Detroit auto company reorganized to cadillac, General Motors Co. will reorganize its Cadillac brand into a separate unit that will be based in New York City starting next year. After losing ground to foreign luxury lines in the U.S., GM said the changes will help its top brand pursue opportunities with more focus and clarity.
“We need to have the team thinking about Cadillac day in and day out,” CEO Mary Barra said in an interview at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York. “New York is where luxury is defined. It’s trend-setting. It’s much broader than the auto industry in terms of setting trends in luxury.”
While industrywide sales rose 5.1 percent in the U.S. through August, with top luxury brands growing even faster, Cadillac sales slid 4.7 percent.
Executives have said the brand will add a flagship sedan, to be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, which makes the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. They also said the CTS may add features such as heated seats to lower-level versions next year to attract more buyers.
Leading luxury brands have outpaced the market’s growth: Deliveries of BMW AG’s BMW increased 12 percent, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz gained 8.2 percent and Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus is up 16 percent. U.S. sales by Audi, Volkswagen AG’s premium brand, rose 15 percent.
“This is an attempt to create separation between Cadillac and other brands within the GM family and to go after the stronghold that German brands have in the premium market,” said Jeff Schuster, an industry analyst at LMC Automotive in Southfield.
“If the brand achieves the image it’s looking for, it could be cost-effective. But if, 10 years from now, Cadillac hasn’t achieved a move-up in perception as a premium brand, it’s a waste of money.”
Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac’s chief, had run Audi of America and Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti brand before joining GM last month.
Cadillac management is reviewing which teams will be moved to New York and which will remain in the Detroit area or elsewhere. The majority of Cadillac staff will remain in Michigan, de Nysschen said in a statement.
