What is Cadillac?

Who makes Cadillac

Cadillac is the luxury vehicle division of General Motors, headquartered in Warren, Michigan. Founded in 1902 by master machinist Henry M. Leland from the assets of the failed Henry Ford Company (the same company that became the Ford Motor Company a year later), Cadillac was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, founder of Detroit. GM acquired Cadillac in 1909. Cadillac was the first American car to feature an electric self-starter (1912 Model Thirty), the first to use a V8 engine in a production car (1915 Type 51), and the first to win the Royal Automobile Club's Dewar Trophy for interchangeable parts manufacturing (1908). The Escalade SUV and CT5 sedan anchor today's lineup, while the Lyriq, Optiq and Celestiq battery-electric models represent Cadillac's migration to a fully electric portfolio by 2030. General Motors trades on the New York Stock Exchange under GM. The Cadillac V-Series performance line, introduced in 2004, competes with BMW M and Mercedes-AMG. Recall data for every Cadillac VIN is reported to NHTSA, and EPA fuel-economy ratings, IIHS crash-test scores and J.D. Power studies provide independent benchmarks. ForCar.org decodes any Cadillac VIN to surface trim, factory options, open recalls and original MSRP.

Henry Leland founded Cadillac Automobile Company in 1902 from the remains of Henry Ford's failed second venture. Leland's 1908 demonstration — disassembling three Cadillacs, scrambling the parts and rebuilding three running cars — won the Royal Automobile Club Dewar Trophy and established interchangeable parts as a manufacturing standard. The 1915 Type 51 V8 made Cadillac the first volume manufacturer of a V8-engine production car. The 1949 Coupe de Ville defined post-war American luxury.

Technology it is known for: Super Cruise hands-free Level 2+, V-Series performance tuning, Magnetic Ride Control, Ultium battery platform, AKG Studio Reference audio.

This page covers Cadillac, the GM luxury division — not Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (the historical figure) or Cadillac, Michigan (city named after him).

Where Cadillac cars are actually built

A badge says where a company is registered, not where its cars were bolted together. The first three characters of any VIN — the world manufacturer identifier — say the second thing, and that is what we counted: 12,929 vehicles on record, 14 distinct manufacturer codes.

Read your own: the first character is the region, the first three together identify the plant's manufacturer. A Cadillac beginning 1G6 was assembled in the United States.

All Cadillac models 32

Every Cadillac model we track, grouped by body type. Click any model for its VIN decoder, recalls, MPG, safety and ForCar Reliability Score — broken down by year.

Cadillac SUVs & crossovers 9

Cadillac Cars & sedans 18

Cadillac More models 5

Cadillac by the numbers

What the federal records say about the marque. Each line links to the full breakdown by model and year.

Cadillac hybrids & electric models

Cadillac's electrified lineup — 2 hybrids and 4 electric / plug-in. Click any model for its full powertrain, MPG and range by year.

Cadillac hybrids 2

Cadillac electric & plug-in 4

Electrified variants from EPA fueleconomy.gov powertrain data. A model may offer gas, hybrid and electric versions across years.

How to read a Cadillac VIN

Every Cadillac built since 1981 carries a unique 17-character VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). It encodes where and when the vehicle was made, its engine and body — here's what each part means:

The remaining digits — engine (8th), model-year letter (10th) and plant — follow the universal SAE standard. For the full year-code table (2001–2026), country codes and where the number is stamped, see our free VIN decoder.

Who owns Cadillac, and what you get

Cadillac belongs to General Motors. Cadillac competes in the luxury and ultra-luxury segments against Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Audi, with stronger US dealer presence and weaker European/Asian footprint than its German rivals. The Escalade dominates the full-size luxury SUV segment with a market share consistently above 30%. Cadillac's 2025-2030 product cadence shifts the lineup to fully electric, with the gasoline CT4 and CT5 sedans expected to be the last ICE Cadillacs.

⚠ Worth knowing before you rely on it: across our complaint records the typical car reaches the halfway point of its faults at five years, while basic cover here runs 4 years / 50,000 miles. See when Cadillac models actually start to break →