DETROIT — What's good for General Motors is good for Cadillac, and vice versa.
That proposition will be put to the test as Cadillac transitions to a new leader — and a new style of leadership — following the ouster last week of Johan de Nysschen.
Over his nearly four years as the brand's global chief, de Nysschen's impact was most measurable not on product or performance, but on positioning: With every move, he and his team sought to distance Cadillac from its checkered past and its corporate parent, pushing for a separate headquarters, a revamped retail network, a European nomenclature and exclusive powertrains.
In replacing him with Steve Carlisle, 55, head of GM Canada and a company loyalist in the vein of CEO Mary Barra and product chief Mark Reuss, GM appears to be signaling its desire to bring Cadillac back into the fold under a single, unified corporate vision that emphasizes speed and measurable return on investment.
"I greatly admire and respect the GM top leadership," de Nysschen, 58, wrote in an email to Automotive News last week, "but, in the end, I would conclude that in their opinion, I did not challenge hard enough. Accordingly, they exercised their prerogative to change leadership."
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