General Motors will remain a niche player in Europe after it closes on the sale of its Opel/Vauxhall operations to PSA Group in a deal valued at $2.3 billion.
The automaker plans to continue competing in the European premium market with the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette as well as Cadillac, according to GM CEO Mary Barra.
“That is the plan at this time, to continue with those models and brands in Europe,” she told reporters and analysts during a conference call Monday morning. “We continue to grow the Cadillac brand. We’ll continue to do that in a very disciplined fashion.”
Cadillac has spent a decade trying to gain traction in Europe against BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The three German juggernauts account for roughly 85 percent of the region’s premium market. Each sold between 820,000 and 840,000 vehicles in the region in 2016, according to the Automotive News Data Center.
Cadillac’s 45 dealerships in Europe -- mostly in Germany and Switzerland -- sold just 781 vehicles last year, up 33 percent from 2015, according to GM.
Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen seemed bullish on the brand’s expansion into Europe when he started leading Cadillac in July 2014. But a year into his tenure, he said the company was pushing back those plans to “beyond 2020.”
Cadillac is continuing with plans “to considerably increase” its dealership network “over the next few years,” spokesman Andrew Lipman said.
The brand wants to reach 5,000 annual sales in Europe by the end of the decade. That includes sales of the Chevrolet sporty cars, which are sold in some dealerships with Cadillacs.
Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, questions whether Cadillac should remain in Europe after GM’s mass market exodus.
