[Scrambler]

I wonder what the price difference for a Cadillac is over there.

Add total amount of all kinds of penalty taxes which is 60% where I live and even more in countries as Netherlands or Denmark. No wonder people mull over how to import a car for less and concentrate mainly on Copart and iaai and search their dream cars (not only American because there are plenty of German cars from auto auctions here). Even after fixing them, it's still much cheaper. Also take under consideration the fact Europe is diversified, people doing the same jobs in some cases earn here 30% less than in the west. It all counts. That's why premium monobrand dealers are needed, a place where different kinds of financing are available. Without it Cadillac will always be a ghost-niche company only for die-hard enthusiasts.

That’s really cool to see. Hopefully your able to make the event even bigger next time around.

The event in may will be much bigger indeed. The whole palace is booked only for Cadillac fans and owners so we had to find an alternative place for the rest who confirmed their presence. Our new venue for season's opening. Gniewkowo Palace.

Does it help that the CT6 is still made in China? Some basic body parts etc. might be available somehow. The V engine is not in production though.

It might help regarding parts production longevity. Still all parts come to Europe through American sales channels. But it doesn't matter really - they come from non-EU area so they are heavily-taxed just as the cars.

 

[Scrambler]

I forgot to mention my new sociable friends organised 2 months after the event unofficial end of the season party. But I wasn't there unfortunately. Honestly I feel stupid, I must finally go back to Cadillac but the record inflation and weak currency are killing me

 

[Scrambler]

Heck, I have rare European cars over here!

The ones You own are even rarer here than V-Series Cadillacs. I Haven't seen an XR4Ti my whole life. There's one for sale near me though.

Once in 2-3 years I see Escort Cosworths only. And my friend's father used to have the last Scorpio with Cosworth V6. They sold it for...one thousand bucks. According to them no one could fix the electrical issues the car suffered from.

 

[Cobaltss_King]

With Cadillac returning to Lemans a meet up at that event would be pretty cool.

 

[Scrambler]

With Cadillac returning to Lemans a meet up at that event would be pretty cool.

Not a bad idea but it should be organised buy someone locally. Maybe there's a Cadillac France FB group similar to ours? I know lots of Corvette people visit Le Mans each year. We have an interesting member in our group who once posted pictures of him celebrating Corvette Le Mans victory with Pratt & Miller team in a restaurant. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find all the pictures. He also said he once negotiated opening a Cadillac dealership in Poland but eventually gave up.

 

[Scrambler]

The next CT6-V owner promised me to appear at May's event. Here's also the ELR I mentioned and a newcomer the first XLR-V in the country. From Copart of course. It's after a front-end collision so I am afraid it's not gonna make it. The owner (who owns a CTS-V and several F-bodys) complains about parts accessibility.

And one of these classic beauties hopefully will also come. They belong to one guy.

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Well...I'm surprised to see so many Cadillac cars in a country like Poland...I know that Cadillac was officially sold in Russia (maybe no more) and I can imagine the difficulty to get spare parts. Congratulation!

 

[Scrambler]

Well...I'm surprised to see so many Cadillac cars in a country like Poland...I know that Cadillac was officially sold in Russia (maybe no more) and I can imagine the difficulty to get spare parts. Congratulation!

'in a country like Poland' - . Well, this is a problem You mentioned regarding Your former employers - no clue about European markets. Most Germans for example treat Eastern countries as underdogs but they have always seen business opportunity here and kept on investing in their infrastructure. Thanks to it nowadays You'll find in bigger cities more 3,5-series BMWs than Octavias and more X3/X5s than Kodiaqs or Opel Suvs. New ones (mostly leased) used (mostly wrecked ones imported from Germany and Switzerland). There's a great variety of choices and access to parts, financing and service. And GM ? Opening one single sales/service outlet and keeping it has always been a mission impossible. Somehow Chrysler/Jeep managed to have distribution network from early 90's and keep it. The dealer in Warsaw still exists, they were the first in the country to have a parking lot on the roof - later many copied them including new Mercedes dealer. And no one will tell me the products they offered at beginning (thirsty Jeeps, 300C, Sebring) were suitable for Europe. Nowadays they expanded their portfolio do Dodge and RAM. So if I wanted I could lease a Durango or Challenger 5 km from me. Try to do it with a Corvette or Cadillac.

And here's a picture of the first Chrysler dealer in Poland from 1929. Most of the American manufacturers had their outlets in interwar period. Sadly after the war broke out only Chrysler made a come back. The building still exists today as one of a few that survived heavy bombings. I can show You it when You visit Warsaw.

GM once tried to distribute parts for Chevy/Cadillac through Opel dealers. It failed miserably of course as no one wanted to pay their crazy-high comissions. Especially after internet sales became so popular, most of the smaller parts are very easy to get and sometimes websites as RockAuto are able to ship them within 4-5 working days. The problems appear when sb. wants to import big body parts. This is very expensive and when I owned a Firebird I had problems with finding a company that organises shipping of hood to Poland.

As for Russia, I don't know why You even mention this country in one sentence. It's a completely different world. In fact GM never neglected it as much as Europe. And now in theory they closed their business. On BBC I saw a report about 120 new Escalades stuck in a port in Belgium that were supposed to go to Russia. But visit accounts of Russian rich instagramers and You will see how their brag about their fresh-delivered new Caddies. This is reality. I know sb. who works at Mclaren/Aston/Rolls dealer and somehow they sell to Russia without a problem.

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Since 40 years, GM in Europe has been an up and down. As you could read somewhere, I was there for some years, mostly with a lot of disappointment. In 1998, a Pakistani's name Razak managed to sell the US vehicles through Opel. What a mistake! Now, there is almost nothing more in western Europe; some dealers are still there, waiting for better days or importing themselves cars/SUVs from the US.
Since China was more or less open for business, GM concentrated its efforts and money in that country and neglected Europe. Is that the right strategy?
Chrysler products are now part of Stellantis. This conglomerate see the interest for US products in Europe, therefore they are well represented.

 

[Scrambler]

Since 40 years, GM in Europe has been an up and down. As you could read somewhere, I was there for some years, mostly with a lot of disappointment. In 1998, a Pakistani's name Razak managed to sell the US vehicles through Opel. What a mistake! Now, there is almost nothing more in western Europe; some dealers are still there, waiting for better days or importing themselves cars/SUVs from the US.
Since China was more or less open for business, GM concentrated its efforts and money in that country and neglected Europe. Is that the right strategy?
Chrysler products are now part of Stellantis. This conglomerate see the interest for US products in Europe, therefore they are well represented.

FCA did many mistakes regarding Chrysler in Europe however it was FCA that paired up with AEC/KWA Europe that now does a good job with Dodge/RAM distribution. I am surprised how many outlets they have. They seem to understand their target as they colaborate with H-D dealers. They recently opened their store in Rzeszow which isn't exactly the richest part of the country

Coming back to Cadillac/Corvette and their GM Europe sanatorium residents. Maybe You know this guy?
Local Opel/Saab dealer once opened a (thankfully monobrand) showroom in Warsaw. Unfortunately although they sold easily all the cars they had on the lot, they closed after 3 years. It must have had sth. to do with Kroymans as the cars they offered came from them on NL plates.

Nowadays we have one mutifranchise dealer who seems to get Cadillac/Corvette. He's not official of course but offers service and has access to new cars that already meet all the EU regulations. He recently imported 6 XT6s and sold them surprisingly quickly. And he has now another six on order. Unfortunately all with 2.0 I4 but thanks to it the pricing is 15% less than it would be with a bigger engine. He also has the first RIVIAN for sale in Europe but it's price is crazy.

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

Kroymans: another sad story. They were appointed by GM as importer/distributor for GM products. Arrogant people, knowing everything better as the other people. It was just after I was put in retirement from GM; they asked me if I would work with them for service matters for Austria and Switzerland. I declined the proposal and don't regret it.
After two or three years, the whole group went belly up.
I don't know the people who are at GM Europe. I'm just wondering what they are doing...

 

[Scrambler]

Kroymans: another sad story. They were appointed by GM as importer/distributor for GM products. Arrogant people, knowing everything better as the other people. It was just after I was put in retirement from GM; they asked me if I would work with them for service matters for Austria and Switzerland. I declined the proposal and don't regret it.
After two or three years, the whole group went belly up.
I don't know the people who are at GM Europe. I'm just wondering what they are doing...

That's what the showroom manager told me when I took an Opel Vivaro for a test drive long after they quit Cadillac. She had to deal with Kroymans and used word arrogance several times. Well, I have been dealing with arrogant corporate people most of my adult life. The difference is 'my' arrogant people come from well established brands (Germans and French LVMH group employees) that don't have to work hard. No matter what they do, their products will sell and be profitable.