GM brings Cadillac back into the fold

While Carlisle, a 36-year GM veteran with extensive product and sales experience, is likely to put his own stamp on the brand, the leadership change isn't expected to significantly affect Cadillac's product plans, its headquarters location or Project Pinnacle, the retail overhaul de Nysschen spearheaded, people familiar with the company said.

Carlisle, a Canada native who started his career in 1982 at GM's Oshawa Truck Plant in Ontario, is known as a company guy, passionate but not as outspoken as de Nysschen, and a steady hand who led GM Canada through two labor negotiations.

When he took over GM Canada in November 2014, the operation was struggling. It was the target of a large lawsuit by former dealers who were let go by GM during the recession. Under his watch, the company's Canadian sales grew to 302,826 vehicles in 2017, up 15 percent from 2015, and the company was able to patch up its relationship with dealers. Jerry Dias, head of the Canadian labor union Unifor, described him as an "ally."

"There's no question Johan is a visionary automotive leader, but given GM's conservative culture, he may have pushed things a step too far," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds. "It feels like Johan spent too much time chasing the German brands instead of embracing Cadillac's unique heritage."

The appointment of Carlisle, she said, "speaks to the company's desire for a more back-to-basics, comfortable approach."

Carlisle also has been a champion of mobility and technology as key growth centers for GM, in line with the priorities articulated by GM President Dan Ammann. This year, he highlighted the role of engineers at GM's Markham, Ontario, software center in developing the Super Cruise automated-driving technology for the Cadillac CT6 and supporting a driverless-car project that GM wants to run in 2019.

Ammann said the management change was not about de Nysschen's performance, but about the company's future.

"Looking forward, the world is changing rapidly, and, beginning with the launch of the new XT4, it is paramount that we capitalize immediately on the opportunities that arise from this rate of change," Ammann said.

Will Churchill, head of the Cadillac dealership council, said GM "shocked the system" with the management change.

Carlisle, he said, "obviously comes from inside the walls of GM, which I think is good for GM, but I'm not sure how good it is for Cadillac."

The dealer council is scheduled to have a phone discussion with Carlisle, a relatively unknown executive to U.S. dealers, this week, Churchill said.

Unlike de Nysschen, Carlisle starts his tenure with a slight tail wind. Cadillac's U.S. sales growth has been hampered in recent years by a pileup of sedan models and an over-reliance on its single crossover, now called the XT5. But sales have headed back up this year, aided by a 57 percent jump in incentive spending. A once-bare product cupboard is being gradually restocked under a 10-year, $12 billion plan launched by de Nysschen that will see a new vehicle launched every six months through 2021. Sales have surged in China, where a factory built in 2016 churns out CT6 sedans.

Meanwhile, the uproar over de Nysschen's signature initiative, the Project Pinnacle retail overhaul, has settled down. Dealers pressed for and won revisions to the program's bonus tiers, while more controversial elements, such as virtual dealerships that carried no inventory, were shelved.

Together with Uwe Ellinghaus, a former BMW executive hired months earlier to head Cadillac marketing, de Nysschen set about not to change consumer perceptions of Cadillac but rather to elevate GM's own perception of luxury. That often meant portraying Cadillac as an abused asset that needed special handling and protection from GM's custody.

Always candid, he quickly became a polarizing figure, both within the dealer body and in the newly formed executive suite.

"GM is a very complex organization to navigate," he told Automotive News. "I saw my role to act as a change agent to challenge the status quo, in the reasoning that more of the same would not lead to a different outcome. I suppose in the process, I did not endear myself to everyone."

Ellinghaus, too, puzzled dealers in Cadillac's Middle American strongholds with a marketing campaign that dwelled on New York City streetscapes, operatic soundtracks, forays into art and fashion and the awkward tag line "Dare Greatly." Ellinghaus quit the company four months ago and was replaced by auto marketing veteran Deborah Wahl.