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Cadillac Centennial Celebration - Mark LaNeve Remarks
Mark LaNeve
Good morning! First of all I'd like to thank our chairman, Mr. Jack Smith, for taking me out of his busy schedule to join us. As Jack mentioned, Cadillac has a rich heritage of introducing innovative new technologies and bold designs. I personally am very proud to have spent most of my career with this great brand, and look forward to many more to come. Over the past century, Cadillac has been the leader in innovation, technology and style. These things are what made our brand an American icon. While we love to celebrate Cadillac's first 100 Years of Excellence, we're much more interested in establishing our leadership for the century ahead. If you've been following Cadillac recently, you know that our leadership plan is already paying solid dividends with exciting new products and dramatic sales and share gains for the division: * Our total year-to-year retail deliveries were up 22% through July. * Sales are up 36% for Escalade ... the boldest, most powerful full size SUV on the planet. Escalade is capturing a 40% share of the Prestige Luxury Utility segment, gaining 8.7 points of market share in a year. * And our all-new, boldly styled CTS performance sedan is a runaway success. In fact, it's the fastest-turning car in General Motors. CTS is just the first in a series of world-class vehicles we're building on our premium rear-wheel-drive Sigma architecture. Next summer, we're launching our first-ever medium luxury utility vehicle, the SRX. It offers the bold looks of the CTS, plus the choice of all-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, V6 or V8 power, and third-row seating. SRX demonstrates Cadillac's commitment to continue to lead in styling, performance and flexibility. 2003 also marks the much-anticipated launch of the Cadillac XLR, Cadillac's bold leap into the growing ultra-luxury segment. Even more stunning than the Evoq concept car that inspired it, the XLR is a retractable hardtop convertible roadster that combines breathtaking looks with heart-stopping performance. It will be the boldest-looking, best-handling, most powerful vehicle in its segment. Meaning that you don't just "show up" in an XLR - you "arrive" in style. This XLR is going to be on a lot of Christmas lists later this year ... and 99 very lucky holiday shoppers will be able to order a limited edition version from the Neiman Marcus's renowned "Christmas Book" catalog. The Neiman Marcus XLR has been crafted for a very exclusive set of buyers and has all of XLR's standard bells and whistles and performance features. Get your checkbooks out, because the limited edition Neiman Marcus XLR will retail for $85,000. And get your order in early, because the Nieman-Marcus folks think this one's going to go fast! Vehicles like Escalade, CTS, SRX and XLR demonstrate that Cadillac is back and driving in the pole position. Our recent product success is putting us where we want to be, launching a whole new generation of luxury vehicles that will be classics for the 21st century. And that's great news for anybody who loves cars and trucks. Another exciting new development for Cadillac is the "V-Series" line of products that will begin first with CTS next Fall. V-Series takes Cadillac back to its roots ... as a sophisticated technology and performance leader. We're confident the V-Series models will be a performance package that represents Cadillac at its best and will allow us to compete with the world's best luxury-performance imports. 2003 promises to be a historic year for Cadillac. With the launch of SRX, XLR, Escalade ESV and CTS V-Series...all of the promises we have been making for several years will finally come true. This is a landmark day for Cadillac and a proud moment for me personally. Not every history-making brand gets the opportunity to make history all over again. But take it from me, Cadillac's second hundred years as America's premium automaker promise to be every bit as remarkable as our first hundred years. The Cadillacs we're building today will lay the foundation for the "Standard of the World" in the 21st Century. We're honored to have you here today to help us celebrate 100 years of innovation. Make sure you get a chance to drive a new Cadillac...including the CTS, EXT and others...which will be available from 11-3 p.m. today for employees to drive on a road course through Detroit. The sign-up table can be found near the exit doors of the Wintergarden. For the past year, Cadillac has been working to break through the past and forge ahead to a brilliant future. The tremendous success of our "break through" campaign is due in large part to the music of a very special guest we have here today. Led Zeppelin's legendary music broke all boundaries and defined rock music for generations. It's my pleasure to introduce a rock and roll legend, Mr. Robert Plant... |