Cadillac

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Company name	Cadillac Motor Car Division
Company type	Division of GM
Foundation	August 22, 1902
Location city	Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Key people	Henry M. Leland, founder Henry Ford, original founder (Henry Ford Company)
Industry	Automobiles
Products	Luxury vehicles
Parent	General Motors Company
Homepage	cadillac.com

Cadillac (, is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors (GM). Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mainly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest automobile brands in the world. Depending on how one chooses to measure, Cadillac is arguably older than Buick.

Cadillac was founded in 1902 by Henry Leland, a master mechanic and entrepreneur, who named the company after his ancestor, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of the city of Detroit. The company's crest is based on a coat of arms that Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac had created at the time of his marriage in Quebec in 1687. General Motors purchased the company in 1909 and within six years, Cadillac had laid the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles by demonstrating the complete interchangeability of its precision parts while simultaneously establishing itself as America's premier luxury car. Cadillac pioneered many accessories in automobiles, including full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission and the steel roof. The brand developed three engines, one of which (the V8 engine) set the standard for the American automotive industry. Cadillac is the first American car to win the prestigious Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club of England, having successfully demonstrated the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908; this spawned the firm's slogan "Standard of the World". It won that trophy a second time, in 1912, for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile.

History

Founding

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company when Henry Ford departed along with several of his key partners and the company was dissolved. With the intent of liquidating the firm's assets, Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment before selling them.

Instead, Leland persuaded them to continue the automobile business using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine. The company after Henry Ford left needed a new name, and on 22 August 1902 the company reformed as the Cadillac Automobile Company. Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing and the Cadillac Automobile Company merged in 1905.

The Cadillac automobile was named after the 17th-century French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701.

Contributions to the automotive industry

From its earliest years Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finish, causing its cars to be ranked amongst the finest in the US. Utilization of interchangeable parts was an important innovation in 1908. Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed cab in 1910, and in 1912 was first to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting.

Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars aimed at an upper class market. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with V12 and V16 engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom coach-built bodies; these engines were remarkable at the time for their ability to deliver a combination of high power, silky smoothness and quietness.

Automobile stylist Harley Earl, whom Cadillac had recruited in 1926 and who was to head the new Art and Color section starting in January 1928, designed for 1927 a new, smaller "companion marque" car to the Cadillac which he called the La Salle, after another French explorer, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. That marque remained in production until 1940.

The Great Depression

In 1932, after Cadillac suffered from record low sales and charges of discrimination against black customers, Alfred Sloan created a committee to consider the discontinuation of the Cadillac line. Cadillac managed to survive the Great Depression by being part of GM. By 1940 Cadillac sales had risen tenfold compared to 1934.

1934 brought about a revolution in assembly-line technology. Henry F. Phillips introduced the Phillips screw and driver to the market. He entered into talks with General Motors and convinced the Cadillac group that his new screws would speed assembly times and therefore increase profits. Cadillac was the first automaker to use the Phillips technology in 1937, which was widely adopted in 1940. For the first time in many years all cars built by the company shared the same basic engine and drivetrain in 1941.

Postwar

Postwar Cadillacs, incorporating the ideas of General Motors styling chief Harley J. Earl, innovated many of the styling features that came to be synonymous with the classic (late-1940s and 1950s) American automobile, including tailfins, wraparound windshields, and extensive exterior and interior bright-work (chrome and polished stainless steel). Fledgling automotive magazine Motor Trend awarded its first "Car of the Year" to Cadillac in 1949; the company turned it down. On 25 November 1949, Cadillac produced its one millionth car, a 1950 Coupe de Ville. It also set a record for annual production of over 100,000 cars, Cadillac's first tailfins, inspired by the twin rudders of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, appeared in 1948; the 1959 Cadillac, designed by Peter Hodak, was the epitome of the tailfin craze, with the most recognizable tailfins of any production automobile. From 1960 thru 1964, the fins decreased in size each year and disappeared with the 1965 model year (except for the 1965 series 75 chassis which was a carry over from 1964). The use of extensive bright-work on the exterior and interior also decreased each year after 1959 and accelerated with the 1966 model year when even the rear bumpers were no longer all chrome with large portions painted and the headlight bezels were painted.

Cadillac's other distinctive styling attribute was its front-bumper designs which became known as Dagmar bumpers or simply Dagmars. What had started out after the war as an artillery shell shaped bumper guard became an increasingly important part of Cadillac's complicated front grille and bumper assembly. As the 1950s wore on, the element was placed higher in the front-end design, negating their purpose as bumper guards. They also became more pronounced and were likened to the bosom of 1950s television personality Dagmar. In 1957 the bumpers gained black rubber tips which only heightened the relationship between the styling element and a stylized, exaggerated bumper design. For 1958 the element was toned down and then was completely absent from the 1959 models.

In 1966, Cadillac would mark up its best annual sales yet, over 192,000 units (142,190 of them de Villes), an increase of more than 60%. This was exceeded in 1968, when Cadillac topped 200,000 units for the first time.

The launch of the front-wheel drive Eldorado in 1967 as a personal luxury coupe, with its simple, elegant design — a far cry from the tail-fin and chrome excesses of the 1950s — gave Cadillac a direct competitor for the Lincoln and , and in 1970, Cadillac sales topped Chrysler's for the first time. The new engine that debuted in the 1968 model year, designed for an ultimate capacity potential of , was increased to for the 1970 Eldorado. It was adopted across the model range beginning in 1975.

Low points, and recovery

The 1970s saw vehicles memorable for dimensions not seen since the 1960s, but not extremely so. The 1972 Fleetwood was some longer in wheelbase and overall, compared to the 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood, while the entry-level 1972 Calais was longer than the equivalent 1960 Series 62, on the same wheelbase. Growth in weight and standard equipment demanded increases in engine displacement before the downsizing era set in later in the decade. Performance waned after peaking at (gross) and of torque in the first year and further declined in 1971 and later years due to reductions in compression ratios necessitated by the advent of low-octane unleaded fuel and increasingly stringent emission requirements. Despite record sales in 1973 and again in the late 1970s, Cadillac suffered from the malaise that set in to the American auto industry in the late 1970s to the late 1980s, partly driven by a failure to respond effectively to new government mandates on safety, emissions and fuel economy.

The Art and Science Era

Cadillac has resisted the trend towards producing "retro" models such as the revived Ford Thunderbird or the VW New Beetle. It has instead pressed ahead with a new design philosophy for the 21st century called "art and science" which it says "incorporates sharp, sheer forms and crisp edges — a form vocabulary that expresses bold, high-technology design and invokes the technology used to design it." This new design language spread from the original CTS across the line all the way up to the XLR roadster. Cadillac's model line-up mostly includes rear- and all-wheel-drive sedans, roadsters, crossovers and SUVs. The only exceptions are the front-wheel drive Cadillac BLS (which is not sold in North America) and the Cadillac DTS. Many of these actively compete with respected high-end luxury cars produced by German and Japanese manufacturers. The flagship of these efforts is the second-generation CTS-V, which is a direct competitor to the vaunted BMW M5.(http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/comparison/2009-cadillac-cts-v-vs.-2008-bmw-m5-smg) An automatic version of the CTS-V lapped the Nürburgring in 7:59.32, at the time a record for production sedans.

Despite Cadillac's re-invention, little work has been done with the Cadillac brand towards the end of the decade due to GM's bankruptcy. A range topper based on the Cadillac Sixteen had been cancelled along with the Northstar engine replacement. With the STS and DTS scheduled to end production, Cadillac would be left without a proper range topper. A small RWD sedan was in the works but reports suggested it would move to the Epsilon II platform and position below the CTS range. However, Cadillac did commence with the second generation SRX in 2009. The SRX is now based on the Theta Premium platform and is offered in either FWD or AWD.

Reports suggested the Escalade would move the Lambda platform in 2014 but it has since been revealed the Escalade will continue on its body-on-frame architecture with a redesign in 2013. A Lambda-based Cadillac will join the line to complement the next Escalade, which could possibly cost more than the current model. Cadillac showcased the XTS Platinum concept in 2010 and announced intentions to build the FWD/AWD sedan on the Super Epsilon platform. Also, in late 2009, GM announced the upcoming 3-Series competitor, the ATS, will go into production on the RWD/AWD Alpha platform in 2013. Reports have surfaced that GM had green lighted not only a Zeta based 7-Series competitor, but another Zeta based full-size based on the Sixteen concept. The reports suggest the latter will carry a price tag of as much as $125,000 and will be positioned as Cadillac's halo. It has also been revealed the next CTS, scheduled for 2013, will move to a long-wheelbase version of the upcoming Alpha platform. It is expected to grow in size and price and lose its coupe and wagon options. With that said, this would leave Cadillac with a full range of vehicles by the mid 2010's.

Impact on American Culture

Cadillac through the years has become an icon of American success and the American dream. Today that is no different with Cadillac introducing new models such as the CTS-V, which is the world's fastest production sedan and many other world class vehicles. From the 1950s with the iconic Cadillac Eldorado, Cadillac has reflected the American's brashness and flamboyance in vehicle design. Many cars, like the CTS Coupe, feature designs usually only found in concept vehicles. Further reflecting American times and especially in the 1980s & 1990's Cadillac was regarded as a subpar compared to the likes of Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus. As American culture changed in the 21st century, Cadillac style and exterior design changed in what the company called art and science design. The Reflection of Cadillac's art and science can be seen in such concepts as the Sixteen and the Converj. The style can even be seen in such production vehicles such as the Cadillac CTS and 2010 Cadillac SRX.

Cadillacs in art and sculpture

Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, U.S. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm, and it consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of early Cadillacs; the tail fin) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The piece is a statement about the paradoxical simultaneous American fascinations with both a "sense of place" — and roadside attractions, such as The Ranch itself — and the mobility and freedom of the automobile. A tribute to the Cadillac Ranch was featured in the Walt Disney and Pixar film Cars. The fictional town of Radiator Springs sits at the edge of an area referenced on a map as the "Cadillac Range", and throughout the movie, rock formations shaped like the upended cars can be seen as a horizon backdrop. General Motors is eying to launch Cadillac in the Indian market soon, as per a statement given by a top company official "We are looking at introducing our premium brand, Cadillac over the next couple of years."

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See also

Cadillac Northstar engine

Cadillac V8 engine

Cadillac V-Series

LaSalle, companion make to Cadillac, 1927–1940

List of car brands

Cadillacs & Dinosaurs

Dolan's Cadillac

Footnotes

References

External links

Official links

Cadillac.com - official site

mycadillacstory.com - official video site of Cadillac

Cadillac.GM.ca - official site of Cadillac in Canada

CadillacEurope.com - official site of Cadillac in Europe

Official Generations of GM Wiki site: Cadillac

Other

American Classic: The Cadillac - slideshow by Life magazine

Category:Car manufacturers of the United States Category:Cadillac Category:Companies established in 1902 Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Category:Companies based in Detroit, Michigan Category:General Motors marques