For many enthusiasts, various aspects of a vehicle are more important than the exterior design. But for the average consumer, an attractive design usually ranks much higher on the priority list.
GM’s luxury brand, Cadillac, feels that its distinctive look and “American luxury” design motif — known as Art & Science — could be a real competitive advantage in the future, but don’t expect anything revolutionary on the styling front any time soon.
“There will be a softening of some of the hard edges. And perhaps the cars will become a little bit more sensual and athletic,” Cadillac President, Johan de Nysschen told Automotive News. “But we’re not going to try to emulate the European view of the world. We’re proud of who we are.”
1999 Cadillac Evoq roadster concept went on to become the Cadillac XLR roadster
The way Cadillac got to this point in its history is actually quite interesting: back in 1999 it introduced the Evoq roadster concept. GM and Cadillac executives were at odds on whether the look would go over well in the then-emerging Chinese market, to which Caddy was looking for as a growth opportunity. All reservations were cleared with the success of the SRX crossover in China, which Bryan Nesbitt, now in charge of Buick design globally, says helped the vehicle stand out in a “visually crowded marketplace”. And the Evoq went on to become the XLR roadster.
“We go to clinic all the time, and people just can’t tell the cars apart. Maintaining Cadillac’s brand identity and a distinctiveness has a lot of value”, Nesbitt was quoted as saying.
In the near future, Cadillac’s “Art and Science” motif will remain alive and well, but we’ll see the next iteration of the design language in two years. That’s when the next slew of Cadillac product will be ready to show face, following the 2017 Cadillac XT5 and 2016 Cadillac CT6.
Comments
The ” Art and Science ” design theme was started before Mr. Johan came aboard . So he must like the design philosophy . Cadillac will do well by designing its own image and not try and copy their competition . And as long as the A&S keeps evolving that is a good plan . It will escpecially be true in the SUV / CUV market . Some of the offerings coming out of Japan lately ( minus the Lexus ) is all starting to look the same . When the XT5 starts showing its face on the road you are not going to mistake it for anything but a Cadillac , day or night . With almost every Tier 1 company jumping into this hot segment what you need to differentiate your product from the others is going to come down to it’s styling which is really your image .
No, he had a war with Mark Ruess who loves Art and Science. I personally think the design language has been overly softened for China and not worth keeping unless GMs goal is keeping up with the Chrysler 300.
I generally love Buick, Opel and Chevy but dislike current Art and Science design except for the old Cadillac CTS Coupe and maybe ERL.
I agree that the softening of A&S is happening as evidenced by the new CTS and CT6.
I hope they are not going down a road where they are going to start emulating all of the European designs.
And I still think the CTS Coupe will go down in history as one of the HOTTEST car designs from Cadillac ever!
(Let’s check back in 2046 to see if my statement above is true.)
hopefully the next evolution of A&S will be less slab-sided…..towards straighter creases and beltlines.
I do not mide the ‘slab-sided’ appearance as long as the front and rear designs are more involving.
for the flagship CT8…. I’m hoping straighter creases for the sake of a FLASHIP look…..the smaller entry-level caddys would more slab-sided than the bigger flagship Caddys….look at the Esclade and look at the XT5….they have different creases…..the Esclade is a flagship and the XT5 is not so the slab-sides will not work for a FLAGSHIP.
I’m just waiting for someone to totally bash the Art & Science design language while praising the Ciel and Elmiraj… Which both show the future of Art & Science design language…
Art & science could live till 2020…..the Elmiraj and Ceil are old concepts….instead they decided to keep rehashing the same crap that they been selling for 15 years……total disappointment…….Cadillac had a chance to enter a new level…..but they blow it…..so Cadillacs just look BORING and horribley Dated…….I’m not surprised that Cadillac will flop in the near future till 2020.
How should Cadillacs look in the near future to keep from flopping?
I think 2016 will be a good year for Cadillac. There will be a significant volume increase compared to 2015.
The XT5 and CT6 will be standouts. Escalade will continue to do well and the rest will remain consistent.
art and science needs to be more flexible in lines and creases in the near future…. so that way A&S will stay alive longer….the Esclade is part of A&S and there is a big difference between the XT5 and Esclaide and there are both A&S…..if that’s the case A&S could stay alive till 2028 to 2030……the Elmeraj and Ceil are just concepts…..current A&S sports low and sleek designs.
the current CTS looks good and the 2008 CTS looks like a turd….so the 2014 CTS looks light years better than the 2008.
No, you got it wrong pal.
The 2008-2013 CTS are hot designs — very striking, very unique.
The Gen 3 CTS looks very good from the front with the bold light pipes but the side and rear are rather blah.
Gen 2 CTS looks good coming and going BUT it is shorter than the current CTS so I’ll give you that.
Can I have some of what you’re smoking?
to me the 2008 CTS just looks fat and stubby and slab-sided…. . ……I’m glad they went away from that with the 2014 CTS.
at least give Art and Science a bit of Elmeraj DNA….so Cadillacs designs would be more updated.
Cadillac’s current exterior design is distinct as no other car maker has similar design cues as they’re like no other and it’ll take a total collapse in the market before Cadillac even considers a radical change.
Cadillac needs to make enough changes to the current Art & Science so people would look at it and say WOW……and that should happen soon.
Cadillac needs to get ride of all flat lines and edges and adopt soft ones because the flat edges are getting stale….with the XT5 and CT6 Cadillac is going towards soft edges…..its possible that current Art & Science would become all soft edges in a few years.
slab-sides and down sloped beltlines are really getting stale.