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the retired GM vice chairman. In some video
ads, viewers don’t even see a Cadillac until halfway
through the spot, he says. “ ‘Dare Greatly’ has been
a disaster from beginning to end,” Lutz adds. “When
you have product that is in many ways better than
the competition, you tell people about it. You don’t
dare them to take a leap of faith on your cars.”
Carlisle agrees the division needs to freshen
its advertising. He and Deborah Wahl, Cadillac’s
new marketing boss, are working on ads that will
emphasize features and new technologies. That’s
one reason Cadillac will soon move its headquar-
ters back to Michigan after several years in New
York: The marketers will be close to engineering.
A GM lifer, Carlisle most recently ran the compa-
ny’s Canadian business. He was named Cadillac divi-
sion president in April, replacing Audi veteran Johan
de Nysschen, who saw U.S. sales continue to falter
during his four-year tenure before leaving amid dif-
ferences over the direction of the brand.
The new X
T4, geared to appeal to younger buy-
ers, recently went on sale at around
$35,000 but
will cost almost $50,000 with options. (The least-
expensive Caddy had been the ATS sedan, start-
ing at $39,000.) Small Cadillacs have rarely gained
traction in the marketplace. In the 1980s there was
the widely panned Cimarron, a rebadged Chevrolet
Cavalier that’s now synonymous with the brand’s
decline. Another low: the midsize Catera from
the late 1990s, which was little more than an Opel
Omega family car. Even the ATS, a much better car
which boasts good quality and a sporty ride, logs
fewer than 1,000 sales a month in the U.S.
Other automakers, from Audi to BMW and
Mercedes-Benz, have managed to sell proitable
quantities of small SUVs. Mercedes-Benz has bejew-
eled its cabins, and Volvo has become a winner
with artful, Scandinavian interior design, tweaks
that make even a small SUV feel luxurious. With the
XT4, Cadillac is paring down some of the touches
premium buyers expect, says Eric Noble, president
of consulting irm The CarLab. While the XT4 uses
real wood in its interior, the wood trim is narrower
than on many premium cars and its center con-
trol console isn’t as blinged out as competitors’,
Noble says. “The irst question that comes to mind
is, where’s the luxury?”
Phillip Kucera, the car’s interior design man-
ager, points to hand stitching on the dashboard
leather and wood grain made from diferent tim-
bers to give it a modern look. But he acknowledges
that with a starting price of $35,000, Cadillac can
spend only so much decorating the XT4.
Alexander Edwards, president of marketing
consultant Strategic Vision Inc., says the XT4’s
technology and lower price have a good shot at
attracting younger buyers to Cadillac. But all that
may not matter, Lutz says. Restoring Cadillac’s luxe
reputation could take years, during which car-
makers may be competing with ride-sharing com-
panies ofering autonomous transportation. If the
interlopers succeed, he says, consumers would be
more attracted to brands like Uber and Lyft than
to a particular car manufacturer.
“I don’t think there are enough decades left in
the branded automobile business as we know it to
achieve a comeback,” Lutz says.
—David Welch
THE BOTTOM LINE Starting at $35,000, Cadillac’s new XT4 small
SUV is intended to woo younger buyers. It’s part of the vintage
brand’s eighth reboot in two decades.
⊳ A Shanghai dealer lot
stocked with Cadillacs
BUSINESS
Bloomberg Businessweek
October 8, 2018