Cadillac?

The new Cadillac model mix is looking very interesting. A 2 Door CTS coming in 2010, a newly redesigned SRX is on the way and there are even Escalade Hybrids for the ‘rappers who want to look eco-friendly’. Cadillac appears to be taking seriously the loss of luxury market share and the loss of GM highline partner SAAB, as an opportunity to get back in the game. Everyone knows Bob Lutz is a fan of Cadillac, but can this product rebound and compete against BMW / Lexus / Infiniti / Mercedes?

Who Knows? But it is sure going to be a tough fight.

One thing from previous experience that Cadillac needs to do is get very aggressive with its marketing. Not just the TV creative; I mean everyone liked watching Kate Walsh press her foot to the accelerator and talk about “you turning on the car and it returning the favor.” But, what they really need to do is correct their image of an old boat-like product and not running ads until the public totally turns them off. Cadillac probably needs to be pushing more grassroots events and public showings of its vehicles than any other brand. A company like Cadillac can run as many ads, have as many mailers, buy mass buys on Google – Yahoo – MSN (where they have total web page dominance), but until people sit in their cars and experience them behind the wheel, I don’t think much is going to change.