Cadillac stays out of Europe until 2020

"tapzz" (tapzz) 03/03/2015 at 12:52 • Filed to: cadillac

1

14

"To try and challenge the Germans in their own backyard without the right cars and powertrains is an exercise in futility," said Cadillac boss de Nysschen to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Which makes sense. So the plan is to establish the brand as more global first by building up the US and Asia first, and then starting building the goods to be competitive on the old Continent. Which is to say diesel engines and a sub-ATS compact to challenge the A3, 1/2 series et al. That one's due by the end of the decade.

Interesting tidbit, de Nysschen admits that the decades-long 'will they, won't they?' flip flopping, and especially the badge engineering hurt them badly.

For the avoidance of doubt: a range of well established companies will continue to supply Caddies to determined Europeans who can afford not to care about gas guzzler taxes and $8 a US gallon petrol for the privilege of owning a notBMW, an unAudi or misMercedes. Not many of them, though.

The trolling, then, was purely for a domestic audience.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 12:57

2

Muh 2015!

472CID > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 13:18

2

I don't think they're really missing anything. The sales of non-Audi/Mercedes/Audi luxury cars are pretty freaking small. It's all about that sweet Chinese market share baby.

Cé hé sin > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 14:10

1

Oh, they've given up again? Or did they even try last time around?

Bring back the Saabillac I say. A few people bought that.

Cé hé sin > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 14:11

1

"Which is to say diesel engines and a sub-ATS compact to challenge the A3, 1/2 series et al. That one's due by the end of the decade."

Ah, but which decade?

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > 472CID 03/03/2015 at 14:12

1

Europe is a tight market which (while close behind the US in total volume) is fragmented and a nightmare to sell in...I don't understand how GM actively choosing not to waste money on only marginal sales is somehow a bad plan to people. At the end of the day, it is about winning large chunks of share in emerging markets and eroding European brand strongholds abroad until what the rest of the world has is something that Europe can set aside its jingoism for.

ranwhenparked > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 14:20

1

I admire the tenacity in that they still think Cadillac is just 5 years away from working in Europe. I doubt it will end any better than their last attempt on the continent, but I admire it.

tapzz > Cé hé sin 03/03/2015 at 14:26

0

Heh, indeed. But it's supposed to be this decade; if they want to have a go in 2020, they'd better have something C segment sized by then.

tapzz > ranwhenparked 03/03/2015 at 14:27

0

Success is always just five years away.. Really, honest. This time, for sure.

Klaus Schmoll > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 15:13

1

So what this says is that they will keep doing what they have been doing for the last couple days. Burn money! They have 8 (Opel) dealerships in Germany that sell offer Cadillacs as well. By far not enough for a country this size. For those they have to provide demonstrators, keep up a parts network, and probably give them incentives to keep up the facade. So they use that as a bridgehead for when the REAL product arrives somewhere around 2020. As far as business plans go, this doesn't sound like a good one.

tapzz > Klaus Schmoll 03/03/2015 at 16:46

0

I'm surprised that they even bother with those eight dealerships. I'd have thought it was down to Geiger and those kinds of places. In the UK, they made a spasmodic attempt at a dealership network during one of their revivals, but Cadillac Europe now just points you to Bauer Millett & co- they've been importing V8 barges for footballers since forever.

Maybe Cadillac having an official presence in Germany is like the social media trolling: strictly for a domestic audience.

Klaus Schmoll > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 17:22

1

It probably is only for the domestic audience, but I also think that they are reluctant to abandon the market completely. Like that, their cars at the very least get reviewed by the media from time to time to get the news out that they aren't about tailfins and dead Elvis in the boot anymore. If it was only Geiger et al. the media wouldn't bother. It seems like a long con to keep up the facade or something.

BTW, I just checked their website. They have 13 shops selling/offering cars and a few service partners now. Most of them Opel dealers, some of them places like Geiger.

http://www.cadillac.de/hilfe/haendler…

tapzz > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider 03/03/2015 at 17:53

0

I think Cadillac's plan is sensible, but it contrasts rather starkly with the globe strutting bravura they're wont to display every now and again. It also makes for a less than confidence inspiring image for prospective customers here: I've literally lost count of the number of times that they promised to be back totally for reals this time. With that history, would I really buy an otherwise very attractive ATS in 2020?

Also, Europe doesn't really do jingoism, for the simple reason that very few Europeans consider themselves primarily European. They're French, Danish, German, Portuguese etc. Many Germans –but not all; there's a market for the unAudi in Germany– certainly have a thing about their own products, but for the rest of the continent, there's no a priori reason to pick a German product over an American one.

King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider > tapzz 03/03/2015 at 18:52

1

Maybe jingoism is too harsh a term; I'll apologize and call it historic sense of identity instead.

Market share in Europe is centralized on European brands because those brands are available and have products people are accustomed to and fill their needs ( http://europe.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA9… ). Anything not made in the EU or by a brand centered in the EU doesn't sell well historically because the knowledge (and the statement of being from one country or another) isn't there. Nothing is guaranteed (look at Toyota) but a big shift would need to occur to overlook the high gas prices, limited dwelling space in large cities, lack of diesel/manual options, perceived lack of quality, and high import costs.

Its not a bad thing, its just a thing.

GM is better served focusing on the 78% of the automotive market that isn't Europe (or Japan) which has many areas that are far more ripe for competition.

tapzz > King Ginger, not writing for Business Insider 03/03/2015 at 20:48

1

Very interesting stats. I did not expect to find non European brands to do that badly overall, but then I'm not so familiar with the German, French, Italian and Spanish markets. In the UK and the rest of Northern Europe, American, Japanese and Korean brands are doing better than those numbers suggest. e.g. http://www.best-selling-cars.com/britain-uk/201…

I suspect that what you're seeing is some jingoism at the national level- PSA and Renault still capture huge chunks of the French market, but not so much in, say, Germany.

Other than that, you're quite right, there is a specificity to the European market that makes it quite different from anywhere else. We have no Corollas or Camrys, for example. The Accord segment has almost completely disappeared. VW Up sized A segment cars sell in huge numbers.

Now that the European market is getting back on it's feet, GM and Ford are not doing too badly, just like they did pre-crash. It's just that they'll always struggle to do premium.