GM Is Reinventing Cadillac. Again

With a new chief and a lowerpriced SUV, the once-dominant luxe brand reorganizesagain

- David Welch

For much of its 116-year history, Cadillac enjoyed an aura of luxury that made it the preferred car of celebrities from Clark Gable to Liberace to Elvis Presley and a real money spinner for parent General Motors Co. But in recent decades, as German and Japanese prestige brands have flourished, Cadillac’s market share and reputation have faltered. That led GM this year—for at least the eighth time in two decades—to install a new brand chief vowing to revitalize the once-vaunted luxury name.

This time, GM says it’s devoting $12 billion to develop a parade of new models. Perhaps most significant of those is the XT4, a smaller, cheaper sport-utility vehicle aimed at millennials that turns on its head everything Cadillac has historically stood for. To some GM watchers, the latest initiative is a now-or-never moment, perhaps the last window for venerable Cadillac to revive its marquee name before the very idea of auto brands starts to fade away in the ride-sharing era. That strikes Steve Carlisle, the new division president, as overly dramatic. But he’s well aware that GM shareholders have seen this song-and-dance before. “We lost our mojo for a long period of time,” Carlisle says. “This time it’s different, and we will show you.”