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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
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Replying to: louiswei (Jan 14, 2007 12:04 pm) However, I see Lucerne as a formidable opponent to models such as Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima and Hyundai Azera. You hit the sweet spot here - exactly right.... |
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The marketing in the commercials and overall advertising needs to be improved from my viewpoint. The precision of hitting an exact unfulfilled market point with both product and with advertising (image) is difficult. The concept from some is that GM needs to have something to directly compete with a certain automobile that they themselves think is great from another company. But GM needs to do what was successful for the 3 imports in the 80s and 90s: fill a niche that's not being satisfied and make an image. GM will never make someone happy who expects them to compete with the ABC company's sporty driver, high maintenance racemobile; but GM can make a car to slice off a part of that market that's not filled with people total enamoured of that particular car. That's what Lexus did. I.e., build a Civic price and demographic competitor but don't try to be a Civic because you'll never make that Civic-preferring customer happy. But then you have to keep the sales you do make happy and advertising for image needs to make them feel they're owning a quality product. The Cadillac (and Buick) part needs to be Lexused in image. How many people believe Lexus is a Toyota? Question: Is Kia still connected to GM?
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 14, 2007 1:01 pm) Kia is under Hyundai group and Daewoo is part of GM. I don't know if Kia was ever owned by GM but you could have mistaken Kia with Daewoo. BTW, Daewoo just took the number 2 selling spot in Korea from Kia last year (2006). |
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 14, 2007 1:01 pm) I agree with that, and the idea has a lot of merit. With the right planning it should still possible to create your own market or niche out of existing consumers, as Lexus did. The product just has to be right. I bet a lot of Lexus drivers have no clue about the Toyota connection...that's proof of the marketing success. |
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Replying to: fintail (Jan 14, 2007 2:02 pm) That is my point exactly. GM probably has spent nearly as much in advertising but hasn't been as effective as some other cars because of past image tainting in 80s and 90s and lack of willingness to cut the umbilical. I still cringe when I recall the "My father's Oldsmobile" sequence of ads trying to get newer buyers who had been weaned into the Civic, Accord, Corolla, Camry, etc., cars out of those cars into an Oldsmobile. Why were the wine glasses stacked in a pile on a Lexus hood so effective and the ball bearing rolling down a body panel crease so effective with the intended market? Why didn't GM pick a theme that would be equivalent for GM.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 14, 2007 2:39 pm) Marketing is important no doubt but without a decent product to back it up it's pretty much worthless. |
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 14, 2007 2:39 pm)
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Replying to: nvbanker (Jan 14, 2007 3:25 pm) |
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Replying to: lemonhater (Jan 14, 2007 11:15 am) |
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Cadillac and any other of GM's cars will never be "Standard of the World" for several reasons. The following reasons are listed below. 1. The only people who think they ever were standard of the world were those that were of adult age in the 1950's and 60's. At that time Cadillac only sold "luxoboat" sized cars; which makes me question the "standard of the world" question, because standard of the world in other countries means performance cars, and up until 2002 Cadillac didn't have a street legal performance car (Cadillac CTS) The CTS was born from car enthusiasts, engineers and racing heritage, the same type of energy that for many decades, not just a few years, has gone into building BMW 300 series cars and many Mercedes cars, etc. Another thing is there was an extreme shift in the way Americans purchased cars starting in 1975, because of the "oil crisis". When this happened, most weren't worried about the standard, they were worried about how they could stop wasting money on fuel, like they are today due to sky high vehicle fuel prices. 2. To be "standard of the world, a car company needs to be concerned with more things than style. How about substance? How about craftsmanship? Good Service? Good Warranty? Detail? These are things that GM misses the cue on so many times. There are those that say the CTS meets these points, but that's the only car that Cadillac has that meets these points. And we still don't have a CTS that is the standard of this world until this fall.. Why? because of the 2007 CTS' cheap interior. The STS may meet these points as well, but the STS also is not fun to drive, it's too heavy, to much body lean, and too large for most to consider it fun to drive. 3. The main reasons I feel they will never be standard of the world is because of poor marketing, but most of all, poor management. In addition, they also have too many layers of management, and in the minds of many Cadillac's cars were never the standard of the world to begin with. 4. Why is GM worried about making Cadillac "Standard of the World"? Doesn't it make more sense to worry about brands that were once flourishing, now have become fledgling? What about trying to rebuild GM as a whole brand? Now that they have Saturn, they may not need Buick?. Buick, Olsmobile (which seems to sporadically resurrect itself from time to time), and Pontiac are not doing that great either in the U.S.A.
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