Cadillac Moving Back To Detroit From New York City

[Jon S]

I said this move to NYC was foolish and I guess Management finally agrees:

After four years in New York City, The Wall Street Journal reports that Cadillac is moving its headquarters back to Detroit. This comes about four months after former head Johan de Nysschen was ousted from the automaker for a variety of reasons, including slumping sales and a product line not in concert with consumer tastes. Let's be clear about this, the move to New York was not Cadillac's biggest issue.

[Scot Minesinger]

Foolish is a kind word to describe this mistake.  You can travel from Detroit to NYC to discover the info needed for marketing, rather than relocate the office there in one of the most expensive inconvenient cities in the USA.

[G Pennington]

Made about as much sense as Boeing moving their headquarters from Seattle to Chicago.
Cadillac needs to concentrate on making cars people want to buy.  Powerful, comfortable, cutting edge styling, and BULLETPROOF RELIABILITY.

[Big Apple Caddy]

I think a notable part of the move to NYC had been more of an "image" thing for the overseas (specifically China) market.  Thanks to China, Cadillac is expected to have the highest sales in the brand’s history this year.   Once Cadillac gets more crossovers in its lineup, U.S. sales will start to improve too and this would be regardless of where the HQ is.

[STS05lg]

Gary, the Boeing move was a result, at the time it occurred, of Boeing wanting to be near United which was the largest customer, by far, for Boeing commercial jet liners. Boeing executives at the time wanted to close to their largest customer. The Cadillac move to NYC was, like Big Apple pointed, out all about "image" to distinguish the brand from the rest of the GM line up. And as many have noted, the largest market for Cadillac is China, and NYC has an "image". My preference would have been for them them to move to California. Before you laugh, Toyota or Datsun, i am not sure which, has their world wide design studio in Orange County where the 405 meets the 5 in a former Strawberry field, again to be close to their largest customer base.

[chrisntam]

......….Mistakes were made...……….

 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

I never understood what the NYC move was expected to accomplish and I don't see what difference it was supposed have made to the overseas market. Either people want to buy the car or they don't. The customer couldn't care less whether it was designed in Detroit, NY or Timbuktu.

[59-in-pieces]

"Either people want to buy the car or they don't. The customer couldn't care less whether it was designed in Detroit, NY or Timbuktu." thanks Eric.

I said the same think when they announced the initial move - and no, this isn't a "me Too" moment.
It is common sense that really great designs come from creative minds, and not from their addresses.
Not even price alone makes for a successful marque, the design is what spurs interest and a need to know more, like price and engineering.

And frankly, I don't care or think that more SUV's or crossovers will bring back the Standard of the World.
After all, the Standard of the World is what others strive to be, not Cadillac which struggles to remain relevant.

So hoping that hiring De N, or moving to N.Y., or hiring a 30 year old to guide sales and marketing (think greatly) would cause Cadillac to thrive, and back on top, was the trifecta of bad decisions.

My humble suggestion to the Board of GM and the management of Cadillac would be to put the money into extraordinary design - "Build it, and they will come."

Implementing this suggestion would include a National/International design competition for the "NEXT GENERATION OF CADILLACS" - which could be submitted in wooden, plastic, clay models - drawing from what ever media, oil, pastels, colored pencils, markers, chalk - or digital offerings; don't let the medium or cost of a presentation stifle the design process, oh, along with a name for the design submissions.

I sure hope someone is listening.
Have fun,
Steve B.

[Scot Minesinger]

I remember watching a TV show called Colombo, and the Villain drove a 1970 (maybe it was a 69-going from memory) Cadillac DVC light blue with dark blue top and in one scene the villain said "It costs $150 just to open the hood" referring to his new Cadillac, so I guess they have always been that way. 

Steve is right, the design is everything, and the address is nothing.

The CT6 with V-8 with two versions of power is a good start on paper (durability of a 250 cu in hand built engine that makes 500hp net + is in question).

With all cars in general luxury is just driving it and not having to do anything that requires any serious thinking when operating the radio, lights, a/c, and etc.  So that full concentration can be on the wheel.  Luxury is not having to take a college course on how to operate your car.  Luxury is durability and dependable.  Luxury always includes a sense of power.  I hope Cadillac figures that aspect of the design out. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The trouble with modern cars is that the owners manual is so thick that it would take months to comprehend it all to get the best out of the car.

Bruce.

[wrench]

I have to laugh about Cadillac's problems. I rent a lot of cars of various makes. To the point of being Hertz President's Circle Gold.

I just spent 3 weeks in a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland and it was a pleasure to interface with compared to my SRX.

Lol, it doesn't matter if they make crossovers, if they are crappy designs, they won't sell. Maybe they will in China because of the image thing, but with all due respect to Andre Agassi, image is NOT everything.

I actually love my SRX, but that CUE system is a total POS.

[Big Apple Caddy]

The XT5 does well for Cadillac, it was the #2 bestselling luxury crossover/SUV in America last year behind the Lexus RX, and adding more crossovers to the lineup will help Cadillac's overall sales.

Crossovers/SUVs are largely what have driven sales for luxury brands like Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes, and Porsche to record levels in the U.S. in recent years while Cadillac’s lack of crossovers and the market's unfortunate (my opinion) turn against sedans has hurt sales for the brand.

[BJM]

And I think with the yuppies and suburbanites that want something different that Cadillac is poised for an uptick.  Slow growth but growth nonetheless.