Cadillac HQ leaving Detroit for New York

General Motors has announced that it plans to move its Cadillac brand headquarters to New York next year as part of strategic realignment intended to establish the brand as a separate business unit.

"With the relentless upward repositioning of successive new-generation Cadillac products, the next logical step is to provide Cadillac more freedom to cultivate the brand in pursuit of further global growth," said GM President Dan Ammann. "Cadillac's mission is to reinstate the brand to a pre-eminent position among global luxury brands, a bold challenge requiring a distinct and focused new organization. More than a division or brand, Cadillac is becoming a center of excellence for our company."

Johan de Nysschen, who joined Cadillac as its new president in August, will be responsible for the brand's overall operational performance. Cadillac's leadership council is headed by de Nysschen, and consists of Jim Bunnell, vice president of sales and service; Uwe Ellinghaus, chief marketing officer; David Colasinski, chief financial officer; David Leone, executive chief engineer, and Andrew Smith, executive director of design. Further expansion of the Cadillac leadership team will be announced later.

The NYC headquarters will take the form of a multipurpose brand and event space in conjunction with modern loft offices in the trendy Soho section of Manhattan. While the majority of functions with oversight and responsibility for both global and U.S. operations will be located at the new global headquarters, there will be no change to technical product development teams located in Michigan, nor does the plan impact manufacturing or assembly operations. Cadillac management is reviewing options for which specific staffs will be based in New York and which will remain in current locations in the Detroit area or elsewhere.

"We are very proud of our Detroit roots and heritage, and the majority of the Cadillac workforce will remain in Michigan," de Nysschen said. "But there is no city in the world where the inhabitants are more immersed in a premium lifestyle than in New York. Establishing our new global headquarters in Soho places Cadillac at the epicenter of sophisticated living. It allows our team to share experiences with premium-brand consumers and develop attitudes in common with our audience."