Cadillac: In China, It's a Bestselling Luxury Brand with Youth Appeal

Guangzhou China It39s well known that Buick sells more cars in China than it does in the US but it39s amazing that Cadillac does tooamp160 The company had a large display at the huge 16th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibitionamp160and a plethora of models that appeal to the Chinese love for large foreign cars especially with room to stretch out in back as the chauffeur drivesThe key to Cadillac39s success in China and its trouble making headway in the US market is brand identityamp160 The Chinese see a fresh nameplateamp160 Americans think of Cadillacs as grandad39s car despite decades of the company trying to convince them otherwiseamp160 I recently ran into a Cadillac insideramp160who expressed just that problem in defining the company todayamp160 I suggested quotCadillac The cutting edge just got sharperquotamp160 Not bad he saidBut getting Americans to echo that slogan is hard work even though Cadillac39s lineup is actually quite youthful in orientationamp160 One big problem is all those sedans such as the CTS XTS ATS and CT6amp160 Americans as we all know are clearly preferring SUVs especially crossoversamp160 And the confusingly similar car names don39t helpamp160 The result is Cadillac sales lagging behind luxury leaders such as Lexus Audi and BMWIn the years before his firing last April former Audi boss Johan de Nysschen hired in 2014 spent 12 billion on a makeover that included trying to tie Cadillac into cuttingedge fashion trends sponsoring art events and moving the company39s headquarters to Manhattanamp160 quotThe move allows our team to share experiences with premiumbrand consumers and develop attitudes in common with our audiencequot he said back thenamp160 Brand marketing director Melody Lee added she wanted Cadillac to be a global luxury brand that quothappens to sell carsquotamp160 Ads sometimes didn39t even have the new models in themamp160 Shades of Infiniti39s introductionNone of this went over well in Detroit which promptly moved Cadillac back home after the chief was firedamp160 If de Nysschen39s approach had translated into big sales increases he would still be thereamp160 In 2017 Cadillac sold 156440 cars in the USamp160 Itamp160was 182543 in 2013 before he took overBut add in China and the picture is much rosieramp160 Worldwide 2017 Cadillac sales were 356467 driven largely by 175489 in China up 50 percent from 2016amp160 That39s close to the company39s global peak of 360825 in 1978 when almost all the sales were in the USI toured Cadillac39s large Guangzhou stand where an XT4 crossover with a kayak on top pictured below helped illustrate the brand39s youth appealamp160 The smaller SUV is new to the Chinese market and should do well thereamp160 Cadillac plans to open 20 new showrooms in China by the end of this yearamp160Dean Sciole Cadillac39s marketing director in China told me that although Cadillacs are still global designs the stylists are thinking a lot about what will work in China before introducing new modelsamp160 quotThis year we39ll do close to 200000 cars in Chinaquot he saidamp160 quotThe buyers are very young 30 to 34 on averageamp160 They39re buying into the American spiritamp160 They don39t want to follow the trends of the German brandsquotCadillac launched its Chinese operations only in 2005amp160 quotThat gave us an opportunity to define the brand for a younger marketquot Sciole told meamp160 quotWe39re No 4 for luxury here behind the Germans but ahead of the other domesticsquotamp160 There39s still a lot of ground to conqueramp160 Together Audi Mercedes and BMW control 75 percent of China39s burgeoning luxury marketIt also helps that Cadillacs particularly the Escalade are popular with Chinese aftermarket customizers who turn vans and big SUVs into rolling pleasure palaces with bigscreen TVs massage seats liquor cabinets and other amenitiesamp160 Several such firms were showing their wares in GuangzhouWatch a movie on China Southern Airlines and a plethora of car commercials precede itamp160 They39re short on information but long on brand definition identifying the cars with youth and excitementamp160 That hasn39t worked for Cadillac in the US but it39s hitting the mark here in ChinaPhotos by Jim MotavalliClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Cadillac: In China, It's a Bestselling Luxury Brand with Youth Appeal

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Cadillac: In China, It's a Bestselling Luxury Brand with Youth Appeal

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