Cadillac Exec: Lincoln is not a Rival for Us

Cadillac’s vice chief of global design, Ed Wellburn, tells that he doesn’t consider Lincoln to be a main rival to his brand. 

“They’re not a global luxury brand at all. I don’t consider them a rival. Are they a main competitor for Buick? Most likely, but not for Cadillac,” Wellburn informed CarsBase during the LA Auto Show.

Lincoln’s newest product, the MKC, is the 2nd of 4 units that are supposed to reinvent the Lincoln brand, as the automaker tries to shrug off an image of simply selling spruced-up Fords.

Cadillac was in a identical circumstance to Lincoln, gaining a reputation for simply re-naming GM products, but has managed to reconstruct itself as a true luxury rival to German auto companies. But Wellburn is still convinced that Cadillac needs more products. “I believe Cadillac needs to be a full-line luxury brand. There are segments that we don’t participate in, currently, but we will a little bit later,” he informed.

A Cadillac that is going to strive with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is one car that the brand is looking into, evidenced by the Elmiraj Concept that Cadillac showed off at Pebble Beach. “And we’re surely looking at that [talking about the Elmiraj] for production” he informed. “But there are many other vehicles that we’re creating, some of which would be an even higher importance than this. I’m very thrilled. We’re going to bring it to production, if possible.”