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Johan de Nysschen Named Cadillac President

Yesterday, we reported Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen had resigned from the company after just two years on the job, and now we know why. General Motors has officially announced today that de Nysschen will be become the president of Cadillac effective September 1, 2014 replacing Bob Ferguson.
Johan de Nysschen Cadillac 1 photo
Photo: collage
Like Infiniti, Cadillac is in the midst of a transformation while trying to establish a global presence and de Nysschen will “be responsible for all aspects of Cadillac globally.” At both Audi and Infiniti, de Nysschen helped improve sales and grow market share, and while Cadillac already has a strong head start on accomplishing this, the automaker should be able to grow even further with de Nysschen at the helm as it hopes to “operate as a global brand [as a] more distinct business unit.”

De Nysschen, 54, will report to GM president Dan Ammann, who said:

Johan brings to our company vast experience in the development and proper execution of luxury automotive brands. With over 20 years in this exact space, especially in the development of the Audi brand, his track record proves he is the perfect executive to lead Cadillac for the long term.”

De Nysschen had this to say about Cadillac:

I have for some time now been impressed by how the new General Motors has been transformed into a formidable force in the industry. The combination of strong corporate leadership and exceptional engineering resources presents the perfect combination to restore Cadillac to its place among global premium brands.”

If nothing else, de Nysschen was in charge of Infiniti when the automaker decided to do a sweeping model name changes across its entire lineup. Who knows, maybe Cadillac could do the same switching away from its current naming scheme and go back to real names like Eldorado, de Ville and Fleetwood.

As for Ferguson, it was just announced yesterday that he will had been appointed as GM’s Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, which is a fancy way of saying lobbyist. He will report directly to GM CEO Mary Barra. Infiniti has not announced a replacement for de Nysschen yet, but the automaker is currently looking for internal and external candidates.
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