{"id":34641,"date":"2025-06-18T11:06:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34641"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:06:41","slug":"how-cadillac-integrates-motorsports-to-compete-on-the-world-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/how-cadillac-integrates-motorsports-to-compete-on-the-world-stage","title":{"rendered":"How Cadillac integrates motorsports to compete on the world stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Le Mans, France<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 For 15 years, Cadillac has been assembling the pieces to reassert itself as the Standard of the World. A cornerstone of that plan has been to take on its international competition in their backyards, at the track, on the world\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n

From the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Paris to Miami, that vision has bloomed in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Le<\/p>\n

Le Mans, France – GM President Mark Reuss enjoys the Cadillac team’s front row postion on the front row for 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Photo: Nick Dungan \/ Drew Gibson Photography<\/em><\/div>\n

Nick Dungan, GM<\/em><\/p>\n

As tennis legend Roger Federer waved the French tricolors to start Le Mans Saturday, two gold, Hertz-sponsored, V-8-powered, Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars led the field of Porsches, Ferraris and BMWs into Turn One before an estimated 332,000 spectators and another 100 million-plus viewers around the globe. Among them were visitors to Cadillac\u2019s flagship European showroom in downtown Paris watching the race on video screens surrounded by the brand\u2019s sleek, electric Lyriq-V. More tuned in from their phones like the millions who watched Cadillac\u2019s official May launch of its Formula One team at the Miami Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t sold cars here in a long time,\u201d said General Motors Co. President Mark Reuss in Cadillac\u2019s Le Mans paddock suite Sunday while 62 of the world\u2019s premier race cars \u2014 including four V-8-powered V-Series.Rs \u2014 thundered by. \u201cWhat Cadillac stands for is important, so here in a race like this \u2014 or wherever we race \u2014 it\u2019s about technology, it\u2019s about our best, it\u2019s about bringing it into our portfolio of cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. It\u2019s a hallmark of Le Mans where brands from Ferrari to Porsche to Ford have translated track success to global sales.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n
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The #12 Cadillac pole sitter at Le Mans is mobbed by fans. The GM luxury brand’s participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is part of its effort to excel in motorsports and use that to promote its consumer models.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

Reuss and his team are determined that Cadillac join that list. He says it requires commitment that GM has lacked in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cCadillac is on a real roll here by plan,\u201d said Reuss, the architect of Caddy\u2019s journey. \u201cWe\u2019ve invested a lot of money over a fairly long period, which the company hasn\u2019t done in a long, long time. So, I think that is starting to pay off. We\u2019re not nearly done. You can see the results in the brand, what people think of the brand, and the sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuss has followed in the footsteps of his father, Lloyd Reuss, GM president from 1990-92. Like Henry Ford II, who captained Ford\u2019s Le Mans victories over Ferrari in the 1960s, his passion is a primal force inside GM.<\/p>\n

The Le Mans start was a poster moment, an image that will live on garage walls like Ford\u2019s three GT40s crossing the line 1-2-3 in 1966 or twin, yellow Chevy Corvettes crossing the stripe in a near dead heat for the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona.<\/p>\n

\"Americans<\/figure>\n
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Americans in Paris. The Cadillac race car, left, and Lyriq in Cadillac showroom.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

And that\u2019s before Cadillac enters Formula One next year with its estimated 750-million fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never imagined that a video of a brand reveal in Miami would get 10 million (viewers) the next day,\u201d marveled Reuss. \u201cIt\u2019s just extraordinary. \u201cWhatever we thought, it was actually much bigger than that.\u201d<\/p>\n