Re: Cadillac wants Fewer and Stronger Dealerships..

[Damien_1F9STS]

Okay, here I go with my two cents worth, I believe General Motors and the Cadillac Division, need to concentrate less on their Dealership restructuring for the time being. I mean when all is said and done, this Dealership restructuring is a result of the individual Owner’s wanting more market share and Cadillac traffic. As it stands, they have seen quite a significant increase in sales and service amongst them all. Seriously, can you imagine attending an ignorant Dealership where the service is poor and they know your next option is half a state away? How could this be better for the Customer? It’s an obvious appeasement for shareholders (which down-sizing always ranks well). This is very disturbing as a Customer as I foresee the shop rate’s increasing, the competition would diminish not to mention, that the Service Tech’s will be screwed in a large way, as a Dealer will obvious take those who are not high on the pay scale or years of service, benefits those with dependants and some serious buy out packages for those coming up to retirement. Fundamentals as these do take place, when restructuring is being considered.

Cadillac should be concerning themselves with product integrity and assurance. Let’s take a lesson here from Ford’s Lincoln Division. They had become advocates for platform cross breeding in the early 90’s. Eventually, Customer response had been that it was becoming hard to distinguish the difference between ‘top of the line’ and regular platforms, they all began to somewhat look alike and feel alike. There were items on a Taurus Platform found to be in a Lincoln, believe it or not. I am not knocking Ford here. They have learned somewhat, they are listening to the Customer and coming out with what is wanted by the Consumer, not what they think the Consumer wants. There is a clear, cut difference here and I have no idea what it will take for Bob Lutz at Cadillac Product Design and Implementation to catch up to this factoid. This is the same guy, Bob, who walked over to Fords Executives at a recent Detroit Auto Show and stated; “Christ we are in trouble” this said, after seeing the new F150. Well duh…Ford spent quite a bit of coin in research of their current F150 Platforms and they listened to the gripes and likes and more importantly, the dislikes which needed to be improved. Now look, that truck will hurt GM, I mean I love the General and that’s all I drive but the Ford F150 will hurt us in the truck platform in a big way, especially when they have branched the platform out to suit all walks of demographics, with clear and precise differences, unfortunately unlike the General.

Cadillac needs to give us owners and future purchaser’s back “EXCLUSIVITY”…not Dealership restructuring, making us more aggravated with distance travel along with other things I may not have touched on in the aforementioned; a great way to get us to spend more time in our Cadillac, drive further to the local Dealer. I have a 2002 Escalade, what in it is Exclusive besides the dash Instrument cluster gauges, the funny named analog clock and huge ass emblem on the grill and tailgate. Where are those Cadillac perks it was once known for? What happened to extensive sound packaging, ‘A’ and ‘C’ pillars should be carpeted, that’s a Cadi perk missing, rain sense wipers, Auto release e-brake etc…BTW, I hear they have removed this feature, as children can release the e-brake…Eh Hem Don’t they half to have the key in the ignition and actually place their foot on the brake and then move the gear selector at the same time? If a child can do all that and release the E-brake, than maybe he/she should be driving before their time.

Finally, I just want Cadillac to stand for what it once was, Ultimate Integrity, Wealth and Pride! That’s what people looked at the car as and that’s how we drove them. Now we drive crossbred, non-individual, some dated platforms and at some locations, lack lustre care.

Sorry for the very long read…I mean well

DAMien

[elwesso]

I agree...... While most models should look similar (IE being able to say "thats a cadillac", just by looking at it), they do need to be unique.......

<sorry for bringing this up again> I think that Infiniti has done a really good job in doing this.... Every model looks different, but you can tell its an infiniti...... Cadillac should do this, and for the most part, they are doing an OK job.....

But GM in general does need to listen more to the consumer....... No doubt about it..... Why would you REMOVE luxury features from a LUXURY car??? I guess Lutz just doesnt really want to listen to what consumers really want, but when he thinks they want......

But in response to the other thread, I think that cadillac should work on making the dealers they have established better, not closing down the bad ones...... IF that means they have to get a whole new set of employees, so be it...... Part of owning a luxury vehicle is having outstanding service...... Now (not knowing by experience), if I was to buy a 50k cadillac, I would expect the dealer to bend over backwards...... Sometimes this is the case, sometimes not..... But very rarely will you go into a Lexus dealership and get crappy service...... Thats one thing that sets them apart from the rest of the brands.......

[JJhomer83]

Originally Posted by elwesso

if I was to buy a 50k cadillac, I would expect the dealer to bend over backwards...... Sometimes this is the case, sometimes not..... But very rarely will you go into a Lexus dealership and get crappy service...... Thats one thing that sets them apart from the rest of the brands.......

I agree with that, I have heard a lot of horror stories from GM dealers and a few from Lexus, benz, bmw