Cadillac Names Deborah Wahl as New Global Chief Marketing Officer

Deborah Wahl, Cadillac Global Chief Marketing Officer

Cadillac has named Deborah Wahl as their new Chief Marketing Officer, replacing former CMO Uwe Ellinghaus.  

She will be based in Cadillac's offices in New York City, NY and will report directly to Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen.

Ms. Wahl comes to Cadillac after her most recent stint as CMO of McDonalds, and before that at Pulte Group.  Though, before you jump to the conclusion that she doesn't know how to sell anything but happy meals and houses, she has over a decade of experience in automotive marketing with a history as CMO of Chrysler and marketing roles at Toyota, Mazda, and Ford.

She officially takes the reins of Cadillac marketing on March 26th. We wish her luck.

Source: Cadillac and AdAge

Read on for the press release from Cadillac:

Cadillac has appointed Deborah Wahl as Global Chief Marketing Officer, effective March 26.

Wahl will be based in the company’s New York headquarters and report to Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen.

Deborah will lead the strategic marketing for the Cadillac brand around the world, building on the transformational work that has been done over the past several years.

“Deborah’s diverse experience, as well as her proven track record of building successful global brands, makes her a natural addition to our leadership team,” said Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen. “Cadillac has made incredible progress over the past several years in our long-term journey to regain our position as the pinnacle of premium luxury brands. Deborah’s experience and strategic vision will build on that progress and help propel Cadillac forward during our next phase of global growth.”

Wahl, who brings over 20 years of experience with high-level marketing and brand work, serves on the Boards of Directors of Groupon and media software company Mediaocean.

She helmed marketing for three years as Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald’s, where she played an instrumental role in transforming the business and increasing brand perception.

Previously, Wahl served as the first-ever CMO at PulteGroup, one of the country’s largest homebuilders.

Additionally, Wahl brings deep automotive experience, having served as VP and CMO at Chrysler, VP of Marketing at Lexus, and having held multiple Marketing and Communications roles at Ford.