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Johan de Nysschen tells his side of the story

Automobile snagged time with ex-Cadillac, Infiniti, and Volkswagen of America boss Johan de Nysschen. General Motors decided to part ways with de Nysschen on April 18, 2018, after the German spent four years in charge of America's luxury brand. The longtime auto exec is a polarizing figure for enthusiasts, who seem to take a mostly negative view of his work at Infiniti and Cadillac. However, there's no denying de Nysschen is frank, and in the Automobile interview he puts an insider's perspective on a big bag of issues we can only speculate on. One of the biggest bombshells in the interview was that it wasn't de Nysschen's idea to move Cadillac to New York: "When I was recruited, I was informed that the company would relocate to New York," he said. Previous GM CEO Dan Ackerson had made the decision before hiring de Nysschen, then Ackerson let his new hire make the announcement. The big change came only two years after de Nysschen had taken over Infiniti after insisting Nissan's luxury brand move to Hong Kong. De Nysschen explained Cadillac's NYC move with the same rationale as Infiniti's Hong Kong move, so everyone assumed the new guy was doing his usual. He explains in the interview that after the move, "Folks who rooted for Detroit felt betrayed. Cadillac had an enemy." And that became a problem. He has nothing bad to say about GM or Cadillac, believing on the contrary that "GM is in a good position going forward." But he brought clarity to some of Cadillac's struggles. Among the issues was GM's "very vigorous" post-bankruptcy test for green-lighting a project. Another was the lack of specialization for the luxury arm. "Engines were generically developed with the Chevy brand in mind," he said, "and, then, 'Okay, well, yeah, it's good enough for Cadillac.'" That carried over into haphazard technology rollouts. "GM didn't have a specific technology roadmap aligned to particular brands," he said. "The process was, as they were developing new technologies, they would look at what product's launch date would be aligned with the maturation date and market readiness of a technology and go with it, whether Buick, Chevy, or what have you." De Nysschen worked to end such generalized approaches, which is how we get Cadillac taking the GM lead on technology and electrification.

GM recalls nearly 340,000 large SUVs to fix daytime running lights

General Motors has initiated a recall campaign for more than 338,000 of its large SUVs to address a potential defect in the onboard computer software that controls the daytime running lights. In some cases, the DRLs may remain on even when the headlights are enabled, which creates additional glare for oncoming drivers at night and fails to comply with federal regulations for headlight performance.  "GM determined that the body control module (BCM) software in these vehicles, under a combination of certain pre-conditions, may fail to deactivate the DRLs when the headlamps are on," GM's recall report said. "A regulatory assessment was conducted to evaluate whether the condition presented a potential noncompliance with the DRL activation requirements in S7.10.5, Table I-a. of FMVSS 108. On October 27, 2022, GM’s Safety Field Action Decision Authority (SFADA) decided to conduct a recall for potential noncompliance with this standard." GM says the recall covers the 2021 model year GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and 2021 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV. The company says all models produced within that operating window include the improperly programmed body control module, meaning all vehicles within the recall population may exhibit the problem. The issue was discovered by a GM engineer during validation testing in August, prompting a deeper investigation and eventually leading to the recall itself.   The module's software can be updated by GM dealers, so it should be a quick fix for customers. Notifications will be mailed to owners in December.  Related video: Recalls Cadillac Chevrolet GMC Ownership Safety SUV Luxury

GM and LG Energy Solution will build their second battery plant in Tennessee

DETROIT — General Motors and South Korean joint-venture partner LG Energy Solution on Friday said they will build a second U.S. battery cell manufacturing plant, revealing plans for a $2.3 billion factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The planned 2.8 million-square-foot plant, scheduled to open in late 2023, will employ 1,300 people and will have production capacity of about 35 gigawatt-hours, similar to the companies' Ultium Cells joint-venture plant in Lordstown, Ohio, as they move to respond to the growing demand in the electric vehicle market. The plant's capacity would enable it to supply battery packs for more than 500,000 electric vehicles a year. "The addition of our second all-new Ultium battery cell plant in the U.S. with our joint venture partner LG Energy Solution is another major step in our transition to an all-electric future," GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said. The United Auto Workers on Friday called on GM to ensure the new plant is staffed with union-represented workers, which GM officials have said would be determined by the employees. LG Chem said in a regulatory filing that its LG Energy Solution unit will invest $933.5 million in the plant between this year and 2023. GM and LG Energy Solution will use a different, less-expensive battery chemistry in Tennessee than the one to be used in the Lordstown plant that opens next year, sources previously told Reuters. Sources have said the No. 1 U.S. automaker will need more battery plants beyond Tennessee to meet aggressive EV targets, including projected sales of more than 1 million EVs globally in 2025. GM's longer-range target includes halting sales of light-duty gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035. Most battery manufacturing is currently concentrated in China and Korea, while Tesla and Japanese partner Panasonic largely control most U.S. battery production. When it opens, the new GM-LG battery plant will supply batteries for the Cadillac Lyriq crossover EV that GM is slated to start building at its nearby Spring Hill assembly plant next year. LG is expected to supply the batteries from Korea until then. Supplier sources said a second Cadillac electric crossover, called Symboliq, is expected to join the Lyriq in production at Spring Hill in 2024, along with two new electric crossovers for Honda and its premium Acura brand. GM said in October it would invest $2 billion in Spring Hill to build EVs.