Cadillac
Henry Martyn Leland was, beyond any doubt, an outstanding person who had gone through many profitable deals before he created Cadillac in 1902. His main field of activity before involvement into automotive industry had been a precision engineering under the Leland, Faulconer, and Norton Co, established in 1890 for producing trimmers. Later he moved on supplying engines for the Olds Motor Vehicle Company.
Originally Cadillac was founded as a result of Henry Ford Motor Company near-liquidation. Leland succeeded in persuading its owners to abandon these plans and rename the venture and continue the production of automobiles, offering his single-cylinder engine applied on Ford chassis. The strict commitment to high-quality machine processing of automobile parts, which Henry Leland never stopped to require, made the brand a guarantor of quality products. This is why Cadillac became a well-known producer of luxurious and refined cars sold worldwide. In 1909 the company started functioning as a division of General Motors. Years later, in 1917 the former founder of Cadillac formed Lincoln Motor Company.
The prewar era cars manufactured by Cadillac acquired a great deal of new features which were unknown before, such as a solid steel roof and electrical system which united starting, ignition and lighting. The production was mainly concentrated on passenger premium class cars. One of the brightest examples is the 1921 Suburban – a luxurious eight-cylinder seven-seater. Actually, using V8 engines defined a steady trend which is still shared by American automotive producers.
Models that followed WWII were distinguished by their spaciousness and greatness in physical dimensions and were also affected by prominent fins. The company's inclination to design long vehicles with gorgeous forms can be tracked until the late 1990s. Several exceptions are the Cadillac Catera and the 2000 Cadillac de Ville where smoother lines without sharp edges were applied. Cadillac has preserved and accumulated many prestigious traits which it successfully applies until now, but its world sales have decreased mostly in favor of its German rivals. However this GM division considers China as the prospective and vital importer which buys approximately one third of cars produced by Cadillac. In the first three months of 2015 the company sold over 60.000 cars and it indicated the effort undertaken by GM to regain some of Cadillac's lost positions.
Today's scope of Cadillac production consists of seven main models which include coupes (ATS Series), sedans (ATS, CTS and XTS Series), sport cars (ATS V-Coupe), crossovers (SRX Series) and SUVs (Escalade). All cars have quite a similar look (mainly thanks to rear and front lights) but each representative of the family possesses unique qualities demonstrating an independent design pattern. The range underlines the truly American choice – generosity in dimensions, extended performance, luxurious comfortable interior combined with executive styling highlighting owner's status.
