GM makes Cadillac separate business unit based in New York

General Motors Co. is reorganizing its Cadillac luxury brand to make it a separate business unit and open a New York headquarters next year.

"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," GM president Dan Ammann said in a statement.

While industry-wide sales rose 5.1 per cent in the United States through August, with top luxury brands growing even faster, Cadillac sales slid 4.7 per cent. Executives have said the brand will add a flagship sedan, to be built at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant that makes the Volt plug-in hybrid, and that the CTS may add features such as heated seats to lower-level versions next year to attract more buyers.

Leading luxury brands have outpaced the market's growth: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's BMW deliveries increased 12 per cent, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz gained 8.2 per cent and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus is up 16 per cent. U.S. sales by Audi, Volkswagen AG's premium brand, rose 15 per cent.

Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac's chief, had run Audi of America and Nissan Motor Co.'s Infiniti before joining GM last month. Cadillac management is reviewing which staff will be moved to New York and which will remain in the Detroit area or elsewhere. The majority of Cadillac staff will remain in Michigan, de Nysschen said in the statement.

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