Cadillac Boss Wants Boutique Stores

A digital representation of what a Cadillac Boutique might look like.

Johan de Nysschen, CEO of Cadillac, revealed that he has plans to have 700 out of its over-900 strong dealerships to invest in small stores of “boutique” size which would offer a higher service level and “high-tech showrooms.”

Today, in an interview at the Washington, D.C., auto show, he delineated his plan and clarified his wish to discuss it further this weekend at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention that is to be held in San Francisco.

The network of Cadillac consists of a little over 900 dealerships. These comprise of around 200 standalone “flagship” stores.

In a statement from Cadillac, it was made clear that the boutique plan would consist of luxury facilities, high trained service and sales staff and exclusive Cadillac consumer touch points. The brand also mentioned that there would be interactive digital displays which would help buyers to assemble their vehicles.

Last week, de Nysschen stated in an interview that he does not have any plans to reduce the total number of dealerships. He said that the market coverage of Cadillac can be one of its advantages over its rivals. However, he made it clear that investment would be expected from those dealerships which are not central to Cadillac. He said “I am definitely going to be in disagreement with dealers who think they can sustain the business for Cadillac by selling Cadillac out the backdoor of a Chevy store.”

At present, the brand boasts of as many as 928 dealer franchises in the United States, which is much more than what Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other global luxury automakers have in the country. In an interview to the Detroit News, de Nysschen said that he does not plan to lower the number of dealers, which is already reduced from 1,422 before the 2009 bankruptcy of GM. He merely wishes to encourage franchises available in smaller markets to think about smaller retail spaces. He hopes to convince dealers into investing in showrooms of a smaller size, which would concentrate on providing customers with premium services and keeping at a time only a handful of vehicle on display.

Source: Data and information presented on this blog have been sourced from http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/01/cadillac-boss-wants-boutique-stores.html