"GM Knows..".

[James Landi]

Jalopnik article ..."GM knows this is Cadillac's Last Chance " An edgy hardball article about the tenuous fate of Cadillac.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Link??

Mike

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

https://jalopnik.com/gm-knows-this-is-cadillac-s-last-chance-1831926384

\m/
Laurie

[eshane]

Quote "Cadillac’s multibillion-dollar, New York City-led branding effortâ€"not a bad idea on its faceâ€"largely failed for not having the right products at the right time."  Duh, lot of Cadillac traditional buyers in NYC??  Hub of Uber and millenials................

[Bill Young]

Not to beat a dead horse with regard to many of my previous comments but , If Cadillac wants to survive they have to stop trying to compete in markets that are essentially all but sewed up. Stop trying to be the GM , AUDI or Mercedes Benz alternative and do something different. If Cadillac is doing well in China , great but does ANYONE at Cadillac notice that Chrysler / Dodge have been selling Challengers and Chargers like hotcakes for years now? Could it be that they look retro and offer colors for the cars and their trim?? Gee what a novel idea. I am just saying if they Love copying someone why don't they put out a model that retro kicks up their own storied past. Given that NOTHING else has apparently worked , before death of the brand try it! , The public in North America just might take to it in large enough numbers to make the difference. Now I will use sarcastic reverse psychology here. No one at GM/Cadillac read this or God forbid , take it to heart. By the way I have owned 2010 , 2011 , 2014 , 2016 Dodge Challengers and none of them were black , white , silver or gray.

[Big Apple Caddy]

Quote "Cadillac’s multibillion-dollar, New York City-led branding effortâ€"not a bad idea on its faceâ€"largely failed for not having the right products at the right time."  Duh, lot of Cadillac traditional buyers in NYC??  Hub of Uber and millenials................

I really don't think the NYC locale had much if anything to do with wanting to drive up Cadillac sales in the NYC area.  It was more an image thing especially for the overseas markets (like China which is Cadillac's #1 market) where NYC is viewed as a trendy, sophisticated, etc city.

[Big Apple Caddy]

If Cadillac is doing well in China , great but does ANYONE at Cadillac notice that Chrysler / Dodge have been selling Challengers and Chargers like hotcakes for years now?

But even Charger has suffered from the sedan decline with sales down in 2017 and again in 2018 (despite being Dodge's ONLY sedan) and are now at about 2/3rds of 2007 levels.  Meanwhile, Jeep sales have skyrocketed in this SUV mad market.

[James Landi]

All good points, and note well, that many of the new "crossovers" look suspiciously like sedans with an enlarged stern, so, apparently, the buying public wants a ton of room, and most are not interested in a coupe or sedan aesthetic, and so, alas, the shape of things to come, automobile wise, is a boated crossover sedan or an suv.   ...and truly, the SRX and the newly introduced small suv/crossover  Cadillac-- bloated sedans are  quiet, perform well, and certainly not an off-road utility vehicle.  Apparently, the coupe and sedan are on the edge of becoming extinct, and with it, the Cadillac brand.

[Dr. John T. Welch]

" Apparently, the coupe and sedan are on the edge of becoming extinct, and with it, the Cadillac brand."

Not so fast!!  There's still a chance for a crack at the millennials  with the newly rumored Sedan deBlasio and hot Coupe deCortez.
Only a 12 year product cycle for them.  Better hurry and get your orders in.     

[Big Apple Caddy]

Apparently, the coupe and sedan are on the edge of becoming extinct, and with it, the Cadillac brand.

While Cadillac has long historically been most associated with coupes and sedans and has certainly been hurt by the decline of those segments, I don't think it should mean the extinction of Cadillac.  The coupe/sedan market isn't entirely gone and Cadillac is finally expanding its crossover/SUV business with a new one this year (XT4), another new one next year (XT6) and the already existing XT5 and Escalade.

Where and how far other things like electrification take the brand and the overall automotive market is still unknown too.

[cadillacmike68]

Not to beat a dead horse with regard to many of my previous comments but , If Cadillac wants to survive they have to stop trying to compete in markets that are essentially all but sewed up. Stop trying to be the GM , AUDI or Mercedes Benz alternative and do something different. If Cadillac is doing well in China , great but does ANYONE at Cadillac notice that Chrysler / Dodge have been selling Challengers and Chargers like hotcakes for years now? Could it be that they look retro and offer colors for the cars and their trim?? Gee what a novel idea. I am just saying if they Love copying someone why don't they put out a model that retro kicks up their own storied past. Given that NOTHING else has apparently worked , before death of the brand try it! , The public in North America just might take to it in large enough numbers to make the difference. Now I will use sarcastic reverse psychology here. No one at GM/Cadillac read this or God forbid , take it to heart. By the way I have owned 2010 , 2011 , 2014 , 2016 Dodge Challengers and none of them were black , white , silver or gray.

Hi Bill,

The Charger is fugly, but the Challenger actually looks good. The best outline of the late 60s - early 70s offerings from Mopar.

Yes a 68-73 looking big coupe / sedan and Convertible with a V8 is what they need but I'm not holding my breath.

[Dan LeBlanc]

If there's no demand for sedans, why did the $110,000 Coach Edition Continental sell out in less than 48 hours and FoMoCo is pleased enough to do another run next year?  Bill is on to something with the retro theme.

[cadillac ken]

Design sells. 
Let's be honest a new mid sized Hyundai is as good a car as most folks need.  It has all the creature comforts, tech options (bluetooth, sync, etc.) and it drives fine at speed.  So what drives a choice in most cases in any price range?  Status and or Design.

Retro seems to sell.  For Cadillac; departure from the "edge" design is a risk. But as most have said, what's left to lose?  Playing is safe seldom gets the big rewards and certainly won't save the marque.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Bill Mitchell once said if you design something, show it to a bunch of people and they say, "That's nice", it's a failure.

[Big Apple Caddy]

If there's no demand for sedans, why did the $110,000 Coach Edition Continental sell out in less than 48 hours and FoMoCo is pleased enough to do another run next year?

I don't think anybody is claiming that there is NO demand for sedans.  Cadillac sold over 27K large sedans in the U.S. last year, another 9,668 midsize sedans and however many compact sedans.  The demand for sedans, however, is down significantly compared to times past and not just for Cadillac but other brands as well.

Also, the fact that Lincoln’s 80-unit production sedan sold out quickly does not mean there is a strong demand for sedans.   The appeal could be its very limited production run (rarity), that it's a unique special edition model, the coach doors and/or something else.  Again, we’re talking about just 80 buyers here which is an insignificant number when looking at the bigger picture.  Also, even before it officially went on sale Ford was planning to do a second year run.

Sales of the regular/full production Continental haven't been great in the U.S. (less than 9K sold in 2018) and that is much more reflective of the overall sedan market.

[fishnjim]

Chuckling on Dr John's humor.
Does the Cortez come from "built in antenna"?    How's the "Nancy" coming or is it a delusion?
Rough crowd...
They need to pull a Harley Earl and get one of these TV show designers to lead design.  Not these computer school geeks.
Why should you have to buy it, let it age, then make it look cool?   Something's missing there.
At absurd times like this, I don't know whether to cry or laugh, I prefer laugh...USA has a shutdown there too.

[cadillacmike68]

It's the suv craze that continues to steal from the sedan market. I consider all suvs to be abominations, but I don't run the auto industry. They Still don't have the same fuel economy requirements as cars

As for me if I'm going to have a closed car body, a sedan is much preferred because of the easier entry and exit in the rear and the front door length.

[cadillacmike68]

Chuckling on Dr John's humor.
Does the Cortez come from "built in antenna"?    How's the "Nancy" coming or is it a delusion?
Rough crowd...
They need to pull a Harley Earl and get one of these TV show designers to lead design.  Not these computer school geeks.
Why should you have to buy it, let it age, then make it look cool?   Something's missing there.
At absurd times like this, I don't know whether to cry or laugh, I prefer laugh...USA has a shutdown there too.

More like built in transmitter that never shuts off.

[Scot Minesinger]

I started counting cars in my area that crossed an intersection while I was stopped at a long red light.  More than 50% were SUV's, and many were trucks and mini-vans, seemed about 20% were sedans or coupes.  Further counting and observations in my area yielded similar results.  This was in Fairfax County, VA one of the most affluent Counties in the Country. 

Cadillac has got to make SUV's or they for sure will die.  I think they should make a pick up truck, I was sad when dropped the Avalanche like Escalade, I was considering buying one. 

[nysdarkblue]

Cadillac needs to do what the other car companies are doing. Bring back the big cars like a nice size Fleetwood Brougham. It worked with the Challenger, Charger, Camaro, and Mustang.