Cadillac reveals its newest sedan
If you’re taking a long trip, how does a lower-lumbar massage from your car sound? Or why not let the car do some of the driving with a semiautonomous system?
Both features will be available on Cadillac’s new CT5 sedan, which General Motors’ luxury brand is unveiling this week at the New York Auto Show.
The car goes on sale this fall, but Cadillac already has started an aggressive marketing campaign touting such new amenities as personalized driving modes and enhanced vehicle sounds.
Over the past two weeks, Cadillac has been releasing weekly video vignettes about the CT5 on social media — one video got more than 300,000 views, said Jason Sledziewski, Cadillac’s director of product marketing.
“We really want to introduce the next generation of sedans because we are repositioning our entire sedan lineup by 2020” Sledziewski said.
Younger and female
Cadillac plans to introduce a new or updated vehicle every six months through 2021.
The CT4 sport sedan, which will be smaller in size and price than the CT5, will be revealed later this year and is expected in Cadillac showrooms in 2020.
Both cars will be assembled at GM’s Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan.
Cadillac’s customer base skews male, but with the CT5, it wants to “go after more females,” Sledziewski told the Free Press. Cadillac also looks to draw in younger and more racially diverse buyers with this car.
Cadillac is eyeing buyers ages 35-45 for the CT5 with an annual income of $100,000 to $120,000, said Sledziewski.
Cadillac will “break through” to a broader consumer audience by first using traditional television and mainstream media, he said. The campaign is intended to replicate the “energy” of Cadillac’s “Rise” campaign used to market the XT4 compact crossover. The idea behind Rise spots is that with perseverance, a person can physically rise into Cadillac’s vehicles, making the cars both an enabler and a reward. The spots were featured during the 91st Academy Awards this year.
After the mainstream media campaign, Cadillac will then contact current owners with personalized, targeted messaging, he said.
“We want to continue to leverage our social platform to create awareness of the CT5,” Sledziewski said.
“We want to get people excited about it.”
Cadillac this summer will target marketing to customers who express interest in the car. The CT5 is available for preorders in late summer, Sledziewski said.
Sound strategy
Cadillac will offer the CT5 in three trim levels — luxury, sport and premium luxury. The car is designed to look the way it drives, said Andrew Smith, Cadillac’s executive director of global design.
The sport design, for example, has a longer hood than the luxury model. Also, the tail lamps on the luxury model have a rose lens while the sport version tail lamps have clear lenses. Seats and steering wheels are different in the models. The instrument panel on all the trims is designed to be intuitive to use.