Cadillac To Stick With Higher Prices At Cost Of Traditional Customer Base

Cadillac has no plans to back off its sharply higher sticker prices or sweeten incentives to improve slumping U.S. sales, new brand chief Johan de Nysschen said today.

De Nysschen, who arrived at General Motors Aug. 1 after a two-year stint at Infiniti and two decades building Audi into a luxury powerhouse, said in an interview that Cadillac must be willing to forgo some traditional buyers as it works to attract the higher-end clientele it's now courting with a revitalized vehicle lineup.

"We cannot deny the fact that we are leaving behind our traditional customer base," de Nysschen said. "It will take several years before a sufficiently large part of the audience who until now have been concentrating on the German brands will find us in their consideration set."

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Sciros - 9/16/2014 12:55:30 PM

0 Boost

Okay....

Here's the thing: their traditional clientele has been older folks. If they want to attract someone else, that means younger folks.

One problem: older folks have more disposable income typically. So if you want to go after the younger crowd you have to do what Mercedes, Audi, and BMW are doing and go CHEAPER. CLA, GLA, 2-series, 1-series, X1, A3, etc.

That's WHY the younger crowd has "the German brands in their consideration set." The Germans actually have some aspirational models in their lineup.

While the Germans thought to go in that direction with wild success, Cadillac is raising prices on the CTS and trying to push the ELR. What a joke.

Going upmarket with a model or two that will be "halo" cars (an epic new XLR tuned to 600hp and something like the Elmiraj) can help the brand's prestige and that would set it up well for things like a 2-series and CLA competitor.

Also, BMW and Mercedes have (relatively) inexpensive leasing programs. I'm not sure about Caddy but my guess is, with Caddy trying to sticker right up there with the Germans, it won't compare favorably when it comes to leasing. And therefore won't do that great.

Mr_PLP - 9/16/2014 2:19:47 PM

+1 Boost

IMO, this would work only if they offered more standard features at the same cost(ala Acura).

randy3023 - 9/16/2014 5:21:52 PM

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This is Cadillac management saying "we'd rather the company DIE than give up our own lifestyles".

Why would these bloated egomaniacs give up their lavish pay, benefits, and perks in order to give the company a better shot at surviving the next 30 years? What do they care? They'll be long retired living on a lake somewhere with their GM pension!

xjug1987a - 9/17/2014 1:57:23 PM

-1 Boost

Do you know even ONE GM Executive or are you a union rat that gets paid whether you show up or not, whether you work while you're there or not? Your a greedy, jealous loser... maybe if you'd done something with your own life you wouldn't have so much hate for producers and those that make a life for themselves and their families. Enjoy your cigarettes and bass boat bigmouth...

randy3023 - 9/17/2014 5:20:18 PM

+1 Boost

Have any brothers or sisters? I'm willing to bet your mother made more than one house call to Grosse Pointe before she had you.

JDMUSMuscle - 9/16/2014 5:40:21 PM

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You know, I just keep thinking that, this guy is actually a spy of German automotive industry and trying to mess up the Japanese and the American luxury brands in general.

I mean, this guy apparently did a great job with Audi. But what's up with all this on Infiniti and Cadillac now?

MDarringer - 9/16/2014 7:51:53 PM

+1 Boost

Johan de Nutsack is an utter moron that two other manufacturers have flushed. Of course he is going to do the wrong thing here too.

If he literally was so amazing at Audi, he'd still be working there. The fact that Infiniti flushed him would indicate he's an idiot.