The Cadillac Motor Car Division is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Cadillac automobiles are at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2019, Cadillac sold 390,458 vehicles worldwide, a record for the brand.
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Cadillac is among the first automotive brands in the world, fourth in the United States only to Autocar Company (1897) and fellow GM marques Oldsmobile (1897) and Buick (1899). It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658–1730), who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.
By the time General Motors purchased the company in 1909, Cadillac had already established itself as one of America’s premier luxury car makers. The complete interchangeability of its precision parts had allowed it to lay the foundation for the modern mass production of automobiles. It was at the forefront of technological advances, introducing full electrical systems, the clashless manual transmission and the steel roof. The brand developed three engines, with its V8 setting the standard for the American automotive industry.
Cadillac had the first U.S. car to win the Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom’s Dewar Trophy by successfully demonstrating the interchangeability of its component parts during a reliability test in 1908; this spawned the firm’s slogan “Standard of the World”. It won the trophy again in 1912 for incorporating electric starting and lighting in a production automobile
Cadillac history, profile and history video
“Founded more than a 100 years ago in Detroit, Cadillac has stood for uncompromising performance, daring design and groundbreaking technology. From developing the world’s first electric self-starting engine and pioneering the integration of computer technology into vehicles, to being the first to offer drivers a color other than black and creating the fastest family of production cars with the CTS-V Series, it’s all a part of our history. Learn more about this iconic American brand and how it has shaped—and continues to define—the automotive industry.”
“Early history
Founding
Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company. After Henry Ford departed the Henry Ford Company along with several of his key partners in March 1902, the company was dissolved. Ford’s financial backers, William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen, called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for a liquidation of the company’s assets.
Instead of offering an appraisal, Leland persuaded Murphy and Bowen to continue manufacturing automobiles using Leland’s proven single-cylinder engine. A new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902. The company was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701.
First automobiles
Cadillac’s first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a 10 hp (7 kW) single-cylinder engine. They were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Many sources say the first car rolled out of the factory on 17 October; in the book Henry Leland – Master of Precision, the date is 20 October; another reliable source shows car number 3 to have been built on 16 October. Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, where the vehicles impressed the crowds enough to gather over 2,000 firm orders. Cadillac’s biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability; a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors.
Notable events
Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing and the Cadillac Automobile Company merged in 1905.
From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, causing its cars to be ranked amongst the finest in the United States.
Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed car in 1906. Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, and was awarded theDewar Trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry. In 1912, Cadillac was the first automobile manufacturer to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting.”
*Information from Cadillac.com and Wikipedia.org
**Video published on YouTube by “WatchMojo.com
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