Interview: Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen
10-13-14 | 12:47 PM
#16
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 11
From: Southeastern PA
He may have had a good interview, but any CEO worth his or her salt should be able to ace a softball interview with a journalist. Talk is cheap. Cadillac has shown products with promise, but not with marketing.
10-13-14 | 12:54 PM
#17
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 11
From: Southeastern PA
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
10-13-14 | 02:00 PM
#18
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,585
Likes: 24
From: Washington
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
10-13-14 | 02:34 PM
#19
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,715
Likes: 89
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Originally Posted by doge
Originally Posted by doge View Post
So what? None of that matters. No one outside of the internet cares about naming, your average car buyer will think about just once.. How did moving headquarters flip the house?
So what? None of that matters. No one outside of the internet cares about naming, your average car buyer will think about just once.. How did moving headquarters flip the house?
I don't really understand what you mean by no one outside the internet--the internet covers a lot of people these days.
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
Doge does have a point.....the average car-buyer does not sit around all day on the Internet and talk about cars and their names like many of us do.
I partially agree with you on name-changes, though auto companies can and do change successful, long-selling vehicle names for no reason. Ford changed the Taurus name to Five Hundred (with an all-new size/body style)....then back to Taurus. Chevy dropped the Impala name, then brought it back, several times, on several different platforms. The Buick Skylark name was added and dropped, on several different platforms, several times. And the Dodge Caravan, the grandfather of all minivans, lost its name just recently.....with its sister Chrysler Town and Country carrying on in its place.
10-13-14 | 02:38 PM
#20
Formerly Bad Co
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
I don't really understand what you mean by no one outside the internet--the internet covers a lot of people these days.
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
And if no one cared about naming, car companies would change car names *****-nilly. How often to you see car names changed when you have an established, well known car? S Class? 3-Series? Accord? Camry? Mustang? Don't dare mess with those names. They've been around a long time for a reason.
10-14-14 | 07:04 AM
#21
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 11
From: Southeastern PA
To be fair, the naming scheme for the S-class has been changed in the past (see letter going to the front, numbers disconnected from engine size, coupe version being separated out and put back in) and the coupe/vert version of the 3-series was changed into the 4-series.
10-14-14 | 07:10 AM
#22
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 11
From: Southeastern PA
Again, most people aren't car guys, and aren't up on all the competition. I'm willing to bet that many, many people buy a BWM 3-Series because they have "heard" it's a good car. If you are frequently changing the car's name, you don't build up that brand recognition. BMW was able to leverage the reputation they have built by changing the name of the coupe to 4-Series; they know that enough people desire a BMW that they would be ok. If you scrap the name CTS and ATS just as it's getting good word of mouth, you deflate that recognition. The point is not to sell only to knowledgeable customers--the point is to expand your customer base. Cadillac as a make doesn't have the reputation that MB and BMW have; confusing customers isn't the way to build that reputation.
Remember the Acura Legend? Acura changed the naming because too many people knew the name "Legend" but didn't know what an Acura was. Meanwhile, in recent years, as Acura gets pounded here on CL for having "lost their way," I can't tell you how many of those TL's with the awful beak I see on the road--many, many people are not reading up on the internet like we are. Their Acura is getting older, and they want the new version of the TL; they don't care about the beak, or the handling, or any of that other stuff.
Last edited by tex2670; 10-14-14 at 07:15 AM.
10-14-14 | 07:24 AM
#23
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,715
Likes: 89
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
I think we're just arguing a bunch of semantics about whether people are more likely to buy if the name is changed or not. Unfortunately, many people simply don't do their homework before they buy (and, of course, that's where people like us come in, so we can help them). They don't know one of the the most important things......what the vehicle actually IS, not necessarily what it's named. Many Buick Regal/Verano buyers, for instance, don't realize that they are buying essentially rebadged Opels with American drivetrains/sound insulation. Many buyers of today's Dodge and Chrysler sedans don't realize that they are also sometimes getting Italian-designed platforms and drivetrains. This is all easy to find out if one just does a little reading (or Internet-surfing), but many people just don't take the time to do it.
10-14-14 | 11:54 AM
#24
Formerly Bad Co
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
I think we're just arguing a bunch of semantics about whether people are more likely to buy if the name is changed or not. Unfortunately, many people simply don't do their homework before they buy (and, of course, that's where people like us come in, so we can help them). They don't know one of the the most important things......what the vehicle actually IS, not necessarily what it's named. Many Buick Regal/Verano buyers, for instance, don't realize that they are buying essentially rebadged Opels with American drivetrains/sound insulation. Many buyers of today's Dodge and Chrysler sedans don't realize that they are also sometimes getting Italian-designed platforms and drivetrains. This is all easy to find out if one just does a little reading (or Internet-surfing), but many people just don't take the time to do it.
10-14-14 | 01:37 PM
#25
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 10,166
Likes: 11
From: Southeastern PA
Exactly. People who aren't educated car buyers are more likely to know a car name based on longevity--that's branding, pure and simple. So, when you swoop in, and change the names of models that are starting to build a good reputation on their own, you don't do yourself any favors, especially on a brand like Cadillac which hasn't put out good products on a consistent basis for years.
10-14-14 | 08:41 PM
#26
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 91,715
Likes: 89
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Originally Posted by tex2670
So, when you swoop in, and change the names of models that are starting to build a good reputation on their own, you don't do yourself any favors, especially on a brand like Cadillac which hasn't put out good products on a consistent basis for years.
DRIVE it.
10-15-14 | 10:33 AM
#27
Johan responds to critics again about Cadillac's NY move
Cadillac's new President Johan de Nysschen has faced a fair amount of criticism since assuming his position at the head of the American luxury manufacturer. From the company's move to New York City to a controversial new naming scheme, the first few months of his tenure have not been smooth sailing. Now, the embattled exec is firing back against his critics, notably Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain, in a new column running in AN.
De Nysschen countered Crain's claim that the move to the Big Apple, "can only mean that someone wants to live in New York."
"The relocation decision is entirely unrelated to the personal living preferences of any Cadillac executive. No corporation would tolerate such indulgence by its leadership," de Nysschen wrote. "It is about structurally entrenching a challenge to the status quo by reinforcing the psychological and physical separation in business philosophy between the mainstream brands and GM's luxury brand."
The 54-year-old exec also responded to Crain's criticisms of Cadillac's derided new alphanumeric naming scheme, which will be pioneered by the CT6 sedan. Crain argued (rightly in your author's mind) that the new naming scheme was as wrong as the move to NYC.
"What ever happened to names like Fleetwood, DeVille and Eldorado?" Crain wrote in an editorial last week.
"Those romantic names have little relevance to a millennial premium shopper in China, for instance, where the reality is that alphanumeric nomenclature is a deeply entrenched industrywide practice," de Nysschen wrote. "The obvious emotional appeal of historical subbrand names such as Eldorado, Fleetwood, etc. should be balanced against the fact that those names resonate more with baby boomers and are U.S.-centric. Cadillac must go global."
While de Nysschen's moves have raised eyebrows, the exec did reach out to critics – particularly those that are unhappy about the relocation – at the end of his column.
"Regardless of where its executives are located, Cadillac is and always will be from Detroit," de Nysschen concluded. "It is our hometown, and as we venture forth to challenge the world with our unique set of American values, we would like to think our hometown is rooting for us."
De Nysschen countered Crain's claim that the move to the Big Apple, "can only mean that someone wants to live in New York."
"The relocation decision is entirely unrelated to the personal living preferences of any Cadillac executive. No corporation would tolerate such indulgence by its leadership," de Nysschen wrote. "It is about structurally entrenching a challenge to the status quo by reinforcing the psychological and physical separation in business philosophy between the mainstream brands and GM's luxury brand."
The 54-year-old exec also responded to Crain's criticisms of Cadillac's derided new alphanumeric naming scheme, which will be pioneered by the CT6 sedan. Crain argued (rightly in your author's mind) that the new naming scheme was as wrong as the move to NYC.
"What ever happened to names like Fleetwood, DeVille and Eldorado?" Crain wrote in an editorial last week.
"Those romantic names have little relevance to a millennial premium shopper in China, for instance, where the reality is that alphanumeric nomenclature is a deeply entrenched industrywide practice," de Nysschen wrote. "The obvious emotional appeal of historical subbrand names such as Eldorado, Fleetwood, etc. should be balanced against the fact that those names resonate more with baby boomers and are U.S.-centric. Cadillac must go global."
While de Nysschen's moves have raised eyebrows, the exec did reach out to critics – particularly those that are unhappy about the relocation – at the end of his column.
"Regardless of where its executives are located, Cadillac is and always will be from Detroit," de Nysschen concluded. "It is our hometown, and as we venture forth to challenge the world with our unique set of American values, we would like to think our hometown is rooting for us."
10-15-14 | 01:00 PM
#28
Formerly Bad Co
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
Exactly. People who aren't educated car buyers are more likely to know a car name based on longevity--that's branding, pure and simple. So, when you swoop in, and change the names of models that are starting to build a good reputation on their own, you don't do yourself any favors, especially on a brand like Cadillac which hasn't put out good products on a consistent basis for years.
