History of Cadillac

In 1902, one of the oldest automobile companies in the United States of America, Cadillac, was founded. The company was founded by an engineer named Henry Leland and entrepreneur William Murphy. 1902 was the last year of the Detroit Automobile Company, which Henry Ford immediately left, and all the fragments of the once large enterprise were bought out by Murphy. The brand received such an unusual name in honor of the founder of the city of Detroit.

Several models developed by Ford were immediately presented. Sales of inexpensive cars were profitable, and Leland, by then the company’s CEO, introduced innovative solutions such as an electric starter and a silent gearbox. However, in 1928, Cadillac was sold to the auto giant General Motors, in which the US government had a stake. Two years later, the luxury model 452 was introduced, which received the world’s first car air conditioner.

However, the company’s own developments faded into the background, and the main production volumes of Cadillac became the cheap Cadillac 30, which received all the most modern options, including a new version of head lighting. In addition, the model was equipped with a power unit with a capacity of 30 horsepower. The next car was the first eight-cylinder Cadillac Type 51. Woodrow Wilson fell in love with this model so much that Cadillac became an official partner of the US government and throughout its existence continues to supply models for all top officials of the state.

The last pre-war Cadillac model was the 60 Special, which was so ahead of all its competitors that it existed from 1938 to 1948 without significant upgrades, occupying more than 40% of the entire production turnover of General Motors.

During the Second World War, the company begins to manufacture military equipment, including tanks, applying its own special approach in this area. Cadillac tanks were in demand not only by the American army, but also by the British and French armies, who were only forced to purchase a license to assemble standard versions of heavy equipment.

In 1945, Cadillac returned to the production of civilian cars, diligently engaging in the introduction of new safety standards throughout the automotive industry. There was also a whole scattering of models for all market segments – the budget models of Colorado and Eldorado became widespread among the masses, and after many celebrities began to show interest in Cadillac cars, a real boom in sales began. Each of the models received many modifications, family and executive sedans, convertibles and roadsters, luxury and sports coupes were presented.

Following its philosophy throughout the twentieth century, Cadillac gradually lost its leading position to Chrysler and such Japanese brands as Nissan and Toyota, limiting itself to dominance in the premium segment.

On the centenary of the company, a new revolutionary model of the Cadillac Escalade was introduced, built on the platform of the Chevrolet Tahoe. The car became the first representative of the company’s new design direction, which repeated the military design of the Mercedes-Benz G, while remaining a full-size seven-seater SUV. The company introduced many new models that were developed in collaboration with a number of automotive companies from Europe. This decision allowed Cadillac to find its buyer far beyond the US.

In 2006, DeVille was updated. The new flagship was called DTS, but it remained front-wheel drive. And the CTS, STS and XLR models are still produced in “charged” versions of CTS-V, STS-V and XLR-V.

In 2007, the BLS Wagon model debuted, which was intended for the European car market. For Chinese consumers, the Cadillac SLS model was created.