Cadillac chief eases dealers' fears, asks for support
SAN FRANCISCO – Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen soothed anxiety today among the brand's more than 900 dealers who were concerned he might reduce their ranks during a meeting at the National Automobile Dealers Association Convention.
"He couldn't have been more clear that he has no plan to reduce the dealer count," said Howard Drake, who owns a Cadillac dealership in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and is chairman of the Cadillac dealer council.
General Motors hired de Nysschen in September to elevate Cadillac to the first tier of the global luxury car market. He is moving Cadillac's marketing operations to New York City and shifting the advertising account from Detroit-based Lowe Campbell Ewald to Paris-based Publicis Worldwide.
So some of the dealers who met with him today in a hotel ballroom were worried that they were next in line for a major overhaul in which Cadillac would sell through fewer "boutique-type" showrooms, which de Nysschen had proposed at the end of 2014.
"This isn't some evil plot where he's dragging us off in the weeds," said Drake, who sells between 500 and 600 Cadillacs a year in a market (southern California) where Cadillac needs to gain market share.
GM's board of directors recently approved a $12-billion plan for Cadillac that is designed to double its number of models to 12 and double global sales to 500,000 by 2020.
After a high-performance CTS-V that goes on sale this summer, Cadillac's next new product will be a CT6 large sedan with which it intends to compete with Mercedes-Benz's S class, BMW's 7 Series and Audi's A8.
Steve Germain, who owns a Cadillac dealership, among other franchises, in Columbus, Ohio, said he did not feel threatened by de Nysschen's strategy, but he acknowledged Cadillac needs to introduce more models, especially in the growing small and midsize crossover segments. Now that gas prices are below $2 a gallon in central Ohio, Germain said his biggest problem is a shortage of Escalade large SUVs that are selling as well as they have in a decade.
De Nysschen told the dealers Cadillac sales should increase this year by less than 1%, but it's better than the brand's 6.5% decline in U.S. sales for 2014. Cadillac sold a record 73,000 vehicles in China last year.
Drake said de Nysschen came across as humble, expressing regret that the idea of boutique showrooms was presented as it was in the media.
"But he also said he wanted to make Cadillac more exclusive and that dealers can't have anyone on the floor with a white knit shirt and a Chevy logo," Drake said.
Contact Greg Gardner: 313-222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12.