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GETHOSOCCUPATION: Executive
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Paul CainLooking back at the PR fiasco of the move to Tribeca, de Nysschen recalled
its effect. “When I arrived at the company, it was the worst-kept secret, and
I will have to say that the morale of the Cadillac team wasn’t great. I had the
joy of announcing the relocation internally, and of course once you announce
it internally, it’s external. And I think in that way, my name got attached to it.
And I didn’t mind. Somebody has to announce it.”
He added, however, that if he hadn’t been presented with the idea, he
still might have advocated for something like it. “The principle of putting
some distance between an empowered semi-autonomous Cadillac division
and the rest of the corporation to me to this day makes a lot of sense.”
Once in New York, de Nysschen saw the problems facing the brand as
diverse, with many centered around product, which he felt resulted from
the corrosive practices of GM’s manufacturing operations, geared as they are
toward building the most cars most cheaply. The impact they had on the
quality of the corporation’s most upscale products was plain to see. Different,
more stringent standards had to be adopted by Cadillac, and at his behest,
they were. I couldn’t help thinking the fineness of the CTS-V bore that out.
Further difficulties came from lack of investment, a function in part of the
parent company’s fundamental inability to wrap its head around expenditures
that don’t yield immediate cash money results. This is the sort of thinking,
de Nysschen offered, that has killed new Cadillac coupes and convertibles,
exclusive models that might not pay their way immediately but add value to
the perception of the brand. Lack of instant profitability is similarly why the
company has had to dial back on investments like the Cadillac car subscrip-
tion service, Book. Ironically, in the context of Book, coupes and convertibles
could make useful contributions to the success of the service.
“I could certainly grow demand for cabrio-
lets like this,” de Nysschen said. “Through that
element you begin to justify developing these
vehicles.” But it didn’t turn out that way. Book is
now shuttered, while GM’s Maven service offers
all GM products with a more proletarian pitch.
“The way I saw my job at Cadillac was to grow
the company again,” the former boss continued.
“To achieve that by addressing the constraints
in the product portfolio, in terms of powertrain
availability. Engines were generically developed
with GM’s Chevy brands in mind and then,
‘OK, well, yeah, it’s good enough for Cadillac.’
The strong U.S.-centric focus that so character-
ized Cadillac’s entire existence was precisely
what inhibited it from getting the products that it
needed because the volumes just weren’t there to
justify the investments, and every one of the [pro-
posed] projects would bomb out on the financial
evaluation. GM—having gone into bankruptcy
and emerged from it very successfully—has a
very vigorous set of requirements for new invest-
ment projects. There are no pet projects.”
De Nysschen was philosophical. Resources
were limited, he knew. Choices had to be made.
And then he was gone. AM