more”. So I turned to BMW and drive an 840i now.
Although I used to be a die-hard Cadillac fan, the fact of having been treated so badly (and having the resale value collapse), would not push me back to the brand any time soon. So I wonder: how will they ever sell EVs without a decent dealer network, and after having upset a big part of their loyal customers?
The dealer is wrong, I first thought, since I found those yearly figures for 2019 for Germany:
In Germany alone in 2019 the KBA[*] counted a total of 397 first registrations of Cadillacs, among them 19 CT6, 97 Escalade, 220 XT5 and 61 “other” non specified models whose numbers were considered to low to specify the detail.
— but no more monthly figures since September, neither Cadillac nor Chevrolet, except for 3 “other” Cadillac. I didn’t look in that column, because I was not concerned about monthly figures.
In 2018, the KBA registered 590 new car Cadillac registrations.
BTW, this statistic gives the numbers of new car regististrations, what does not correspond exactly with sales, since the car which a dealer registeres on his name for test drives is also registered as a new car registration.
[*] KBA = Kraftfahrtbundesamt, or Federal Automobile Authority (or Agency). http://www.kba.de
Maybe this will work, maybe not.
Let me tell you an encounter which I had with Cadillac in my back yard.
This nearly three years ago… I looked out of my back window and saw a relatively large box of car parked down in the back yard. “This looks like a Cadillac”, i thought. Later I went out and checked, and found that this actually was a Cadillac, a CTS (1st generation).
In the next days I met the owner of the car: the foreman of a group of construction workers. He had bought the car 2nd hand for 3000 Euro (roughly 3300 USD). Another worker intervened and said that this Cadillac is not a real US car in his view, a US car should have a noisy V8 with hundreds of horse power.
Up to a few months ago, this image of old age still helped sell Cadillacs, even without V8. If an all electric Cadillac, even more distant from the old image, can make up the advance of Tesla? From January to August of last year, Tesla sold 1’431 cars in Germany, Cadillac 372 (Cadillac stopped selling in August).
Tesla is also quite often in the news via the controversy about clearing the wood from the area where Elon Musk wants to build a new Tesla factory before the building itself is authorized, in Grünheide south-east of Berlin (OpenStreetMap: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/745127669#map=13/52.4007/13.7827)
Cadillac/GM should have sold the Chinese versions of Chevrolet and Cadillac. While a 3cylinder chevrolet malibu doesn’t work for Americans, it works for Chinese and European roads and taxations.
There also is a market for the bigger cars if you have a network and market to company’s. A lot of countries work with a system of commercial vehicles whereas people can convert their big car to a “light commercial vehicle”. They just take away the last row of seats and place a screen to devide the car in two. Especially for the Escalade/Suburban that could be a healthy salesnumber.