NEW YORK -- When a power tool or a lawn mower is described as the Cadillac of the class, people generally get the idea it is the best.
But affluent younger drivers haven't been making the same connection when it comes to buying luxury cars in recent years.Cadillac's image makers are hoping to change that with a new advertising campaign dubbed "The Power of &" that suggests Cadillac is creating cars once again that combine the latest technological advances with stylish design.
Cadillac executives say the brand had its heyday in the late 1950s and early 1960s when its powerful and stylish Eldorado with tail fins was the industry trendsetter. Cadillac's sales didn't peak until 1978, however, when it sold 350,813 cars.
But then number of luxury car challengers arrived from overseas in the 1980s and 1990s including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Infiniti. Affluent younger drivers often dismissed Cadillac as an older generation's status symbol.
Over the past two decades, Cadillac sales have fallen 48 percent, to 182,151 last year and are projected to fall another 1 percent this year.
The General Motors Corp. division began examining its marketing approach two years ago, and discovered there was "latent fondness" for Cadillac.
"We found there was still something there that resonates with people," said Cadillac spokesman J. Christopher Preuss.
Cadillac managers argue the cars continue to be technologically innovative. They cite the On-Star communications system that tracks where the car is by satellite and can provide directions via cell phone, Stabilitrak navigation for easier road handling and Night Vision technology that helps drivers see farther than the head lamps allow.
And they say dramatic styling changes are also planned for the next three years, starting with the 2000 DeVille. DeVille sales account for about 60 percent of Cadillac sales.
Advertising director Kim Kosak said when BMW and Mercedes drivers were invited to drive Cadillacs in recent market tests, their attitudes toward the brand became much more favorable.
"We want to get back on people's shopping lists again," she said of the new campaign.
Another objective is to reduce the age of the average Cadillac owner, now about 65.
The new campaign theme, developed by longtime Cadillac agency D'Arcy Worldwide, uses an ampersand in an effort to get attention and suggest that a combination often creates something bigger than the sum of the parts.
In the commercials that debut Monday, Cadillac offers several other examples of opposites that create something far better -- night and day, stars and stripes and man and woman.