Most auto industry watchers were surprised when Cadillac announced a few years ago its decision to move its headquarters from Detroit to New York City. Detroit had been GM’s luxury brand’s home since its very beginning in 1902. Why was the move made? Because, at the time, Cadillac believed it required more autonomy from GM on a day-to-day basis.
Although it may have sounded good in theory, in practice it was anything but. When Cadillac’s newly appointed CEO, Steve Carlisle, decided to move HQ back to the Motor City, a process that’s currently underway, there was more than a symbolic reason for doing so.
According to an interview he recently granted to The Detroit Free Press, there were two main reasons behind his decision: fix quality control problems and improve human collaboration. For example, Cadillac came in next to last in Consumer Report’s annual quality survey of automakers. Only Volvo was behind it. Cadillac also ranked 27th out of 31 brands in J.D. Power’s 2018 US Vehicle Dependability Study. Carlisle claims measures have already been taken to fix that.
“Sitting here today, the quality of what’s coming out of our factories is much improved,” said Carlisle. “And we’re taking great pains to get that information out there.” Some of the problems Cadillacs were experiencing, according to dealerships, involved transmissions and technology issues. “As we encounter consumers with issues, we can be active to help them as soon as possible,” Carlisle said. “There’s been a lot of work put into Cadillac. We’re working with dealers too.”
So it sounds like Carlisle and his team are actively working to correct those quality issues, what’s going on regarding branding? Well, Carlisle calls Cadillac a “master brand” and confirmed he’ll reveal more early next year, but he did offer a brief hint of what’s in store: “Cadillac has its own values — boldness, optimism, innovation, sophistication — that will reflect in the master brand,” he said.
The big challenge, however, is “how to bring those to life.” We expect to learn more from Carlisle this January at Detroit.
