Cadillac to raise brand awareness on the road

Entering the fleet market with the help of parent company GM and using their expertise and proven selling power may be just the solution in establishing Cadillac as a credible brand in the UK.

Discussions between GM Europe and Cadillac’s European importer, the Dutch based Kroymans Corporation in conjunction with the current UK retailer group Stratstone, who to date have been responsible for UK distribution and sales on the brand, are being held in a bid to raise the profile of the brand to increase sales and to improve residual values.

Since the brand was re-launched in the UK over two years ago it has struggled to get itself established and now has ten outlets in England and Wales, but none in Scotland.

Stratstone has revised its business plan and is still working towards 20 outlets eventually but there are no sales forecasts for this year.

With just one model in 2005, the UK network sold around 200 cars out of 2,100 in Europe and last year with 12 dealers and a four model line-up it exceeded 400 sales while Continental registrations rose to 3,000.

However slow sales in Swansea and Cheltenham led to the closure of these outlets last year. The UK Stratstone Cadillac network now comprises of showrooms in Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Derby, Hagley, Birmingham, Cardiff, Luton, London and Reading.

A spokesperson for Cadillac Europe said last week that getting Cadillac accepted by British customers may take longer than expected but they are in this for the long term. Having the structure in place to sell Cadillacs through an established fleet sales operation like GM and Vauxhall would help significantly.

He added, we are in the third and final phase of the re-launch of the Cadillac brand and by the end of the year we will have introduced two further models in addition to the SRX crossover 4x4 being launched now. In 2008 we will start to see replacement models for our existing range being brought to market.

Nearly all UK Cadillac sales have been to private buyers with fleet or company assisted purchases extremely low. Now it is believed the niche nature of Cadillac would appeal to business buyers and users but they prefer dealing with a manufacturer than a retailer.

This is considered necessary to boost credibility of the brand’s long term commitment to the UK and to lift residual values from under 30% after three years with more cars being seen on roads and getting into the used market.

One of the points being discussed is how the UK dealer network would integrate into the sales, supply and service of business or fleet models.

The Cadillac SRX 4x4 has now joined the saloon BLS, CTS, STS models and the convertible XLR.

Only petrol engines are available at the moment and Cadillac said earlier this year that a diesel engine would be developed and fitted but that this will not be available for a couple of years, and this is another factor which has hindered corporate and private sales across Europe.