Cadillac will celebrate its 100th birthday this fall.
So too, its critics insist, will many of its owners.
Cadillac was the best-selling luxury nameplate in the industry for so long that the moniker became synonymous with the “best of” anything.
But it now ranks fifth in luxury sales behind Lexus, BMW, Mercedes and Acura, and only slightly ahead of rival Lincoln.
After dominating the high-mileage economy car market in the 1970s, the Japanese have joined the Europeans as a force in luxury cars, high-profit machines that pay the bills.
Imports were first up with luxury sport-utility vehicles as well as entry-level luxury cars that lowered the fee to get into the club.
For Lexus to hold the top spot is especially irritating to Cadillac because Toyota created its luxury division only for the U.S., where it began selling in the 1990 model year.
Many charge Cadillac faltered by catering to older buyers while Baby Boomers migrated to imports.
“Cadillac needs to reinvent itself to bring in buyers under 45 and to take chances,” said Wes Brown, analyst for Nextrend, an industry research and forecasting firm in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Brown says Cadillac should stop building traditional soft-riding luxury sedans such as DeVille, whose average buyer is older than 60. But Cadillac has been loath to do that and alienate current customers.
“You’re going to have some fallout, but you have to accept the fallout and move on. You can’t please the 65-year-old who wants a big boat that floats down the road and attract a younger buyer who wants a European type of car,” he said.
But even those who follow the industry and insist Cadillac needs to change, can’t agree on how.
Cadillac has steadily improved the dynamics of the DeVille and Seville, eliminating the mushy ride and sloppy handling of earlier models, but the styling is wrong for younger buyers, said Susan Jacobs, president of Jacobs & Associates, a Rutherford, N.J., industry consultant that specializes in the luxury market.
“They [DeVille/Seville] have the large size and traditional styling that essentially shouts `grampa’s design theme,'” while “the styling on the CTS communicates driving dynamics,” she said.
The midsize CTS sedan arrived for ’03, a new entry-level ($35,000) machine aimed at younger owners.
In the next several months, Cadillac also plans to bring out an all-wheel-drive, car-based crossover called SRX (’04), a two-seat roadster called XLR (’04), a remake of the Seville called STS (’05), and an upgrade of the DeVille (’06) along with a high-priced (six figures), high-performance (V-12) sports roadster developed under the Cien concept name in the same timeframe.
“Despite baggage from the past, Cadillac’s heritage remains a strength, but I think Cadillac waited too long to change. They stayed the same to appeal to repeat business,” said Jacobs, noting that dealers also played a role.
“Cadillac dealers are used to an older customer who basically buys domestic luxury cars. They’ve been catering to a satisfied customer base that was aging and weren’t connecting with younger buyers. You capture a certain generation, and you age as they age,” she said.
“Cadillac has come up with a strategy more appropriate for today’s luxury market. Their new contemporary styling themes [CTS, Escalade and soon the SRX will all share the same look] define Cadillac as a more youthful dynamic brand. But even with new products, Cadillac will have to revamp its dealer body to sell to new and younger customers,” she said.
Brown agrees.
“Cadillac has listened too much to dealers afraid radical change will scare away loyal customers, leaving them with the uncertainty of finding new ones,” he said.
Cadillac is aware of the complaints.
“These are the guys who move the mail. They’ve gotta be ready for game day,” notes Jim Taylor, Cadillac vehicle line executive, who says they are learning to change, pointing to the fact that CTS and Escalade “are making money for dealers.”
CTS has been so successful Cadillac has raised annual production targets to 40,000 units from 30,000 originally, while Escalade, Cadillac’s rival to imported luxury sport-utes such as the Lexus LX470, Infiniti QX4 and Mercedes M-Series, has seen sales rise 41 percent this year.
Mark LaNeve, who became Cadillac general manager in 2001 after being lured away as president of Volvo of North America, says too much has been made of owner age.
“There are 60-year-olds who can dance circles around me,” he said.
“We want to keep our current count of buyers while at the same time coming out with new products that attract and appeal to a younger group to expand on our core of loyalists,” he said.
“That’s OK because Cadillac can create a sportier, more youthful image with models like the CTS and SRX and still retain older buyers with the DeVille. You don’t want to lose the people that you have,” said Dave Cole, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich.
LaNeve argues that age isn’t the problem.
“Where we lost leadership is in not having world-class products in the growth segments of the luxury market now dominated by Japanese and European nameplates–such as entry-level luxury cars and luxury sport-utility vehicles,” he said.
Targeting imports instead of traditional foe Lincoln is the appropriate approach, says Cole.
“Their space has been invaded from afar, and they have to invade the space that others occupy. It’s the law of the jungle in action, survival of the fittest,” he said.
Cadillac is attracting younger buyers with its Escalade SUV and edgy-looking CTS sedan, but critics note that more than half of its sales volume still comes from Seville and DeVille, old-style sedans that won’t be replaced until ’05 and ’06, respectively, that have an older clientele.
“That’s not the problem,” argues LaNeve. “We’re holding our own in the above-$35,000 market [DeVille/Seville]. Where we’ve lost ground is in cars under $35,000, the reason we brought out the CTS sedan for ’03.”
Catera, predecessor to the CTS, sold 25,000 units in the 1997 model year, its first in the market. By 2001, its last year, sales were 9,764. By comparison, entry-level imports such as the Lexus ES300, sold 44,847 units in ’01, and the Acura TL 69,484 units.
Past failures still sting
Another problem is how frequently Cadillac has shot itself in the foot.
Consider the failures in the 1980s: the Cimarron, a leather camouflaged Chevrolet Cavalier; the V-8-6-4 engine to make big Cadillacs more fuel efficient but didn’t work; the high-mileage diesel engine, which didn’t work any better than the V-8-6-4; cookie-cutter woes in which Cadillacs looked like less-expensive Oldsmobiles and Buicks; the Allante roadster, an attempt to lure folks from the $50,000 Mercedes SL with a two-seat Cadillac at the same price but with half the quality; and in the ’90s the Catera, with the look of a Chevy, the price of a Cadillac.
“We weren’t building vehicles people wanted so we weren’t relevant,” said Taylor. “We got off course in quality. We stepped on our toes and let a lot of litter get in our way. Lexus, BMW, Mercedes are no-risk cars. Quality is a recognized given. We have to play in that same court and in the past we didn’t.
“But no one is in denial. This isn’t the ’50s when we were on a roll and Elvis bought everything we made and handed them out as gifts,” Taylor added.
“We understand what happened in the past and how we messed up. We’ve been through the ugly days and have no desire to repeat,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of people rooting for the home team.”
Support from above
Including General Motors’ management, which initiated the turnaround at Cadillac four years ago.
“Cadillac was being asked to do battle but only given one bullet for the gun. So we went to Rick [Wagoner, GM president] and Jack [Smith, chairman]. They asked what we wanted and we said a lot of money, a new plant and five new products. They said yes to all our requests, which gave us the ability to be in all the segments we want to be in. Now we have no excuses, everyone is watching and our necks are on the line,” Taylor said.
It also helps that Cadillac has gained a strong spiritual leader in Bob Lutz, the GM vice chairman for product development who favors bringing out new products quickly and giving Cadillac uniqueness.
Lutz plans to give Cadillac its own car platforms starting with the rear-wheel-drive Sigma off which CTS and the SRX are built.
“Sigma is for Cadillac. It’s premium architecture that’s very expensive to build, so it’s suitable to the Cadillac brand, where we can charge for it,” Lutz said at the New York Auto Show.
“Cadillac is going to stand with its own architecture and its own engines. We aren’t going to share Cadillac parts with other divisions. It may take five or six years, but we are going to make Cadillac the standard of the world again.”
“Strong new products can change the image of a brand very quickly,” Cole points out.
“Some will never come back to us, but some are willing to give us a second chance. That’s why the CTS is so important to us, because it has the quality so that you don’t have to worry about giving us a second chance. No one wants to have to make excuses for buying the car they did,” Taylor said.
“The CTS isn’t about how many we sell as it is how many we satisfy,” said Jay Spenchian, CTS marketing director.
“If GM is to be successful, we need a healthy premium brand,” LaNeve said. “We look at being No.1 again, but that’s not our overriding goal. We need to lay the groundwork with quality product. The key is to first get back to 200,000 sales a year, then 225,000, and grow at a rate of 5 to 10 percent a year. It will take a few years.”
Cadillac sold 172,083 vehicles in ’01. The last time it sold 200,000 units was in 1994, when sales totaled 210,686. Lexus led the luxury pack with sales of 223,983 units in ’01.
Luxury sales
These are sales numbers for the last 10 years for the top-selling luxury nameplates in the U.S. in 2001.
YEAR LEXUS BMW MERCEDES CADILLAC ACURA LINCOLN
%%
2001 223,983 213,127 206,638 172,083 170,469 158,934
2000 206,037 189,423 205,614 189,154 142,681 193,009
1999 185,890 154,970 189,437 178,507 118,006 176,493
1998 156,260 131,559 170,245 182,570 110,392 187,121
1997 97,593 122,467 122,265 182,624 108,143 166,371
1996 81,529 105,761 90,844 170,379 108,008 141,476
1995 79,334 93,309 76,752 180,504 97,351 150,814
1994 87,419 84,501 73,002 210,686 112,137 179,166
1993 94,677 78,010 61,899 204,159 108,291 173,644
1992 92,890 65,691 63,312 214,176 120,100 161,648
%%
Source: Automotive News
50 years of Cadillac
Benchmarks of Cadillac’s market presence, which is measured in annual sales numbers since 1975 and annual production numbers before then.
1950 110,335
1955 153,334
1960 158,941
1965 196,595
1970 152,859
1975 267,049
1980 213,002
1985 298,762
1990 258,168
1995 180,504
2000 189,154
%%
Sources: Cadillac and The Production Figure Book for U.S. Cars.
The century mark
Here are some important moments in the 100 years of Cadillac:
1902 The Detroit Automobile Co., after being formed in 1899 and producing only prototypes, is reorganized and renamed the Cadillac Automobile Co., for Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the French explorer who discovered Detroit. It was run by Henry Leland, who with lumberman Robert C. Faulconer, was under contract to produce engines for the Curved-Dash Olds. Leland had been brought into Detroit Automobile in 1901, to move the company away from the racing roots Henry Ford had established.
1903 The first Cadillac is put on display at the New York Auto Show, where 2,286 are ordered.
Cadillac introduces a 10-horsepower single cylinder runabout capable of speeds upwards of 30 m.p.h.
1908 Cadillac is the first American car to be awarded the Dewar Trophy by the Royal Automobile Club of London. Thanks to Leland’s standardization, three Cadillacs are disassembled, reassembled and operate after the parts of all three were scrambled.
1909 General Motors buys Cadillac for $5.67 million.
1910 Cadillac introduces closed bodies, called a limousine, as standard equipment.
1912 Cadillac equips cars with electric starting, lighting and ignition. After starting and stopping the car 1,000 times, the Royal Automobile Club of London awards Cadillac a second Dewar Trophy for engineering excellence.
1915 Cadillac offers the first production car with a V-type, water-cooled, 8-cylinder engine.
1927 Cadillac introduces the smaller, more sporty LaSalle, the first Cadillac to pace the Indianapolis 500.
1929 Synchromesh transmission is introduced. It prevents gear clashing and eliminates the need for double clutching.
1930 Cadillac introduces a 452-cubic-inch, 160-horsepower V-16 automobile engine with overhead valves, twin carburetors and dual exhausts.
1948 Cadillac introduces the Harley Earl designed tailfin, inspired by the P-38 “Lightning” fighter plane.
1949 The Coupe de Ville, the first two-door hardtop, is the first Motor Trend car of the year.
1954 Cadillac is the first carmaker to make power steering standard across its lineup.
1965 Cadillac introduces tilt and telescoping steering wheels.
1966 Electric seat warmers and stereo radio are added as options.
1969 First closed cooling system captures engine coolant lost in momentary overheating and returns it to the radiator.
1971 Eldorado joins the Chrysler Imperial in offering computerized rear anti-lock brakes.
1974 Driver and front passenger air bags are available on all DeVilles, Fleetwood Broughams and Eldorados. Buick and Olds also offer the system.
1975 The first electronic fuel-injection is offered on Eldorado, Fleetwood and DeVille models.
1980 Digital electronics are used for fuel-injection, ignition and vehicle diagnostics.
1985 Cadillac introduces transverse-mounted V-8 engines in full-size front-wheel-drive DeVille.
1988 Cadillac implements a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year Roadside Service Program.
1990 Allante makes traction control standard for the first time in the U.S.
1992 A ’93 Allante becomes the sixth Cadillac to pace the Indianapolis 500.
Cadillac introduces a four-valve-per-cylinder V-8, the 4.6-liter Northstar.
1997 GM introduces OnStar, navigation and communication system, in most Cadillacs.
StabiliTrak is added to help prevent skids.
1999 Night Vision, available on DeVille, uses infrared technology to expand the driver’s field of vision.
2000 Cadillac introduces Ultrasonic Rear Parking, which uses sensors to detect obstructions behind the cars.
Cadillac returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race after a 50-year absence.
2001 Cadillac introduces the 2002 Escalade, a sport-utility vehicle with a 345-h.p. V-8.
2002 Cadillac shows its new styling direction with the entry-level CTS sedan (top).
Sources: Autocluster.com; Forbes Inc. Cadillac Database (www.car-nection.com/yann/); www.calpoly.edu; William Botorff, www.100megsfree4.com/cadillac/; Cadillac Motor Car; “The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles.” %%
