LOS ANGELES -- Cadillac's decision to price the soon-to-launch CT6 sedan well below competing vehicles says a lot about the cutthroat state of the market for big luxury sedans, brand boss Johan de Nysschen says.
But it may say more about Cadillac's broader strategy to compete in the upper tier of luxury.
In recent years, Cadillac dealers have chafed over what they viewed as wishful pricing. Sticker prices often have been at or near eye level with the Germans, as was the case with the ATS sedan in 2012 and the CTS sedan in 2013.
But the CT6 that goes on sale in March, along with the XT5 crossover that soon follows it, are the first major launches under de Nysschen's watch. He is following the playbook he deployed while helping build Audi of America into a powerhouse last decade: to price below BMW and Mercedes and gradually ratchet up pricing as the brand's cachet grows.
"That's precisely what we're going to do," de Nysschen said in an interview at the auto show here this month.
Sticker prices on the CT6 sedan, for example, range from $54,490 to $84,460 at the top of the range, including shipping. That's far below the pricing on the BMW 7 series, which has comparable size and power and runs from the low $70,000s to around $100,000.