Cadillac HQ is leaving New York and returning to Detroit to improve product development

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Cadillac HQ is leaving New York and returning to Detroit to improve product development

Cadillac Escalade

Cadillac

Leaving New York.

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  • Cadillac will relocate its headquarters back to Detroit from New York City.
  • Cadillac moved its HQ to New York under former boss Johan de Nysschen in 2015.
  • In a statement, General Motors said the move will enable Cadillac to better execute its new-vehicle strategy in the coming years.


Cadillac will end an experiment in relocating the brand to New York City, General Motors confirmed on Wednesday.

News of the decision was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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GM's luxury brand moved its sales, marketing, and finance operations to Manhattan's Soho neighborhood in 2015 under then-chief Johan de Nysschen. The strategy was to have Cadillac's global headquarters in one of the world's cultural capitals.

Cadillac created a modern, airy office space and established Cadillac House on the ground floor of a building on Hudson Street to present a public face for the brand is it reinvented itself.

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But earlier this year, GM shook up top management at Cadillac. De Nysschen left and was replaced by Steve Carlisle as President. Carlisle, a GM veteran, had been running the company's Canada operations. In addition, GM Executive Vice President Mark Reuss was given oversight responsibilities for the wreath-and-shield.

Cadillac headquarters will return to Detroit and be located in Warren, MI, near GM's Technical Center. The brand is poised to roll out numerous new products over the next two years and is serving as a test platform for Super Cruise, GM's consumer-facing semi-self-driving system.

Cadillac is making the move to support its rollout of new vehicles

Reuss Cadillac XT5 debut

GM

GM executive Mark Reuss will oversee Cadillac and new Caddy President Steve Carlisle.

"Cadillac's move to Michigan will further support one of the most aggressive on-going product expansions in the brand's history, with the introduction of a new vehicle every six months through 2020," GM said in a statement.

"The move will place the Cadillac brand team closer to those responsible for the new Cadillacs, including design, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing, ensuring full integration of Cadillac's global growth strategy."

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Cadillac House will "maintain a brand presence in New York City," GM added, functioning "as a public space for events, concerts and collaborative partnerships until longer term brand plans are in place."

According to the Wall Street Journal, 110 Cadillac employees currently work in New York.

Cadillac's portfolio had been out-of-step with the US market until the introduction of the XT5 crossover SUV in 2016. The full-size Escalade SUV had long been a good performer for the brand, but its lineup of sedans wasn't appealing to American luxury buyers.

As the WSJ noted, however, Cadillac has expanded successfully in China, now the world's largest auto market.

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