In the past few years, Cadillac has been hard at work redefining itself, by means of beautiful designs and tasteful vehicles debuted under their iconic nameplate; from the production CTS and ATS models to the masterful Ciel and Elmiraj concepts. Thankfully, head designers at the quintessentially American luxury marque intend fully on operating by that very same principle for many years to come, with no intention to change that direction anytime soon.
Refining the original “Art and Science” design idea has been the main objective of stylists from GM’s luxury brand, ever since the inception of the original CTS sedan back just a decade ago. Such design pursuits have yielded some rather impressive results, and the men and women from Cadillac intend on emphasizing their unique American taste with every vehicle they produce.
Paramount for ‘America’s Luxury Brand’ is differentiating  itself from its highly refined German competitors, by means of both advanced technology and also definitive design cues which warrant the legendary nameplate.
“Philosophically for me, I want to go with cars that are very memorable, that you could look at and do two or three lines on a napkin sketch and say, ‘This is the car I saw,” Cadillac Executive Director of Design; Andrew Smith stated. “But then when you see it in real life, there’s so much more to it. That’s what I really want to start getting to, the beauty of surface and the beauty of detail.”
So, after a near quarter of a century slump for Cadillac as a whole, the faithful engineers from the brand are finally finding the core DNA of themselves, with a whole-hearted desire on surpassing their German rivals; eyes fixed fully on becoming “The Standard of the World” once more.
Comments
Cadillac should be described in it’s design as bold, not brash. Nobody, when looking at a Cadillac, should be confused by the difference between being bold and being brash.
Bold means exercising a level of thoughtfulness and consideration for the craft expressed by design; saying a lot without being overt. Brash means designing without intent or purpose, crudely and with haste; lots of hot air.
Cadillac is bold. Dodge is brash.
Cadillac is refining the A&S to a more pleasant and less polarizing form.
The key is they have moved Cadillac into the future with out tail fins but when you look at it you will not mistake it for anything but a Cadillac.
That is the trick of good design move the model forward but still not be mistaken for anything but what it is.
There was a comparison done on motortrend between the CTS vsport and a similarly equipped Lexus. I don’t remember the man’s name but I remember him saying that when he saw it at the Detroit auto show for the first time, he kept thinking swagger. Long story short; Cadillac has come a long way since the first iteration of the A&S theme, and I believe they will continue to improve and be regarded as better than the Germans in every single area.
Call it what ever you want anybody who doesn’t like it need to have their eyes checked!
These designs are not just good they are amazing! We will have to wait to see how they drive but for now it’s a knock out!
Many “armchair” reviewers criticize Cadillacs without ever looking or riding in one. Recently, some who had a prejudgement against the new Cadillac ELR changed their mind when they saw it for first time, and even loved its interior. It may have the same electric powertrain as the Chevy Volt, but the amazing exterior and interior completely wowed them.
Cadillac may reuse some of the GM platforms, but their final product is amazingly attractive and will win new buyers who were brainwashed to think that only the imports were better. Now we all know that isn’t true!
Make the CTS coupe a smaller version of the Elmiraj/Eldorado and you have a winner.
Add Z06 mechanicals and you have the CTS-V. See life is simple.
I loved the ELR styling and finally got to get inside one. The interior is one of the finest I have seen in a American car. It was quality leather everywhere with suede and carbon fiber trim. The CTS I drove also was a base model but it too showed the refinement that is class leading.
The CTS V Coupe will be amazing as we will see 600 HP in a car that is lighter, stiffer and better refined than the present car.
I love ERL, the soon to be discontinued CTS coupe, but am agnostic when it comes to new ATS coupe. It looks so watered down, as if designed by committee.
I understand Caddy needs to up sales, and taking a less polarizing direction may be party of this; however, I hope ATS coupe isn’t the next supposed step towards refinment. To sum it up….boring, looks like it was inspired by a late 70s Monza.
The ATS is a great car the only problem I see it has is the people who refuse to put their butts in the seat and drive it and make the choice on their own!
Instead of having a magazine or news paper colum decide for you
I like the direction of Cadillac
Design has become globalized with every automaker. At this rate, every auto maker has been homogenized for pleasing results in every market with an a little bit of this and a little bit of that being the strategy.
Me thinks these comments by Caddy are aimed at the buy American crowd, and an effort to deflect criticism for softening Art and Science for Chinese market.
What do you think GM should do cater to the American people or the Chinese people?
I ask this cuz GM will sell more cars in China then USA in the years to come!