Cadillac chief: Future models will be smaller, more affordable, yet faster

Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has one of the tougher jobs in the auto industry — making General Motors luxury brand a global success. Despite billions in spending over the past decade, Cadillac still trails its major German competition at home and abroad; last year, sales fell in the United States even as the rest of the market grew, and Mercedes-Benz outsold it 2-to-1.

Armed with a fresh plan for $12 billion in new models — including a top-line CT6 flagship sedan set to be unveiled in April, along with new SUVs — de Nysschen has been unveiling a revamp of Cadillac, including upgrading many of its 900 U.S. dealers (who sell far fewer vehicles per store than the 200-300 dealers its competition uses.) In an interview with Yahoo Autos, de Nysschen answered several questions about where Cadillac goes from here, and how. The responses have been edited for space.

Q: What's the sales outlook for 2015?

JDN: The United States will be similar to last year. We are looking more at preparing the way for the introduction of a strong product offensive as the first big shots being fired next year with all-new product. We have this year the exciting cars, the V-models, but they’re not big volume cars. The reality is that SRX which is a big car for us is at the end of its life cycle.

Next year we will have full-year availability of the CT6, but once again that is a high profile but not high volume. During 2016, the new SRX will be introduced...By the time we are firing on all cylinders in 2018, 2019, with the new product we are launching them into a market that’s ready to receive them.

Q: When you get these new cars out in a few years, what will be the distinction between a typical Cadillac and a typical competitor from the German brands or higher-end Japanese models?

JDN: All the car companies at the high end of the market are utilizing advanced technology. Cadillac is going to focus on the dynamic driving characteristics of the car. When you develop a car you need to determine what kind of car you’re going to do. Everything’s a trade-off….Cadillac is a luxury car, it's high-technology, it will have high craftsmanship and features, but fundamentally all our platforms and features are geared around driving excitement in a unique American way. We are not going to try to emulate the German brands. We can’t be more German than they, but we can definitely be more American.

This will also be reflected in the evolution of the Art & Science design language, very edgy but probably a touch more organic in shape — the hard edges will become a little softer. I m going to work very hard to take our current high level of fit and finish craftsmanship especially in interiors to new levels. I want us to be the benchmark.

We will utilize a portfolio approach to powertrains...I expect that plug-in hybrids will feature prominently in our longer-term future and beyond that, full battery EVs. As we look to Europe, which is really our focus beyond 2020, we will add diesels — if you don’t have diesels you won’t play.