By Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News
By Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News
Try this: Google the phrase “the Cadillac of...”
You can find, among other things, “the Cadillac of robot pool cleaners,” “the Cadillac of gaming chairs,” “the Cadillac of cryptocurrency,” “the Cadillac of first-aid kits,” “the Cadillac of motorcycles,” “the Cadillac of waffle makers,” “the Cadillac of health insurance plans,” and, my personal favorite, “the Cadillac of dogs.” (Dobermans, apparently.) Since 1908, Cadillac has laid claim to the title of “Standard of the World,” and as the evidence clearly shows, the iconic General Motors brand continues to symbolize the best of the best.
Right now, Cadillac is arguably, well, the Cadillac of Cadillacs. The nameplate has gone through a radical repositioning over the last decade, including a major commitment to electric vehicles, which now account for almost a third of the brand’s sales, well above the industry average at about 10%. Sales has grown year-over-year for 12 straight quarters, driven by a dramatically revamped portfolio, including both performance gas vehicles like the CT5-V Blackwing; a range of luxury electric SUVs, including the VISTIQ, LYRIQ, and OPTIQ; the Escalade IQ, with its pillar-to-pillar screen and estimated 465 miles of range on a full charge1; and the ultra-luxurious hand-built CELESTIQ.
In 2023, GM handed the keys to Cadillac to John Roth, who started his GM journey almost 35 years ago. It’s been a jam-packed couple of years, highlighted by Cadillac’s big push into EVs – and the launch of a Cadillac Formula One racing team that will join the F1 grid in 2026. Roth – officially, VP for Global Cadillac — touched on these and other topics in a chat with GM News.
Q: John, 10 years ago, GM reset the bar on Cadillac. Give us the backstory.
A: At the time, I was working for GM Canada in Toronto. We’ve had a series of leaders over the last decade, but the vision for the future has been consistent. In 2015, the product portfolio was good, but not great. The incentives we had to provide buyers at the time were too high. Our residual values on leased vehicles were too low. And the net promoter scores for the brand and the dealer network were disappointing.
Q: Changes were required.
A: The options were to keep running it and hope for the best, or take a step back, reassess, and focus on what the brand could be. We had to decide: Can Cadillac be the standard of the world again? And management asked themselves: what would it mean to the world if Cadillac ceased to exist as a brand?
Q: That would have been a shocker.
A: Management researched that question with consumers. What came back was that an American icon would disappear. The leaders decided for all the right reasons to invest, and I’m thankful for those decisions. But it was a big hill to climb.
CAPTION: (Left to right) Bryan Nesbitt, executive director, Global Cadillac Design; General Motors President Mark Reuss; Mandi Damman, chief engineer, ESCALADE IQ; and John Roth, vice president, Global Cadillac, at the reveal of the 2025 Escalade IQ, in July 2024.
Q: The portfolio has almost completely turned over.
A: We had considered transforming to an all-EV portfolio by the end of the decade, and as I came into the brand, I had conversations with Rory Harvey [Roth’s predecessor, and now GM’s head of global markets] around that idea. We’re the number one luxury EV brand in the marketplace, which speaks volumes to the caliber of the product portfolio. But at the same time, there are still challenges in growing the charging infrastructure, and educating consumers that these vehicles are really good Cadillacs, regardless of propulsion system. The beauty of the flexibility and scale of General Motors is that when we need to, we can augment, pivot, flex, and not be rigidly sticking to a plan that ignores where customers are at this moment.
Q: Do consumers see the brand differently in 2025 than they did in 2015?
A: The perception has changed for the better. We talk about the brand being bold, sophisticated, and authentic – those are the words we use to describe what we do. A key performance indicator for us is how people respond to the question, “is this a brand for me?” In 2015, we were below average. That’s improved, but with room to grow.
Q: Does the brand right now live up to the Standard of the World ideal?
A: That’s our goal. There are principles from which we won’t deviate. Our vehicles have to include the right technology. They have to be innovative. Our EVs must have enough range. Hitting all of those allows us to over-deliver in the marketplace. We advertise Escalade IQ at 465 miles of range on a full charge1, but a recent Edmunds EV Range Test hit 558 miles, and InsideEVs tested one and hit 607 miles. And remember that the gas-powered Escalade has been number one in the full-size luxury SUV segment for nearly 11 years. The right thing to do is nurture your brand – consumers come to us because they believe in the brand, and we’re fulfilling the brand promise.
Q: Cadillac has been on an impressive run, with 12 consecutive quarters of growth. Can it keep going?
A: We’ve had a lot of learnings over the last few years, through Covid, chip shortages, and supply chain disruptions. Those things have helped define how we operate Cadillac. We have stayed true and disciplined on inventory. And of course, we’ve announced new nameplates and entered new segments.
Q: Particularly in EVs, where the VISTIQ, OPTIQ, and LYRIQ are all relatively new to the market.
A: Cadillac is the only brand with an EV in every luxury SUV segment. LYRIQ was first, reaching the market in 2022. This year we have book-ended the LYRIQ with the three-row VISTIQ, and the smaller, sportier, fun to drive OPTIQ. Add to that the Escalade IQ, and the super luxury CELESTIQ. The CELESTIQ is in a space we haven’t addressed in 50 years or more, bespoke hand-built vehicles. And you do all of that with modern design, engineering, and innovation.
Q: You are bringing in buyers who had not been Cadillac fans in the past.
A: For OPTIQ, VISTIQ, and LYRIQ, we’re seeing conquest rates north of 70%, with buyers we’ve never seen before, people who previously would have shopped for Mercedes, Audi, and Tesla. Meanwhile, Escalade is still number one in its segment. And we’ve seen strong performance from CT4 and CT5.
CAPTION: Cadillac's John Roth at the 2025 Escalade IQ reveal, in July 2024.
Q: I suspect there’s not broad awareness about just how successful Cadillac has been in EVs.
A: In the luxury segment, EVs have been running about 14% of total sales. Overall, the industry is running about 10% and has been as low as 7% - so luxury is twice the overall market. For Cadillac, we’ve recently been running as high as 32% or more. For the current calendar year, it’s around 24% or 25%. We’ve got strong products - and we are outselling the competition. We know from our dealers that when customers open the door to that OPTIQ, or VISITQ, or Escalade IQ, the first words out of their mouths are, “wow, now that’s a luxury vehicle.” We’re selling the best Cadillacs that we’ve ever built.
Q: John, I had a similar conversation to this one a few weeks ago with Scott Bell, your colleague at Chevrolet, and one of the things he talked about was that he had to take steps to get dealers comfortable selling EVs. Has that been an issue for Cadillac?
A: We began educating dealers, salespeople, and service advisors three or four years ago, long before the first LYRIQ drove off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Early on, we walked everyone through it. We said, here’s the vision for the brand – and we gave the dealers the option to step aside from Cadillac, because we needed everyone rowing in the same direction. Taking the dealers along is always the first step, taking our employees on this journey is a good step, and then you augment that with incredible marketing. Right now, our ads include one of the most simple, insightful lines: “Let’s Take the Cadillac.”
Q: You mentioned earlier the high conquest rate for Cadillac EV buyers. What are the prime factors that makes that happen? What gets them to “yes”?
A: The first factor is design. The look, the feel, the impression from that first touch point with the vehicle. That wow factor - we hear it time and again. Design has hit the mark.
But we also know that we have to offer at least 300 miles of range. And for new buyers, you need the right customer experience, so we’ve worked with the dealers to make sure they are fully trained, understand the portfolio, and can talk about the technology we’re delivering.
Q: John, given the recent flurry of product launches, what’s next?
A: There’s still plenty of opportunity. Many potential customers haven’t experienced Cadillac for the first time. It’s about making sure they understand what a LYRIQ is, what a VISTIQ is, what an OPTIQ is, and so on. There’s still an education journey, and a marketing journey. We’ve put these new EV brands in the market, but we’ve just begun.
Q: Our EVs are doing great. But we sell more gas-powered cars than EVs. What’s the future there?
A: The EV portfolio makes a really strong statement. They are well engineered and a joy to drive. But I just finished walking our dealers through the announcement of the next generation XT5, which of course is a gas vehicle. We just launched an enhanced CT5-V, and CT5-V Blackwing. With 668 horsepower2, and manual transmissions, it’s a driving experience like no other. The Escalade also had a mid-cycle enhancement this spring as well – and we’ve been having record Escalade sales, with days of supply at our dealerships as low as it’s been in years. Excitement around Escalade is extremely strong. And both our EVs and ICE vehicles have great technology features like Super Cruise, our advanced driver assistance system, which allows you to take your hands off the wheel under specific conditions. I drive to the office every morning using Super Cruise3, and it is a fantastic experience.
Caption: Cadillac's John Roth
STEVE PLEASE CROP AGGRESSIVELY ON THE HEADSHOT TO MAKE IT MORE HORIZONTAL.
Q: John, one of the most important pieces of news over the last year beyond the EV portfolio has been the announcement of a Cadillac Formula 1 team, in partnership with TWG Motorsports.
A: It’s a big deal. Performance and luxury are the core pillars of the brand. Last year at Monterey Car Week, we introduced Opulent Velocity, a concept vehicle that shows design, engineering and innovation intent. And we followed up this year with another concept called Elevated Velocity, a gull-winged crossover that likewise hints at where we can go with the brand. Those designs reflect that Cadillac has been a performance brand for 20 years or more, especially with our V-Series models – performance is an extremely important part of the luxury story.
Racing is an opportunity to bring engineering excellence at speed to our vehicles, but it also allows us to transfer back learnings to our portfolio, like tire performance, and less road resistance, which influences range on our EVs. And now we have this moment to enter Formula One and be on the grid in 2026 – to be at the pinnacle of racing.
Q: And presumably it brings Cadillac to the same audience that’s buying our EVs.
A: F1 draws a young, dynamic audience. People who are fashion conscious, who are looking for luxury, and emotional connections, but it's still a racing series that's accessible. Being part of F1, being granted the right to join the grid, tells you that Cadillac is truly competing with other Tier One brands, not only on the racetrack, but also in the marketplace. It bundles a brand and marketing story together that showcases to the world what Cadillac has evolved into, and where we're taking the brand in the future.
Q: It all adds up to a big year for Cadillac.
A: The Standard of the World has no finish line. Brands are fragile. They must be nurtured. We have to keep investing. We can celebrate our growth, but we have to stay nimble, be flexible, and make sure we’re listening to our customers. We’ve gone through an evolution of the brand, not a revolution. We make sure that we treat Cadillac with the respect it deserves as an iconic brand.
Q: John, thanks so much.
Eric J. Savitz, a former reporter and columnist with Barron’s, Forbes and other publications, is editor-in-chief at GM News. Reach him at news@gm.com.
Also see these interviews:
• A few minutes with Chevy’s Scott Bell: Equinox, Bolts, Corvettes, and more
• A few minutes with Buick and GMC global VP, Jaclyn McQuaid
1Model year 2026. Based on development testing and/or analytical projection consistent with SAE J1634 revision 2017 – MCT. Range subject to change prior to production. Actual range may vary based on several factors, including ambient temperature, terrain, battery age and condition, loading and how you use and maintain your vehicle.
2With premium gasoline.
3Always pay attention while driving and when using Super Cruise. Do not use a hand-held device. Requires active Super Cruise plan or trial. Terms apply. Visit https://www.cadillac.com/technology/super-cruise for compatible roads and full details.
Try this: Google the phrase “the Cadillac of...”
You can find, among other things, “the Cadillac of robot pool cleaners,” “the Cadillac of gaming chairs,” “the Cadillac of cryptocurrency,” “the Cadillac of first-aid kits,” “the Cadillac of motorcycles,” “the Cadillac of waffle makers,” “the Cadillac of health insurance plans,” and, my personal favorite, “the Cadillac of dogs.” (Dobermans, apparently.) Since 1908, Cadillac has laid claim to the title of “Standard of the World,” and as the evidence clearly shows, the iconic General Motors brand continues to symbolize the best of the best.
Right now, Cadillac is arguably, well, the Cadillac of Cadillacs. The nameplate has gone through a radical repositioning over the last decade, including a major commitment to electric vehicles, which now account for almost a third of the brand’s sales, well above the industry average at about 10%. Sales has grown year-over-year for 12 straight quarters, driven by a dramatically revamped portfolio, including both performance gas vehicles like the CT5-V Blackwing; a range of luxury electric SUVs, including the VISTIQ, LYRIQ, and OPTIQ; the ESCALADE IQ, with its pillar-to-pillar screen and estimated 465 miles of range on a full charge1; and the ultra-luxurious hand-built CELESTIQ.
In 2023, GM handed the keys to Cadillac to John Roth, who started his GM journey almost 35 years ago. It’s been a jam-packed couple of years, highlighted by Cadillac’s big push into EVs – and the launch of a Cadillac Formula One racing team that will join the F1 grid in 2026. Roth – officially, VP for Global Cadillac — touched on these and other topics in a chat with GM News.
Q: John, 10 years ago, GM reset the bar on Cadillac. Give us the backstory.
A: At the time, I was working for GM Canada in Toronto. We’ve had a series of leaders over the last decade, but the vision for the future has been consistent. In 2015, the product portfolio was good, but not great. The incentives we had to provide buyers at the time were too high. Our residual values on leased vehicles were too low. And the net promoter scores for the brand and the dealer network were disappointing.
Q: Changes were required.
A: The options were to keep running it and hope for the best, or take a step back, reassess, and focus on what the brand could be. We had to decide: Can Cadillac be the standard of the world again? And management asked themselves: what would it mean to the world if Cadillac ceased to exist as a brand?
Q: That would have been a shocker.
A: Management researched that question with consumers. What came back was that an American icon would disappear. The leaders decided for all the right reasons to invest, and I’m thankful for those decisions. But it was a big hill to climb.
Q: The portfolio has almost completely turned over.
A: We had considered transforming to an all-EV portfolio by the end of the decade, and as I came into the brand, I had conversations with Rory Harvey [Roth’s predecessor, and now GM’s head of global markets] around that idea. We’re the number one luxury EV brand in the marketplace, which speaks volumes to the caliber of the product portfolio. But at the same time, there are still challenges in growing the charging infrastructure, and educating consumers that these vehicles are really good Cadillacs, regardless of propulsion system. The beauty of the flexibility and scale of General Motors is that when we need to, we can augment, pivot, flex, and not be rigidly sticking to a plan that ignores where customers are at this moment.
Q: Do consumers see the brand differently in 2025 than they did in 2015?
A: The perception has changed for the better. We talk about the brand being bold, sophisticated, and authentic – those are the words we use to describe what we do. A key performance indicator for us is how people respond to the question, “is this a brand for me?” In 2015, we were below average. That’s improved, but with room to grow.
Q: Does the brand right now live up to the Standard of the World ideal?
A: That’s our goal. There are principles from which we won’t deviate. Our vehicles have to include the right technology. They have to be innovative. Our EVs must have enough range. Hitting all of those allows us to over-deliver in the marketplace. We advertise ESCALADE IQ at 465 miles of range on a full charge1, but a recent Edmunds EV Range Test hit 558 miles, and InsideEVs tested one and hit 607 miles. And remember that the gas-powered Escalade has been number one in the full-size luxury SUV segment for nearly 12 years. The right thing to do is nurture your brand – consumers come to us because they believe in the brand, and we’re fulfilling the brand promise.
Q: Cadillac has been on an impressive run, with 12 consecutive quarters of growth. Can it keep going?
A: We’ve had a lot of learnings over the last few years, through Covid, chip shortages, and supply chain disruptions. Those things have helped define how we operate Cadillac. We have stayed true and disciplined on inventory. And of course, we’ve announced new nameplates and entered new segments.
Q: Particularly in EVs, where the VISTIQ, OPTIQ, and LYRIQ are all relatively new to the market.
A: Cadillac is the only brand with an EV in every luxury SUV segment. LYRIQ was first, reaching the market in 2022. This year we have book-ended the LYRIQ with the three-row VISTIQ, and the smaller, sportier, fun to drive OPTIQ. Add to that the ESCALADE IQ, and the super luxury CELESTIQ. The CELESTIQ is in a space we haven’t addressed in 50 years or more, bespoke hand-built vehicles. And you do all of that with modern design, engineering, and innovation.
Q: You are bringing in buyers who had not been Cadillac fans in the past.
A: For OPTIQ, VISTIQ, and LYRIQ, we’re seeing conquest rates north of 70%, with buyers we’ve never seen before, people who previously would have shopped for Mercedes, Audi, and Tesla. Meanwhile, Escalade is still number one in its segment. And we’ve seen strong performance from CT4 and CT5.
Q: I suspect there’s not broad awareness about just how successful Cadillac has been in EVs.
A: In the luxury segment, EVs have been running about 14% of total sales. Overall, the industry is running about 10% and has been as low as 7% - so luxury is twice the overall market. For Cadillac, we’ve recently been running as high as 32% or more. For the current calendar year, it’s around 24% or 25%. We’ve got strong products - and we are outselling the competition. We know from our dealers that when customers open the door to that OPTIQ, or VISITQ, or ESCALADE IQ, the first words out of their mouths are, “wow, now that’s a luxury vehicle.” We’re selling the best Cadillacs that we’ve ever built.
Q: John, I had a similar conversation to this one a few weeks ago with Scott Bell, your colleague at Chevrolet, and one of the things he talked about was that he had to take steps to get dealers comfortable selling EVs. Has that been an issue for Cadillac?
A: We began educating dealers, salespeople, and service advisors three or four years ago, long before the first LYRIQ drove off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Early on, we walked everyone through it. We said, here’s the vision for the brand – and we gave the dealers the option to step aside from Cadillac, because we needed everyone rowing in the same direction. Taking the dealers along is always the first step, taking our employees on this journey is a good step, and then you augment that with incredible marketing. Right now, our ads include one of the most simple, insightful lines: “Let’s Take the Cadillac.”
Q: You mentioned earlier the high conquest rate for Cadillac EV buyers. What are the prime factors that makes that happen? What gets them to “yes”?
A: The first factor is design. The look, the feel, the impression from that first touch point with the vehicle. That wow factor - we hear it time and again. Design has hit the mark.
But we also know that we have to offer at least 300 miles of range. And for new buyers, you need the right customer experience, so we’ve worked with the dealers to make sure they are fully trained, understand the portfolio, and can talk about the technology we’re delivering.
Q: John, given the recent flurry of product launches, what’s next?
A: There’s still plenty of opportunity. Many potential customers haven’t experienced Cadillac for the first time. It’s about making sure they understand what a LYRIQ is, what a VISTIQ is, what an OPTIQ is, and so on. There’s still an education journey, and a marketing journey. We’ve put these new EV brands in the market, but we’ve just begun.
Q: Our EVs are doing great. But we sell more gas-powered cars than EVs. What’s the future there?
A: The EV portfolio makes a really strong statement. They are well engineered and a joy to drive. But I just finished walking our dealers through the announcement of the next generation XT5, which of course is a gas vehicle. We just launched an enhanced CT5-V, and CT5-V Blackwing. With 668 horsepower2, and manual transmissions, it’s a driving experience like no other. The Escalade also had a mid-cycle enhancement this spring as well – and we’ve been having record Escalade sales, with days of supply at our dealerships as low as it’s been in years. Excitement around Escalade is extremely strong. And both our EVs and ICE vehicles have great technology features like Super Cruise, our advanced driver assistance system, which allows you to take your hands off the wheel under specific conditions. I drive to the office every morning using Super Cruise3, and it is a fantastic experience.
Q: John, one of the most important pieces of news over the last year beyond the EV portfolio has been the announcement of a Cadillac Formula 1 team, in partnership with TWG Motorsports.
A: It’s a big deal. Performance and luxury are the core pillars of the brand. Last year at Monterey Car Week, we introduced Opulent Velocity, a concept vehicle that shows design, engineering and innovation intent. And we followed up this year with another concept called Elevated Velocity, a gull-winged crossover that likewise hints at where we can go with the brand. Those designs reflect that Cadillac has been a performance brand for 20 years or more, especially with our V-Series models – performance is an extremely important part of the luxury story.
Racing is an opportunity to bring engineering excellence at speed to our vehicles, but it also allows us to transfer back learnings to our portfolio, like tire performance, and less road resistance, which influences range on our EVs. And now we have this moment to enter Formula One and be on the grid in 2026 – to be at the pinnacle of racing.
Q: And presumably it brings Cadillac to the same audience that’s buying our EVs.
A: F1 draws a young, dynamic audience. People who are fashion conscious, who are looking for luxury, and emotional connections, but it's still a racing series that's accessible. Being part of F1, being granted the right to join the grid, tells you that Cadillac is truly competing with other Tier One brands, not only on the racetrack, but also in the marketplace. It bundles a brand and marketing story together that showcases to the world what Cadillac has evolved into, and where we're taking the brand in the future.
Q: It all adds up to a big year for Cadillac.
A: The Standard of the World has no finish line. Brands are fragile. They must be nurtured. We have to keep investing. We can celebrate our growth, but we have to stay nimble, be flexible, and make sure we’re listening to our customers. We’ve gone through an evolution of the brand, not a revolution. We make sure that we treat Cadillac with the respect it deserves as an iconic brand.
Q: John, thanks so much.
Eric J. Savitz, a former reporter and columnist with Barron’s, Forbes and other publications, is editor-in-chief at GM News. Reach him at news@gm.com.
Also see these interviews:
- A few minutes with Chevy’s Scott Bell: Equinox, Bolts, Corvettes, and more
- A few minutes with Buick and GMC global VP, Jaclyn McQuaid
1Model year 2026. Based on development testing and/or analytical projection consistent with SAE J1634 revision 2017 – MCT. Range subject to change prior to production. Actual range may vary based on several factors, including ambient temperature, terrain, battery age and condition, loading and how you use and maintain your vehicle.
2With premium gasoline.
3Always pay attention while driving and when using Super Cruise. Do not use a hand-held device. Requires active Super Cruise plan or trial. Terms apply. Visit https://www.cadillac.com/technology/super-cruise for compatible roads and full details.