Why Cadillac says its latest revival will be a success

For many Australians, cadillac evokes images of giant pastel coupes with soaring tail fins.

The brand has undergone many transformations since its glory days in the 1950s, and General Motors executives have publicly admitted the luxury car line recently needed an overhaul.

“If you do it right, people tend to forget what you did in the past,” Michael Simcoe, GM’s chief design officer, told Australian media.

“It’s not something that happens overnight.”

The brand’s move towards electric vehicles (EVs) is its latest transformation. They recently announced a target to go electric only by 2030 and launched a range of new SUVs along with a hand-built flagship forklift model. Celestiq.

“Cadillac has made a bit of an effort, you’ll probably notice we’ve tried to revive the brand about three or four times in my recollection,” he said.

“The last time we created a flagship model, showed it off at Pebble, and that was just the pinnacle of the world and Cadillac’s dedication to electric vehicles.

“That one didn’t stand up, but using EV and Cadillac as spearheads, the theme created by Magalie Debellis for Celestiq was stitched together.”

Mr. Simcoe is referring to the Escala concept, which was launched in 2016.

It uses the Omega platform from the CT6 sedan, as well as a twin-turbo 4.2-liter V8 gasoline engine.

Escala was developed while former BMW and Audi executive Johan de Nysschen was head of Cadillac, a tenure that saw him move Cadillac headquarters from Michigan to New York City in search of more autonomy and prestige. .

But like other prominent Cadillac concepts like the Elmiraj, Ciel and Sixteen, the Escala never went into production, and the brand eventually moved back to Michigan after Mr. de Nysschen was fired in 2018.

The concept’s twin-turbo V8 briefly appeared in the CT6, but the model was dropped in 2020 in North America as GM made room for electric vehicle production.

Before the latest shift focused on electric vehicles, Cadillac’s biggest transformation took place in the early 2000s.

They have been making sports sedans since the 1980s, but cars like the Seville STS – which used a V8 engine – were front-wheel drive.

The 1999 Evoq concept previewed a new design language called Art & Science, as well as a much more powerful rear-wheel drive system.

Elements of this sharp design language can still be seen in the Cadillac lineup today, while BMW-competing rear-wheel-drive sports sedans have been a mainstay since the original CTS. first launched in 2002.

But while car models like the new lyrics makes a statement with styling that resembles the ultra-luxurious, hand-crafted Celestiq, not every Cadillac has such dramatic styling.

Cadillac’s head of design has made it clear that the brand’s models need to offer compelling reasons for buyers to choose them over products from other luxury brands.

“Especially at the top of the space, you really have to have a strong point of view and something that people can respect,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director of global design for Cadillac. When conducting”.

“If you try to be all things to all people, you’ll end up like old Catera or something.”

Mr. Nesbitt is referring to Cadillac’s previous entry-level luxury sedan, introduced in 1997. The car was little more than a rebadged Opel Omega and was eventually replaced by a special Cadillac much better with CTS.

While Cadillac has been selling vehicles in markets like China and the Middle East for years, it is using its new electric vehicle lineup to fuel its European reboot and enter new markets like Australia.

It is leaving other members of its model range behind in this new global push, although they continue to be offered in markets such as the US and China.

Cadillac has quite a few different types of cars. It includes the rear/all-wheel drive CT4 and CT5 sports sedans and The only CT6 sedan in China; front/all-wheel drive XT4, XT5 and XT6 crossovers; and full size Escalatorregarding GM pickup trucks.

Its new EV line, led by the new Lyriq will be The brand’s first model is here When it returns in late 2024, there’s a dedicated electric vehicle platform and a new look inside and out.

That extends to elements like unique switchgear, which are intended to give the brand a more premium feel inside.

“Cadillac really has its own set of components,” Mr. Simcoe said.

“In the traditional form across brands, you would probably share the platform and core architecture, the switches and controllers, and then make them customer-facing in a way that trademark.

“Cadillac, from the way it faces the customer to the core architecture of the switches and the steering wheel and everything, every other part of the car is specific to Cadillac.

“That’s the kind of commitment that needs to happen.

“Once the organization has committed to that level, I wouldn’t say the rest is going to be easy, but you have to commit to treating the brand as something very specific.”

GM has also confirmed that the Cadillac brand will not be just for SUVs, with a new sedan – almost certainly an electric vehicle – is planned for this product line.

After several leadership changes at Cadillac over the years and multiple canceled models and shifts in strategy, the brand now appears to have its clearest focus in some time.

But its electric vehicle push is happening just as demand for these vehicles is cooling in markets like the US. GM recently lowered the bar The goal is to produce electric vehicles by 2024while Cadillac executives seem to Leave some wiggle room in their previous firm target of 2030 for an electric vehicle-only product line.

“We want to be clear that EVs and ICEs (internal combustion engines) will coexist for a number of years,” Cadillac global vice president John Roth said in May in remarks reported by Detroit Free Press.

“We want to make sure we have a luxury choice in the market and that both will have the opportunity to meet the needs of our customers as we expect.”

“We always listen to our customers. We are still delivering on our strategy to deliver an all-electric portfolio by the end of the decade and we will listen to our customers and let them lead the way for us. That is our answer.”

Cadillac chief communications officer Mike Albano further clarified the brand’s previous commitments to an electric-only lineup from 2030 were “a mission statement, if you will.”

“The fact that we are refreshing our ICE portfolio should tell you that we know the transition will be slow, the transition will be customer-led,” he said.

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