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Luca Ciferri - Automotive News - July 15, 2008
Times are changing and smart carmakers need to adapt.
A quick change of course for General Motors could be to pull Cadillac from Europe and concentrate on Russia.
Russians like Caddies. Judging by sales numbers, western Europeans don't.
Cadillac sales in Russia grew 106 percent in the January-April period to 537 units, after jumping 156 percent to 1,485 units in 2007, according to figures from the Association of European Businesses in the Russian Federation.
For those who buy a Cadillac in Russia, soaring fuel prices are not a worry yet. There is no pending CO2-based legislation and taxation.
This is not true for the rest of Europe.
In 2007, just 3,032 Cadillacs were sold in the 28 countries for which researcher Jato Dynamics compiles statistics. That was just 78 more than the year before.
This year, things improved a bit: from January to April, Cadillac sales in Europe grew 4.6 percent into a flat market. But, in real numbers, progress was minimal. In the first four months of the year, Cadillac sold 1,165 units, or 46 more than a year earlier.
Cadillac never had an easy life in Europe, where it has had to face Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the world's largest and strongest premium brands, on their home turf.
The idea to grow in Europe with a product especially designed and built here did not work either.
The uninspiring BLS sells just a fraction of what Cadillac had hoped for.
While the BLS reaps no benefit from the weak dollar, the bigger U.S.-built Cadillacs also aren't faring well. High fuel prices and the increasing adoption of CO2-based taxation are pushing European buyers away from thirsty large cars and SUVs.
Europe simply doesn't seem interested in Caddies.
So, as GM reviews its global brand strategy, the decision to pull Cadillac from western Europe and focus on Russia might be an easy one.