The U.S. government may be delaying sale of its remaining General Motors (NYSE:GM) stock, but the automaker is racing towards its future with its Cadillac Ciel concept car. GM stock and its future entails finding fresh vision, and the Ciel is a nod to General Motors and its creative roots.
Although stock market volatility may force the U.S. to hold onto its GM shares until next year, the company is speeding away from its “Government Motors” identity, beginning with its premiere brand, Cadillac. The new Cadillac Ciel concept car is the 21st-century throwback to the glitz and glitter luxury of the 1957 Eldorado, from its massive size (a foot longer than the CTS sedan) to a hint of tailfins.
But GM’s not just trying to cash in on Cadillac’s luxury style-points; the Ciel is meant to recapture the brand’s “historic grandeur” and bring it forward into the future. “Large, expressive luxury is innate to Cadillac and the Ciel recalls that heritage, while suggesting where the brand can go in the future,” said Clay Dean, global design director for Cadillac. “Authentic luxury is driven by experiences, not just products, and Ciel is about the experience of the journey.”
Unlike BMW (PINK:BAMXF), for example, which is thinking of luxury cars in terms of refined fuel-efficiency, GM’s new Cadillac vision is all about power and opulence. The new Cadillac incorporates hybrid technology by combining a twin-turbocharged V-6 with a lithium-ion battery to achieve a 425 horsepower engine.
Italian olive wood accents and hand-tipped leather are intended to bring back visions of “the romance of the drive.” To further set that mood, Ciel includes automatically retracting blankets and aromatherapy that is controlled from the rear armrest.
In short, GM’s new Cadillac is less a matter of selling a car than setting a new cruising altitude for the brand. The global symbol of luxury and opulence toppled along with the rest of the auto market back in 2007. That fact and GM’s government control will not be soon forgotten.
But whether or not this actual car ever sees the inside of a dealer’s showroom is not the point. With Ciel, GM is visualizing a renaissance of its past glory. What better evidence of that goal than the return this month of master carmaker Bob Lutz, the 79-year-old former GM vice chairman for product development. Lutz, who has spent more than half his life in the car business, has been the driving force behind many of GM’s power house models including the Pontiac GTO and the Chevrolet Malibu.
Bottom line: Investors care more about results than appearances. After all, there’s not enough fancy veneer or aromatherapy to make up for the wrong business plan or bad timing. GM stock set a new low on August 22— that’s off 44% from its high in January.
Still, GM’s U.S. sales rose 18% in August – a total of 218,479 vehicles, up from last year’s 185,176. That was good enough to GM the U.S. sales leader again last month. And the Cadillac brand delivered big: the CTS line surged 39.2% to 5,783 in August sales.
As of this writing, Susan J. Aluise did not hold a position in any of the stocks named here.
