Re: 2nd Round: How the Luxury Market Dominance was Lost

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2008/12/22 17:06:07

Clipper47, in essence, yes, but the 41-up Clipper was both a re-naming of the 120, PMCC may have realized that they sold the name a little too far downmarket with the 110-115 and was in the process of making corrections with the branding of the Clipper line. They were spot-on with the styling, which had no sense of stuffy formality. With no true upper series body after the war the prestige line was left open to the competition.
For an interesting study look at the Chrysler Imperial. At times a very fine car, the 1931-33s being about as good a car as money could buy at the time. Chrysler was not able to carry the losses of the Imperial, even after establishing it as a separate brand and not just "the biggest, fattest Chrysler." They waffled in and out of that segment, made some really great cars and some really mediocre cars (that were truly the biggest, fattest Chrysler). My former co-workers said repeatedly that Chrysler NEVER made money on Imperial, and like to fudge their undies when it was announced (and quickly retracted) in 2006 that they were going to again make an Imperial.
One huge difference for me between Cadillac and rivals Lincoln and Imperial is that GM only put (well, for the first 75 years anyhow) Cadillac engines in a Cadillac. Lincoln and Imperial had an engine that could )in its essence be found in a garbage truck, school bus, pickup or low-priced offering.