Cadillac’s latest reboot features a small SUV
Here we go again. For at least the eighth time in two decades, General Motors Co. has a new brand chief vowing to reboot Cadillac, the once-storied luxury name that has been losing market share and prestige for years.
GM promises a $12 billion parade of new models, with the perhaps most significant being a smaller, cheaper sport utility vehicle that turns on its head everything Cadillac has historically stood for. There also will be revamped advertising, including a fresh tagline — not yet revealed — to replace the sleepy “Dare Greatly” campaign. The strategy kicks off with the millennial-aimed XT4 SUV, followed by five more models.
To some GM-watchers, the latest initiative is a now-ornever moment, perhaps the last window for 116-year-old Cadillac to recover its marquee name before the very idea of auto brands fades away. That’s a bit overly dramatic to Steve Carlisle, the new division president. But he’s well aware that shareholders have seen this songand-dance before.
“We lost our mojo for a long period of time,” he said. “This time, it is different and we will show you.”
For GM, Cadillac’s comeback effort represents more than just the resurrection of a famous brand. While its share of the U.S. premium-car market has fallen, Cadillac is a vital money-maker for its parent. Sales are booming in China, where last year it sold more vehicles — almost 180,000 — than in the U.S. for the first time. Globally, luxury cars make up just 10 percent of the 100 million cars bought every year but haul in close to 50 percent of the profits.
Cadillac’s problems are many, and familiar. Premium buyers have flocked to SUVs, but the brand has just three. Older people continue to be Cadillac’s mainstay.
The brand’s advertising theme has hardly helped, according to Bob Lutz, the retired GM vice chairman. In some video ads, viewers wouldn’t even see a Cadillac until halfway through the video, he said.
“‘Dare Greatly’ has been a disaster from beginning to end,” Lutz said. “When you have product that is in many ways better than the competition, you tell people about it. You don’t dare them to take a leap of faith on your cars.”
Carlisle agrees the division needs to freshen its advertising. He and Deborah Wahl, the new marketing boss, are working on ads that will emphasize features and new technologies.
The new XT4, geared to appeal to younger buyers, starts at around $35,000 and goes close to $50,000 with options. (The least-expensive Caddy now is the ATS sedan starting at $39,000.)
With the XT4, Cadillac is paring down some of the touches premium buyers expect, said Eric Noble, president of consulting firm The CarLab.
“The first question that comes to mind is, where’s the luxury?” he said.