Today the American luxury car market might be dominated by European giants such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz but it wasn't always like this. At the height of its powers, Cadillac was the ultimate status symbol. It was a car everyone wanted to own, comfortably outselling its would-be rivals.
Fast forward a few decades and it's nowhere near the brand that it was. The fall of the iconic luxury car has been one of the greatest tragedies in the American auto market. The car that was once the vehicle of choice for so many of Hollywood's elite has now faded in the background.
Just 40 years ago a third of all the luxury cars sold in America were Cadillacs, now less than seven percent of all luxury cars bought in America are Cadillacs.
So how did this happen? How did one of the most sought after cars in the U.S lose its edge?
Standard Of The World
After they decided to Part ways with Henry Ford, Cadillac established itself as the premier luxury car in America. The American car brand was always ahead of its time. It was one of the first car brands to transition from using engineers to using car designers to make their cars.
The first electric ignition system, electric lights, and full-body were all popularized by GM's chief luxury car. The carmaker enjoyed its best years in the 60s when it released the Eldorado and the DeVille. Both cars resulted in record sales and established the carmaker's position as the ultimate luxury car.
Changing Environment
In the '70s and 80s Imports from Europe started flooding the luxury car market in the U.S. And the Cadillac—which had gone a long time without any real competition—saw its position at the top seriously threatened.
After BMW and Mercedes-Benz entered the U.S market they were closely followed by Japanese imports. All of a sudden American consumers had better looking, sportier, and more reliable luxury cars to choose from. The once-revered luxury car slowly started to become a throwback car that appealed mostly to older generations.
But despite all of this Cadillac still performed reasonably well, people were still buying it in numbers. Even in a changing environment a lot of its core consumers stuck with it.
Losing Its Identity
Had Cadillac kept true to its identity and tried harder to resonate with the core consumers that had been loyal to it, it may have stood a chance. But in trying to keep up with trends they lost everything that made them special.
Cadillac had always prided itself on its quality. On their way to being the "Standard Of The World", they had built the most reliable and best quality cars in the market. But this started to change.
Their decline began when they stopped making high-quality cars. They slowly began to lose their share of the American market and had to watch as their rivals left them in the dust.
To this day Cadillac still hasn't been able to recapture its former glory, but over the last decade, their sales have improved. It has to be said that this may just be the last kick of a dying horse or a genuine glimmer of hope, only time will tell.