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Cadillac Aims Up Market, Not Down
by David E. Zoia
WardsAuto.com, May 15 2002
What goes up must come down, right?
That’s not necessarily the case at Cadillac, where the luxury car division is seriously thinking about moving further upscale but may choose not to break through the price barrier at the low end of the market.
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What goes up must come down, right?
That’s not necessarily the case at Cadillac, where the luxury car division is seriously thinking about moving further upscale but may choose not to break through the price barrier at the low end of the market.
Insiders say Cadillac has the green light for a V-12-powered super coupe based on the Cien concept car (above).
“There have been discussions,” says Cadillac Marketing General Manager Mark LaNeve of the possibility of launching an entry below the $29,000-plus CTS sedan in price. “But we’re not sold on the idea that it’s right for us to go down into the $26,000 range. No one has proven yet that you can cover that wide a (price) range successfully.”
Instead, Cadillac will concentrate on blanketing six other major luxury vehicle segments with cars ranging from the CTS, Seville and DeVille sedans to the upcoming Corvette-based XLR roadster and a truck lineup that consists of the ’04 SRX cross/utility and soon-to-be three truck-based SUVs, LaNeve says. Cadillac will add a Suburban-based SUV to sell alongside its Escalade and Escalade EXT models next year.
“If we go into the ‛make believe’ luxury segment,” LaNeve says of cars based in the mid-$20,000 range, “we might be making a withdrawal on our brand equity. That’s not to say we will never do that, but we’re having a discussion of whether that is a sound strategy.”
In addition, General Motors Corp. may want to avoid having Cadillac compete in the same territory as some of its other marques, particularly Buick.
If not in price, Cadillac could go down in size below the CTS in order to add a car to its lineup with greater export appeal, LaNeve says. And he says Cadillac is “looking at a lot of stuff” at the upper end of the market – luxury SUVs and super cars among them. In that regard, insiders say the division has the green light for a V-12-powered super coupe based on the Cien concept car.
by David E. Zoia
WardsAuto.com, May 15 2002
What goes up must come down, right?
That’s not necessarily the case at Cadillac, where the luxury car division is seriously thinking about moving further upscale but may choose not to break through the price barrier at the low end of the market.
Print-friendly format E-mail this information
What goes up must come down, right?
That’s not necessarily the case at Cadillac, where the luxury car division is seriously thinking about moving further upscale but may choose not to break through the price barrier at the low end of the market.
Insiders say Cadillac has the green light for a V-12-powered super coupe based on the Cien concept car (above).
“There have been discussions,” says Cadillac Marketing General Manager Mark LaNeve of the possibility of launching an entry below the $29,000-plus CTS sedan in price. “But we’re not sold on the idea that it’s right for us to go down into the $26,000 range. No one has proven yet that you can cover that wide a (price) range successfully.”
Instead, Cadillac will concentrate on blanketing six other major luxury vehicle segments with cars ranging from the CTS, Seville and DeVille sedans to the upcoming Corvette-based XLR roadster and a truck lineup that consists of the ’04 SRX cross/utility and soon-to-be three truck-based SUVs, LaNeve says. Cadillac will add a Suburban-based SUV to sell alongside its Escalade and Escalade EXT models next year.
“If we go into the ‛make believe’ luxury segment,” LaNeve says of cars based in the mid-$20,000 range, “we might be making a withdrawal on our brand equity. That’s not to say we will never do that, but we’re having a discussion of whether that is a sound strategy.”
In addition, General Motors Corp. may want to avoid having Cadillac compete in the same territory as some of its other marques, particularly Buick.
If not in price, Cadillac could go down in size below the CTS in order to add a car to its lineup with greater export appeal, LaNeve says. And he says Cadillac is “looking at a lot of stuff” at the upper end of the market – luxury SUVs and super cars among them. In that regard, insiders say the division has the green light for a V-12-powered super coupe based on the Cien concept car.
