Posted on 02/26/2013 4:39:33 PM PST by jjotto
Uh-oh: Susan Docherty, dispatched from China to Europe to teach the Eurotrash the proper appreciation and respect for Chevrolet and Cadillac, has come up with a strategy that assures the destruction of Cadillac outside of the U.S. Cadillac’s global aspirations hinge on its success in Europe, Docherty told WardsAuto. Again:” To be successful in China, Cadillac must first be successful in Europe. No blond jokes please, show some respect.
“If a luxury brand is successful in Europe, whether that brand is Chanel or Prada, or Mercedes or BMW, people in parts of Asia look to see what Europeans validate as true luxury,” Docherty told Wards. “So we have to get Cadillac rocking and rolling in Europe to get it going in China.”
Auto execs in Europe think this is hilarious. Everybody knows that Europe is overflowing with premium brands (the Euros avoid the word luxury, they think it’s gauche). They also know that to establish a new one, you need lots of time and lots of money, both of which GM does not have in abundance. Just ask Infiniti or Lexus how they are doing. Audi took about 30 years and a Ferdinand Piech to become relevant in the field, and it had the heritage that is so important in the EU.
In the parts of Europe that count, Cadillac is associated with Elvis, and it is given as much chance for a return. The European buyer of a premium car is conservative and married tighter to his brand than to his wife.
If Cadillac’s success in China hinges on Europe, then Cadillac is doomed. Last year, Cadillac delivered 2,274 vehicles in Western and Central Europe, “including Russia,” as WardsAuto snidely reports. The Chinese won’t be impressed with Russian tastes and want to know how Cadillac is doing in Paris, Berlin and Rome. There, the brand isn’t even on the radar of the European manufacturers association ACEA. It says that GM imported all of 299 cars from the U.S. to Europe in 2012, across all brands.
What’s less, now may be a very inopportune time to launch any car brand in basket case Europe, especially a luxury brand. Doherty is not concerned: Europe is “still a hell of a big market. I say to my team that ‘14 million people are going to be out there buying a car. We just need to get our fair share.’”
Frau Docherty has another grand idea: She wants to integrate Opel with GM’s other brands in Europe and “eliminate duplicate work in areas such as back-office administrative functions and front-office areas such as aftersales,” as WardsAuto reports. “It’s worth millions,” Docherty said. Good idea, but it does not work that way. One of the secrets of Volkswagen’s very successful brand separation is that the company wittingly has work duplicated across all twelve brands. It costs billions, but it gives them that own true identity.
P.S.: Most of all, the Chinese aren’t stupid. They will tell you: “Cadillac? We’ve been there. Even their taxis are Benzes. That’s why we want Audi and BMW.”
An inline, 3 cylinder, 1 liter, 70 HP, fuel-injected, DOHC gas-powered, liquid-cooled, automotive engine.
This is the same European market where auto sales declined something like 15% last year?
LOL! You would never be able to see that thing if you parked it on the 18th green.
If the site is accurate it has safety equipment and is being crash tested with an “anticipated” five star safety rating. But, there are no bumpers at all, so it’s not really classified as a car. The fighter jet seating, one front, one behind argues for it being classified as a motorcycle.
Now if you hit a grocery cart at slightly over 5 miles an hour in these new plastic fake cars you just about total them.
Yeah I saw that. Road bikes with 70hp water cooled engine would be in the 8 grand and up price bracket.
I commute about 28 miles to and from work each day. My Tacoma goes through about a $45 tank of gas every 4-5 days. As a primary vehicle - this just ain’t gonna cut it. But as a commuter car - it’s pretty hard to say “no”; at least for me.
Off the lot, taxes and tags I’m looking at ~$7500 for a vehicle that will set me back about $30 every 2 weeks for gas.
Comparing that to ~$90 every 2 weeks for gas for my truck, that’s a savings of ~$60 every 2 weeks or about $120/month. On a 4 year loan, that’s a monthly car payment of ~$165/month - discounting gasoline, that works out to a net payment of ~$50/month.
Now calculate wear/tear on the truck, tires and whatnot ... it does look attractive.
It depends on how you prioritze the numerous downsides - - safety (collide with a Harley and it’s about a tie), cargo space (picking up cement and lumber at Lowe’s?), and passenger capacity and leg room. My primary concern would be safety. I simply would not want my wife or one of my kids driving around in something that small.
Oh, not going to REPLACE this with my car/truck - for exactly the reasons you list. But for 65mph drives on a freeway to/from work - it’s pretty attractive. And with 3 airbags, a composite body and steel frame and more crumple zone than other vehicles in it’s class - it’s not that bad. We will see, but they are anticipating a 5-Star Safety rating; which is as good as it gets.
But, at it’s price point and 84mpg it’s a reasonable commuter vehicle; which I believe is it’s intent.
Good grief, whoever that is, they look like they should be wielding a fighting axe in a post apocalyptic thriller...
My roommate in school got a really nice 1959 Pontiac Catalina (around 1989/90). Another friend opined that it was the first car he could enter the rear door and walk to the other side (albeit stooped). The dash”board” was like 12 gauge steel, with a skull-melon exploding leading wing edge to it... It was AWESOME :-)
When I was 16, I took my Driver’s License Test in my Mom’s 63 Caddy Coupe Deville. It was 19 feet long.
When I pulled up to pick up the guy doing the Test, he shook his head and said, you’re kidding, right? My Mom was standing there cracking up.
The steering wheel seemed like it was 3 feet across, and with the 390 V-8 and three 2 barrel carbs, it hauled a$$.
I saw a Cadillac Escalade on Kreschatic street in Kiev last summer, but I doubt that would impress the Chinese.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daniel-gross/why-buick-big-beijing-elsewhere-china-175445476.html
...GM Shanghai has two plants elsewhere in China, where it makes Buicks and Chevrolets, and has a total production capacity of 1.2 million cars. While it employs about 8,000 people in China, only a few are Americans...
...Having been deprived of so much for so long, China’s consumers accept clogged roads and bumper-to-bumper traffic as a sign of progress. And that’s keeping the assembly lines in Shanghai busy turning out Buicks. The plant runs two 10.5 hour shifts per day, nearly seven days a week, and can produce nearly 90 cars per hour...
cause she’s a blonde ,,, b...l....a....n...d...e.......
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