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Cadillac chief marketer admits ELR is 'a big disappointment'

During the Cadillac XT5 global launch in Dubai, Automobile interviewed Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus and got the CMO to touch on just about every major issue affecting the brand and the industry. After two years on the job, having come from 15 years at BMW, Ellinghaus naturally started with the "passionate Cadillac customers" and "iconic brand" spiel, then they got into a top-down look at where America's preeminent luxury brand stands. Ellinghaus said Cadillac is in a period of transition, lately focused on smaller and more performance-oriented vehicles, which has alienated a chunk of veteran customers and left others trying to figure out what Cadillac is about. He believes that "for a few more years, the products will probably be stronger than the brand," while he does his work of conveying what the company has to offer. But the brand had to make the switch, because "Generation X and Y will make 80 percent of all actual buyers in the next five years..." On top of that, he'll be working on making sure the customer and dealership experiences are where they need to be. Speaking of dealers, Ellinghaus thinks the future will not be brick-and-mortar shops, but digital pickup-and-delivery services. "Nobody wants to go to a dealership for service and maintenance," he says. He said the ELR has been "a big disappointment," but it has taught Cadillac that converting its existing line-up to plug-in hybrids is a better way forward. However, he characterized the plug-in hybrid as "the next all-wheel drive," in that everyone's going to offer it soon, so it will be "an entry ticket into luxury automobiles rather than a differentiating aspect." The CMO thinks the CTS is suffering because of the decline in the US midsize luxury sedan market in general thanks to the SUV and crossover craze, so the brand really needs another small SUV. Head over to Automobile for more of Ellinghaus' intriguing answers, like "I do believe that very long-term hydrogen is really the way," and "it's time to get real" in Europe. Taking a dig at Volkswagen on that last matter, he also said, "I think the absence of the diesel is not as much of an issue as it was eight weeks ago." Related Video:

Cadillac sales chief fired over policy violation

Amidst a good year for Cadillac, which is experiencing higher sales gains than any other US brand this year, the US sales chief has been fired over a policy violation, Automotive News reports.
The sales chief, Chase Hawkins, "has left effective immediately," GM spokesman David Caldwell told Automotive News. Caldwell went on to say that Hawkins' replacement would be chosen soon.
Hawkins became the US sales chief in June 2012, and before that was the regional sales director for Cadillac in the Northeast US, overseeing 168 dealerships.

GM won't really kill off the Chevy Volt and Cadillac CT6, will it?

General Motors is apparently considering killing off six slow-selling models by 2020, according to Reuters. But is that really likely? The news is mentioned in a story where UAW president Dennis Williams notes that slumping US car sales could threaten jobs at low-volume factories. Still, we're skeptical that GM is really serious about killing those cars. Reuters specifically calls out the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Sonic, and the Chevrolet Volt. Most of these have been redesigned or refreshed within the past few model years. Four - the LaCrosse, Impala, CT6, and Volt - are built in the Hamtramck factory in Detroit. That plant has made only 35,000 cars this year - down 32 percent from 2016. A typical GM plant builds 200,000-300,000 vehicles a year. Of all the cars Williams listed, killing the XTS, Impala, and Sonic make the most sense. They're older and don't sell particularly well. On the other hand, axing the other three seems like an odd move. It would leave Buick and Cadillac without flagship sedans, at least until the rumored Cadillac CT8 arrives. The CT6 was a big investment for GM and backing out after just a few years would be a huge loss. It also uses GM's latest and best materials and technology, making us even more skeptical. The Volt is a hugely important car for Chevrolet, and supplementing it with a crossover makes more sense than replacing it with one. Offering one model with a range of powertrain variants like the Hyundai Ioniq and Toyota Prius might be another route GM could take. All six of these vehicles are sedans, Yes, crossover sales are booming, but there's still a huge market for cars. Backing away from these would be essentially giving up sales to competitors from around the globe. The UAW might simply be publicly pushing GM to move crossover production to Hamtramck to avoid closing the plant and laying off workers. Sales of passenger cars are down across both GM and the industry. Consolidating production in other plants and closing Hamtramck rather than having a single facility focus on sedans might make more sense from a business perspective. GM is also trying to reduce its unsold inventory, meaning current production may be slowed or halted while current cars move into customer hands. There's a lot of politics that goes into building a car. GM wants to do what makes the most sense from a business perspective, while the UAW doesn't workers to lose their jobs when a factory closes.