Cadillac hasn’t spoken much about its highly-anticipated full-size luxury sedan, possibly to be called LTS. However the automaker’s head of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, Mark Reuss, recently made a few comments about the impending Omega-based S-Class rival to Automotive News, where he revealed Cadillac is setting a high standard for the car.
“If we’re a serious luxury carmaker, it’s really important to us,” Reuss said. “This is a car that Cadillac needs, that will define its brand in terms of innovation and excellence. That’s the mission.”
Not surprisingly, Reuss declined to discuss the details of the LTS, but added it has “got to be a symbol of excellence.” The car will go head-to-head with cars like the Audi A7 and A8, BMW 7-series and what is often referred to as the king of the full-size luxury size segment, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. In its latest iteration, the S-Class set an undeniably high standard, with one unnamed Cadillac insider telling Autoblog they “didn’t think they (Mercedes) still had it in them to build such a car.”
Reuss knows the brand won’t come out of the gate into the full-size luxury market and see immediate success. He says it will take “a long time” to grow the brand into an established luxury automaker with a fully overhauled product portfolio and competitive sales.
“Not one car is ever going to turn something like that around,” Reuss said. “You’ve got to have a portfolio of those and you’ve got to do it for a while.”
Last week, Cadillac chief engineer Dave Leone told Bloomberg the LTS will arrive in late 2015. This sounds in line with reports we heard saying the car would debut at the next Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance rather than at the New York Auto Show, which was previously thought.
Comments
Hey Mark Reuss, open mouth n insert your foot…!
When you make big statements n predictions u set expectations too high n only get a lot if disappointment..!
If the LTS is “just” a bigger CTS… So what… It’s Not going to “define” the brand…!
He is already backing down saying he has limited expectations and one car can’t do this or that….
Talk about double talk and lack of direction… No wonder Caddy exec is a revolving door…!!!
ITS NOT A BIGGER CTS, YOU WINDOW LICKING MORON.
They said that its was going to look a bit like a bigger CTS, NOT that it was going to be one.
Innovation and Excellence, How about Style? The ATS and CTS(except for the front) are a little blah. Hit the edge like the CTS Coupe.
The 2nd gen CTS coupe had its day. In fact, all of the 2nd gen CTS’s had their day.
They’re done.
OK Grawdaddy. I think you’re done with that comment.
I still think the Gen 2 CTS sedan and couple are the best looking vehicles since the CTS made its debut.
I do like the front end of the Gen 3 CTS but it’s morphed into a more generic car and doesn’t have the uniqueness that the Gen 2 CTS possesses. I know Cadillac is trying to appeal to a global audience but the Gen 2 models are still awesome!
I agree that the Caddy design language is bland. Chinese shoppers found Art and Science and it’s hard edges unappealing so GM created a compromise ethos.
I look at Jag, MB, (even the “new” Volvo) the Buick Riv/Opel Monza concepts & aesthetically, Cadillac has a long way to go.
I loved Art and Science until the water down & think Caddy needs a new design direction.
The new design is not any better or worse than the true competitors in the segment.
As for the hard edges it was polarizing at best and it has not aged as well looking at the first gen CTS.
Mark is only giving the reality of what is going on as the LTS no matter if it hard edges or not was not going to take the lead in the segment.
As I have said and Mark has confirmed my feelings that the growth of Cadillac is going to take time. This is going to take time and more models to earn the trust of Cadillac and build an image from a crash and burn image that Cadillac has had. While the 90’s were better than the 80’s and the 00’s were better than the 90’s Cadillac was still lacking. It has taken till now to get the CTS up to the point where it is as good as the competition no almost as good.
The details in the LTS are what will be key. Features and quality will be key. This is not a performance car so Ring lap times mean little here. This is a LTS not a LTSV. Over all refinement will be what matters in ride, options and comfort.
If you want a solid brick wall it is built one brick at a time. This is only their 3rd real new product that will appear and anyone who thinks it and the other two will change decades of failure are only fooling themselves.
This is no different than BMW and Audi in the 60’s were really nothing special. But they built better cars in the 70’s and by the 80’s they have earned a image that won the admiration of the public. This is the same path Cadillac has to follow. Each good new car needs to be followed with one better and in time the image and reputation will be earn.
If it were as easy as putting hard edge on a car to turn it around Cadillac would have been changed by now. You can design image you have to earn it in all areas with time and good product.
The real failing is that they have dropped the ball on a cohesive marketing plan. This failure is not stopping the improvement but it is slowing the growth of improved public perception.
How do you sell a better car if you fail to talk about it and just show a bunch of dancing robots?
Caddy marketing has really blundered with OVER PRICING the product!!!
They have NOT earned the price the ask… So product is pili g up on dealer lots and Caddy missed a great chance to gain marketshare if they would priced the product right….!
Second failure is product – roominess is Quality n the back seat of the latest product is too cramped…!!!! Notice Caddy is building a stretched ATS for China market… But they will NOT bring it to US… Why? Because it will cannibalize sales of the CTS…!!!
If the new LTS looks like just a bigger CTS…. So what…. Next…!!!!
Would you get lost?
Well you have to understand why the pricing is what it is. GM has a policy that a car has to make a specific profit over cost. Well the Cadillac has upgraded the product as a whole so the cost has gone up on how much it is to build one. With this came a higher price.
Now this is what you have to understand. There are two parties inside GM that are at odds over pricing. One wants to resend the profit margin policy and one that wants to keep it in place. The new GM people was to lower the price to get people into the cars and then raise the price over time once they accept the car as an equal with a great reputation. Some of the old GM people are wanting to hold the line and expect people to come over time. I expect the lower price people to win out at some point.
The rear seat room may affect some but most are not trouble by it. There are more important thing than just rear leg room in play here. The last model was not all that roomy and it was never an issue.
Now in the LTS it will be important as the rear seat will be as important as the front seat as many of the owners or users of these cars will be in the back seat.
The ATS and CTS are small sports sedans and while it is smaller than the others it has never killed it in a review. In this class it is more a forgiving issue. These were never considered a livery model.
As for looks stop complaining about what you don’t know till you really see it with no camo and make an intelligent informed statement. At this point you may just be spitting in the wind.
So Scott3: Who are you?
You claim to have a lot of information about what’s going on inside GM.
Who the hell are you? Do you work at GM?
Are you a former employee who still talks to current workers?
And I will agree: The dancing robots commercial is AWFUL.
Their advertising for the Gen 2 CTS was perfect: Right images; right music.
Now, it sux.
I know people at and around GM since I work in the performance industry and if you do your home work much of this information is available in trade publications and other places.
Also I had a family member who was a lead engineer for GM for nearly 35 years who taught me a lot about GM.
To really know why things happen as they do at GM or in many cased not happen you need to learn how the culture at GM works or fails. While they are doing better and winning the war there is still an element of poor GM culture that is still fighting inside. You speak to marketing managers and to some engineers and you can get some to tell you how things are better but yet some things still need fixed. Mark Ruess has had many a battle for things he wants and needs. Even Mary still has to fight for things she wants to change.
I have often recommended the Bob Lutz book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters to really get an idea of what was going on inside GM when he got there and what is still going on. It is only a peak but you would be shocked at some of the things they were doing and in some cases still doing.
GM has done more damage to GM than Toyota and Honda combined.
This whole deal will take time and some battles by the good guys vs. the bad guys inside GM.
The Family feuds at GM are amazing and once they get on one page real progress will be made. They are at least 5 years of more clean up before things should balance out.
There was a well documented point about the Cruze that had some of the old school insiders wanting to cut back on the quality of the Cruze because it was selling great. They claimed it had to be too good and they could cut back on things and make more money. Lutz outlines this one in his book and it was in some of the trade publications.
Lutz compared it to a good restaurant that had reservations two weeks in advance cutting back on food quality because they were doing so well.
The key to understanding much of this is read, listen and learn how GM works and it gives you an idea of how to read things.
I hold no special skills just know the right people, read a lot and know how things work and you can follow how things go.
By the way if I tell you who I really am the black Suburban’s will arrive and your family will never see you again.
You may end up in video from Dearborn.
This LTS will not be radically different from the rest of the Cadillac range.
Will Caddy family traits how headlight and front grill, but overall it will be an easily recognizable car
We will not expect a full-size sedan and differential super-spectacular, the high-end brands are sober; giving the appeal to the interior space, equipment; quality technology ……..
I really will like it a lot, because I know what to expect from him
Regards from Spain
The problem with Caddy is Too High Price because the alpha platform on ATS n CTS is too low volume just 100,000 units… While BMW Audi and MB are selling 500k – 1M units on their similar platforms Worldwide…!
That is not a problem as GM has had plans all along to use the Alpha on the Camaro and several other cars to leverage the cost out.
As I have posted there is a required expected profit over cost that some at GM do not want waived while others want waive it to draw customers to the product faster.
Volume of the alpha was factored in from the start. Now the tt engine and things like the magnetic suspension cot money.
Ok all you negatives where am I wrong here?
In a year or so we will have 100,000 Camaro’s alone on the Alpha along with a possible higher volume SS and even a Buick. GM will be cranking out near 400,000+ units of this platform globally in various forms. So cost will be covered and the platform paid for very easily.
You have not yet seen even half of the cars build on this platform.
So if you disagree post it vs. hiding.