Cadillac Slowing Its Plans to Sell Cars in Europe

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Cadillac likely won’t push to sell more cars in Europe before 2020, the company’s CEO Johan de Nysschen told analysts on Tuesday.

“We’ll go to that market when we have the right powertrains and the right cars,” he said Tuesday, according to the Detroit News.

Previously, Cadillac had planned some right-hand drive models and diesel powertrains to help it gain a foothold in European markets. According to the report, Cadillac has sold only 838 cars in Europe so far this year. Cadillac wants to sell 500,000 cars globally by 2020, de Nysschen said.

Instead of Europe, de Nysschen told J.P. Morgan Auto Conference attendees (we guess our invitation just got lost in the mail, or something) that Cadillac would focus on strengthening its position in China, Russia and the Middle East.

The report didn’t detail how Cadillac would combat crumbling or slowing economies in China or Russia, but it’s clear that Cadillac is going to wait until its portfolio is much, much stronger before it attempts to seriously compete with the Germans in their own backyard.

Global sales of Cadillacs are up 1.5 percent, led by a 7.4-percent rise in China, and despite a 2.4-percent slowdown in America.

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments
Join the conversation
7 of 47 comments
  • Hawox Hawox on Aug 13, 2015

    here in europe pple who buys that kind of cars are very snob. they would prefer a grey german diesel over anything else. so wise move for cadillac. i'd love the manual atsv but here is unsellable, as are lexus and infinity. even if internet forums are full of pple complaining about german customer care. it's better to bring only few powerfull cars like ctsv (hopefully with a manual9 and use them as flagships in the stores. like hyundai does with the genesis.

  • Ccode81 Ccode81 on Aug 13, 2015

    930 Cadillacs sold in Japan in 2014, more than whole Europe. http://www.jaia-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2014FY_NewCarNews.pdf Not bad for "closed" market,

    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Aug 13, 2015

      Wouldn't Cadillac be a bit brash for wealthy Japanese people? I should think they prefer a nice Buick.

  • Sportyaccordy Sportyaccordy on Aug 13, 2015

    The only thing that will sell Caddys in Europe is a European badge. They (rightfully) associate the brand with crap. Plus they sacrificed everything buyers care about for dynamics, while everyone else prioritized everything buyers care about at a slight expense to dynamics nobody cares about anyway. BTSR said it best and I will paraphrase.... who gives a sht about Ring times and dynamics when you are sitting in traffic? It's at that point when the awful infotainment interface and cramped back seat become problems. Truthfully I don't see Caddy being around in 10-15 years. They will prob spin off the Escalade and junk the rest. They just can't figure it out.

  • Mingo Mingo on Aug 13, 2015

    De whats-his-name says he wants to be selling 500,000 Caddy's a year in 5 years?He's in for a rude awakening.

Next