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Cadillac’s Project Pinnacle Plan Delayed Another 3 Months

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It’s recently been announced that Cadillac’s Project Pinnacle plan has been delayed again

Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen doesn’t see the delay as a big deal
Photo: © General Motors

Waiting for Cadillac’s Project Pinnacle plan to take effect is kind of like waiting for Lil Wayne‘s “Carter V” record.

(Side Note: If you’re not a fan of hip-hop music, Lil Wayne is a rap artist who released the “Carter IV” album back in 2011 and has been promising the “Carter V” sequel ever since. But his label keeps delaying the album much to the chagrin of his loyal fans.)


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Likewise, Project Pinnacle was supposed to begin on Oct. 1. However, Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen pushed that date back until Jan. 1st after getting negative feedback from dealerships. Cadillac instead launched a simulated version of Project Pinnacle that was intended to show how the program worked and how specific dealerships fit in.

It’s recently been announced that Cadillac’s Project Pinnacle plan has been delayed again

Lower-tier dealerships wouldn’t be allowed to show the Cadillac ATS in person
Photo: © General Motors

In case you’re unfamiliar with Project Pinnacle, it’s a dealership restructuring plan that’s meant to change the way people perceive the Cadillac brand. It will offer a more personalized experience for buyers. In this plan, Cadillac dealerships would be placed in tiers. First tier dealerships are those that sell the most cars and would be rewarded with higher incentives if they provided service pickups and concierge sales. In contrast, fifth tier stores wouldn’t have Cadillac models on their property. Instead these stores would only show Cadillacs via a digital showroom and then sell them by allowing consumers to place orders.

Cadillac announced the most recent delay on November 23rd. The new launch date for Project Pinnacle is scheduled for the beginning of April. This recent announcement came one day after Cadillac’s smallest dealerships faced a deadline of whether or not to accept a buyout from the company. Only 5% of those eligible dealerships have accepted the buyout thus far. This newest delay was meant to give dealerships more time to learn about the program, as well as prepare their stores so they could have more-exclusive and personalized Cadillac showrooms.

“Pinnacle’s going to be around for the long term, so there’s no need to rush it into execution,” de Nysschen told Automotive News (subscription required). “Adding another three months certainly will not hurt.”


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News Sources: Automotive News (subscription required), The Detroit News