With only a few marques left, the slimmed-down, resurrected General Motors needs to make sure they have enough zing and zest to attract an understandably skeptical customer base. GM’s decision to put youthful automotive designer Bryan Nesbitt atop its legendary Cadillac brand is a good sign. While at Chrysler several years ago, the precocious Nesbitt gave birth to the stylish PT Cruiser. Cars had become so generically boring-looking by then that the Cruiser’s muscular retro flair turned heads. It was refreshing! What does Caddy need from Nesbitt, who has spent his GM career in Europe and then with Chevrolet? Youthful elegance, and relevance. Speaking of which, I remember being told by Cadillac execs back in1995 that they were making a big effort to appeal to women customers – Caddy was notoriously a guy’s buy. I was preparing a feature article for the WSJ and eagerly asked for examples of this new outreach to people of my gender. Well, one chap said, “We know that many women have long fingernails. So, when we designed the car’s interior we attached paperclips to our fingers so we’d know what it was like for such women to manipulate the knobs and buttons.” I was very touched, but also taken aback: The Cadillac folks were trying so hard – almost too hard – to diversify their customer base, but the affluent, youthful females they needed to attract didn’t really fit into a manicure-maintenance stereotype. Their priorities were, and are, elsewhere. Maybe Nesbitt knows where. Relatedly, this article from the Detroit News online lays out where Cadillac is right now – and has good things to say about the youthful 2009 CTS – and where it’s heading.
