Back to the Pinnacle of Premium: Cadillac on the Move

Despite sagging Cadillac sales in the U.S. last year, General Motors (GM) is making some changes in order to improve the luxury brand and help it better compete with import rivals BMW and Mercedes. GM sold just 170,000 Cadillacs in 2014, a number that was down 6.5 percent from 2013, while BMW sales were up 10 percent and Mercedes grew 6.5 percent over the same period.

To get things going in a better direction, GM invested $300 million in its Hamtramck Assembly plant to improve manufacturing technology along with the return of a full-size, rear-wheel drive luxury sedan to Detroit in the form of the upcoming Cadillac CT6. Cadillac said it will unveil its large, flagship CT6 sedan this March and that the car will debut Cadillac’s new “CT” naming system for its cars and “XT” for its SUVs. The new CT6 will be lighter than the current CTS, and powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 with a hybrid plug-in setup that will deliver around 400 horsepower.

The new car will use plenty of aluminum along with new manufacturing techniques to make it 50 pounds lighter than the current CTS despite being eight inches longer and packing a hybrid battery. Cadillac has not disclosed the price or fuel economy of the CT6, but it has said the CT6 will be Cadillac’s most expensive vehicle and that it will be as fuel efficient as a mid-size car.

Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen said at the recent Washington Auto Show that “We have developed new body construction techniques and technologies allowing various types of advanced and lightweight materials to be combined within the manufacturing environment like never before.” Cadillac is saying the CT6 will go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2015 and will be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant in a new, fully-automated 138,000-square-foot shop dedicated to the manufacturing of the new luxury sedan. de Nysschen also said Cadillac will invest $12 billion to add eight more new vehicles to its lineup by 2020 and that the brand also plans to market diesel SUVs and cars in both the United States and Europe by 2019.

Cadillac is also indicating plans to upgrade its dealer network to prepare for the “most luxury oriented sedan” it has offered in decades. The brand is asking its 700 non-stand-alone dealers become more “boutique-like” to help improve customer’s buying experiences in order to meet or exceed those at other luxury brands. The company is also asking its 200 Cadillac-only dealers to become the brand’s flagship sales locations. In order for the CT6 to join the world’s group of top-class large luxury cars, every dealer location will be tasked to make some upgrades, and at the same time Cadillac said it has no plans to reduce the overall number of dealers. Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen confirmed the new dealer strategy is part of an ongoing mission to “Take this brand right back to the pinnacle of premium.”