This article is part of the GM Authority Wish List series for the Cadillac ATS — a collection of changes, updates, and modifications we’d like to see made either to the current family of the compact luxury vehicle, and/or on its CT# replacement. The purpose of the Wish List is very simple: to create awareness of the issues we have found with the vehicles so that Cadillac can address them in the future, whether via a refresh or a next-generation model, all in an effort to make the best range of compact luxury cars on the market, bar none.
The GM Authority staff has collectively spent a significant amount of time with the ATS, both as drivers and as passengers, in both Sedan and Coupe body styles, with all four engines, all five trim levels, and with various degrees of features and equipment. In other words, this wish list is not the result of a knee-jerk reaction after a day or two with the car. It’s the result of living with the cars, sometimes for several months. In fact, our own founder happens to own an ATS (2015 2.0T Premium, six-speed manual).
We should note that at times, the Wish List series might appear like nitpicking, as it will point out the smallest features, characteristics, or components. If it seems that way, it’s for a reason, since we believe that the devil is in the details, especially when it comes to prestige luxury vehicles. As such, we honestly believe that addressing these issues will improve the product, grow the brand, and — ultimately — lead to an uptick in Cadillac sales. And as journalists who also happen to be GM and Cadillac enthusiasts, few things would make us happier. If nothing else, it would result in a Cadillac we’d be proud to buy, to own, and to show off to anyone willing to look and listen.
Keeping in mind that this wish list is by no means in order, here is the tenth item on our list: deployable headlight washers.
Imagine: you’re driving down a twisty mountain road on your way to Vail, Colorado. It’s pitch black and sleeting on the 100-mile stretch of winding canyon switchback called I70. The sleet isn’t helping… neither is the car in front of you, which is splashing up a healthy dose of dirty water on your ATS. Luckily, your windshield wipers are there to help you see better. Not so lucky is that the splash-back from the car in front of you and the snow/sleet falling from the sky is sticking to the front end of your car, including your headlights. After a half hour, your headlights are covered in a thick film of dirt, preventing most of the light from getting through. You have to pull over your ATS, get out, and clean the light with a paper towel.
As you’re stuck doing that with your luxury vehicle on the side of the road, the BMW 335i that was behind you sails by. The driver activates the windshield washers, which you notice also deploy a set of deployable headlight cleaners: as the BMW’s windshield wipers and fluid clean off the windshield, the headlight washers clean the headlamp housings with a high-pressure fluid.
The advantage is clear: as you are out of your Caddy to clean off the headlamps by hand, the BMW cruises on. That’s convenience. That’s practicality. That’s luxury.
Euro-spec Cadillac ATS Sedan. Notice the hidden headlight washers on the outside of the grille.
The aforementioned self-deployable, high-pressure headlamp washers are offered on nearly every model from the German luxury brands. But they are not offered on any current Cadillac model sold in North America, despite serving an obvious need. Ironically, Cadillacs sold in Europe do offer said washers, since it’s a requirement of the region’s automotive standards. Adding to the irony is that the models sold in Europe (and therefore equipped with the washers) are made at the same production plants and on the same lines as the models destined for North America (and without the washers).
So Cadillac: please offer the self-deployable headlamp washers on every single one of your vehicles. They are convenient, luxurious, high-tech… and just cool. Plus, it will enable you to have feature parity with your direct (German) rivals.
Retractable headlight washer system on a BMW X5
Comments
Cadillac offered these on the higher end STS’s. I never could understand why they did away with them.
They did indeed. On the SRX (first and second gen) as well. Not sure why they were discontinued, but I suspect cost-cutting is to blame.
If you are goind to play in the high end Luxury field cost cutting should not be in your vocabulary.
Completely agree, vcat.
just curious … how many people have experienced the described scenario? is that a frequent occurrence for cold weather drivers? in my 20 years of driving, i’ve never experienced that but then again i live in southern california where it neither rains nor snows frequently.
Pretty much anyone driving in the cold while it’s raining or snowing. Can happen with dust as well.
I should clarify that: the above scenario happens in scenarios when you use your windshield wipers once or a few times a minute to clear back-splash or water from your windshield.
Lived in Michigan for 60 years. Never stopped on the road to clean off my headlamps and have never seen anyone do it.
Then perhaps you haven’t experienced these kinds of conditions… or never noticed that the performance of a vehicle’s headlamps in pitch-black conditions is severely decreased by snow/sleet. Some examples:
http://www.lindvigs.com/obioban/dirty/2.jpg
http://www.lindvigs.com/obioban/dirty/1.jpg
http://www.s2forum.com/photoplog/images/9346/1_DSC_0437.jpg
And if you’ve ever experienced the kind of “dirt coat” on your car as pictured at the link below, then you will know that it will eliminate (or significantly diminish) the ability of your headlamps to light the way at night:
http://www.fourtitude.com/news/uploads/Features/021__scaled_600_010.jpg
Slow down and enjoy life and put some Rain-X on your headlamps. It helps
Rain-X doesn’t help the scenario illustrated in the story. I’m not talking about a theory here… I’m speaking from real-world experience.
This is low on the list of Damn I need that options.
Most people I find have empty reservoirs as it is.
Living here in the snow I have never needed to stop and clean snow off my head lamps as the heat was always enough to clear them.
Now LED could change that in the future.
1. As I have told you before, my ATS Wish List is not “in order” of importance or priority. Just like the other items in the wish list, the headlamp washers are just another feature that Cadillac is missing compared to the competition, and one more thing that does not improve the customer (ownership) experience. So, while you might dismiss it as “low” on the list of options that *you* need or want, missing this feature certainly does not do Cadillac any favors in the marketplace in terms of sales or in terms of attracting new customers.
2. The headlight washer feature is not about “melting” the snow. It’s about cleaning off the road grime (back splash) that accumulates on the headlamps when driving in wet and cold conditions, during which the headlights tend to get dirty or be covered with wet snow.
The Germans have this feature for a reason (convenience and safety). What is Cadillac’s reason for not having it? Cost? Lack of attention to detail to features? Lack of a focus on the driving experience in various conditions?
Let’s explore a hypothetical, but very possible example: a BMW, MBZ, or Audi sales person will point out the headlamp washer feature to a potential customer cross-shopping a 3er, C-Class or A4/S4 with the ATS. When this same customer looks at the ATS, s/he might ask about the headlight washing feature… and be disappointed to find out that it is not even offered. You seem to be a smart guy, so is that something you would consider an advantage?
Having said all that, the new wave of Cadillac models has perfected the difficult items such as driving dynamics. But, quite sadly, it has omitted details that I have outlined in this wish list. And now more than ever, it’s the attention to details that will make or break Cadillac going forward. Everyone has good or great driving dynamics… everyone has good or great design, safety, power, in-vehicle technology, etc. At this point, earning a sale is about the details and about emotion… and Cadillac is failing in both.
My question: how long will we continue to make excuses about Cadillac vehicles because *we* think it’s “ok” or not a priority to a customer, when Cadillac continues to lose badly to the competition? And yes, Cadillac is losing badly… forget about the lack of crossovers, it’s losing badly on a direct-segment basis in which it currently competes!
The point is that NOT having a feature will NOT make a customer switch from a BMW, MBZ, Audi or Lexus to Cadillac. Do you think that a potential Cadillac customer who currently owns a BMW looks at a Cadillac and says, “Hey, the ATS does not have [insert the feature name] that my BMW did… I most certainly will buy the ATS now just because it doesn’t have that feature.” Of course that will not happen. That customer will turn right back around and buy another BMW, Benz, or Audi… without thinking twice about it.
And that is why product excellence is so vital today: it’s very expensive and difficult to get a customer to even consider switching to Cadillac, especially from a German luxury brand/model. A few might consider it, but they will be skeptical. Cadillac’s job is to assuage those skepticisms and overcome their objections.
When a customer does consider the switch to Caddy, not having a feature that their previous German luxury vehicle had makes those “skeptical” wheels in their head start turning even faster, acting as a huge deterrent. “If the Cadillac doesn’t have this feature, then what else might it not have?”, the customer will wonder. The end result is the same: another lost sale for Cadillac, another new or repeat sale for BMW, MBZ, or Audi.
I hope that this explains the importance of focusing on features like the headlight washers that you or others dismiss as “small and insignificant”, because this very scenario is playing out in the marketplace as we speak, with sales of every single Cadillac model down year-over-year:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/05/global-cadillac-sales-down-18-percent-to-19983-units-in-april-2016/
Lastly: most people have empty (washer) reservoirs? Really?
Not only is that total bollocks, it’s not even an applicable data point. Let me give you one that might be more useful: most people who have purchased a new luxury car in the last 5 years have an OEM maintenance plan (the Germans plus Cadillac)… and they don’t run out of washer fluid because they bring in their vehicle regularly. I have never run out of washer fluid in my 2013 A4 or in my 2015 ATS… and that’s living in Colorado, when the scenario described in the article happens frequently to those who drive “to the mountains”.
Order or not there are many other things this car needs before we need to worry about a system that most people will not use or are even asking for.
I would rather forgo this trivial stuff and put it into higher grade materials and other systems that are more relevant.
Things like standard Hud and even more advance hud would make a greater impression.
I could give you a list of things not in order that would make you forget the washers pretty quick.
For years I serviced cars in my younger days and often the reservoirs were empty and so many people thanked me just because the light was finally off.
Second people do not change oil as often as they need fills. In the winter the windshields can empty a reservoirs in less than 500 miles in harsh conditions. I do not thing they will go to a dealer for a refill till they change oil if they can help it.
I really think there are few people who base a purchase of one of these vehicles just for head lamp washers.
If they were on the car would it hurt them No. But are there about 101 other things more important. Yes.
Sorry this is one time I will not agree with you. You make a big case but not a compelling one if you step back and look at all the other things they really need.
Believe it or not these systems have amazed me so I have taken note of them for decades. Especially the ones with wipers. Because of this I also have noted that seldom they are used. Often they are non functioning or disable with no fluid.
As for cleaning in the winter the head from the lights generally melts them off. Now with the advent of LED they may become a factor as less heat but generally I find here in the snow belt we have little issue with dirty or snow covered lamps.
Yes sir – what might be dismissed as minor ‘nice to haves’ are part of the price of entry to be seriously considered as an alt to BMW, Audi, MBZ. Last I checked, California has plenty of mountains, coastal fog and mist, microclimates … Cutting corners and costs (absence of auto-retractable side mirrors?) are just another reason to pass on Cadillac.
Are they kool yes, but in no way is this something that you should demand as a driver/buyer! I love tech but there is a time and place for everything and this is not it. At no time have I even worried about my head lights being covered with dirt!
I think as people we imagine ways to not feel good about the things we have, when is enough just that? There is no need for this, it doesn’t make driving any better or safer, which I could care less about in the first place.
So then, why do BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz (and now even Lexus) offer this feature, and Cadillac doesn’t?
“There is no need for this, it doesn’t make driving any better or safer, which I could care less about in the first place.”
I’d beg to differ. It most certainly makes driving safer as it increases the effectiveness of the headlamps. Saying that it doesn’t is blind and uninformed… but you “could care less”, right? 😉
This idea that those other people have it or do it so we should also is complete BS! So people like you are sheep, following the rest because you have low self esteem and can’t stand not having something someone else has.
Stop being a sheep, grow a backbone, develop a sense of self worth and stop wanting to be like the guy driving in the lane next to you!
Yes the money spent on these so called safety features are things that make headlines but offer little to nothing in term of preventing accidents! So yes I could care less!
What you call “being a sheep” is something grown-ups in the business world call being competitive. In the case of Cadillac, it’s called “becoming competitive once again”.
This is about doing the basics… and basic features like the headlamps washers (yes, they are considered basic features by European luxury car buyers) are the small yet important details to be taken seriously, rather than being an also-ran.
You would do well to develop a sense of self worth for yourself and stop being scared of competing head-on. Once you’ve done that and perfected your product, only then can you have any basis from which to talk. And once you’re there, you don’t sit back on your laurels, but continue pushing the envelope by innovating further. Only then will you be recognized as a true leader. But if we all took your advice, we would all still be trying to come up with a faster horse circa 1885.
The irony is that everything Cadillac is currently doing is straight from the play-books of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Lexus. The greater irony is that you don’t seem to understand what you’re talking about: this is not a “safety feature”. It’s a convenience feature AND a safety feature all in one. If we took your advice, we would still be riding horses with kerosine lanterns for headlights. Who needs auto-leveling and swiveling HID/LED headlights, right?
So I’ll flip your own bull$hit, half-witted argument on you and say that “people like you” would be well-advised to stop accepting mediocrity as “good enough”.
You must be a middle child! Always mad because the older and younger kid got all the attention while you just blended in with the rest of the room. So now you relive those same moments of your childhood over and over when you see another person that has a gadget that you don’t have! So what do you do? Run right out and get yourself one so you can feel good inside because now you think your not being left out like you were when you were a kid!
I told you before I love technology on cars but these washers are a complete joke, you can try to justify them all you want but at the end of the day they don’t do jack squat in keeping the headlights clean!
Taking this money and spending it on a better brake package or different suspension set ups would keep more people from getting into accidents then a little water on the head lights! And if you only want them because it’s kool and it gets you noticed by other people just backs up my claim as to why you seek attention in the first place!
So do us all a favor grow up and stop looking over the fence to see what the neighbor just bought then complaining to anybody that will listen to you about how mad you are because you don’t have one!
I protected my 20090 Chevy Equinox headlamps with RainX, a water repellent for windshields. Since that first protection in 2009, I never had to clean them again, and I get over 180 days of rain (and mudsplashes) every year. Those headlamp washers are just another useless gadget.
Again, it’s not about repelling water, which the water repelling products your describe are good at doing. What the feature is about is cleaning away the thin layer of dirt and sleet that collects on the headlights.
See if you still think it’s a useless gadget when driving three hours on a pitch-black mountain road in snow/sleet conditions.
I still don’t see the need to clean headlights while driving!
Could you share some of your wisdom and explain:
1. Why BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Lexus offer the feature, and
2. How you would go about cleaning off a nice layer of sleet and road splash-back after driving through sleet/wet snow for three hours.
Let’s also add Jaguar (XE) to the list of cars that offer deployable headlight washers.
My 1992 Allante has headlight washers.
This seems to be cheapness on the part of GM.
My company truck (2014 Silverado LTZ Crew Cab 4×4 does NOT have rear A/C vents? Never thought to check it when buying as my 2002 extra cab had it – cheapness!
And I had high hopes for the ATS Coupe when it launched – with such attractive exterior lines. Then I got up close and also rented one – too many nagging features and/or quality issues – many outlined by GM Authorty here…and most significant for me was the poor gauge cluster layout and quality – which I understand will finally be upgrades for 2017 MY.
If it’s expected of the market that Cadillac is supposed to be in, then Cadillac should include them.
People want all the bells and whistles, even if only a handful think they are needless. For those citing complications and component failure, then it would be in Cadillac’s best interest to engineer the best headlight washer assembly.
The gauge cluster is no big deal to me, but glad to know it’s being upgraded for 2017. As to quality: I had a 2013 ATS AWD Premium for 3 years; was very pleased with it, and only one problem–a cylinder coil failed. I’ve had a 2016 ATS RWD Premium for 5 months now (has all the bells & whistles–adaptive cruise control, magnetic shocks, etc.– and it has been bulletproof so far; excellent build quality and rock solid. I love this automobile! Any car from any manufacture can have quality issues.
How about a Heads-Up display , they should make that original equipment on every car .
If you want washers then shoot for the moon and put wipers for the headlamps too . The old Mercedes used to have them .
The HUD is available on the three upper trim levels. But I would keep it as an option/part of a higher trim level.
In relation to the headlamp washers: the wipers are old technology when there weren’t high pressure spray systems/solutions available. The high-pressure sprayers replaced them across the board, eliminating the need for the wipers.
I have the euro-spec 2014 CTS with headlamp washers. Headlamp washers are a legal obligation here when a car has Xenon / HID headlamps, as are automatic leveling systems. The reason is that these headlamps are so powerful that an incorrect level or dirty headlamp glass can cause other drivers to be temporary blinded by the light.
So all cars with HID lamps here have both features standard. Also a reason why the Germans have them. It would be more costly for them to have a separate option to eliminate them for just a few markets.
In winter time, many European countries use a salt mixture which produces a sticky sludge on the roads and evidently on the headlamps and windshields. These washers do a good job in cleaning the glass: the result is instantly visible.
One reason I suspect might play in the different approach for the NA market, is the following: these systems are complex and very fragile if the driver does not use Opticleen but plain water instead. On my STS – despite using Opticlean – I had to replace them twice (all cars here are required to get a technical certificate each year and if these systems are not working, the car is banned from the road – police often check these technical certificates). As in NA the warranty periods are longer (5 years in NA I think, 3 years in Europe – BMW and MB even only give 2 years warranty here), the possibility exists that more repairs will have to be made under warranty (just guessing).
But I tend to agree with most of the readers: if the system would be optional, I probably would not pay extra for it.
Thanks for the insight, Mike. It’s much appreciated.
In the NA market, the headlight washers are usually included in the winter packages, which usually also include heated seats, heated steering wheel, and a few other items.
That’s the way I would offer them in markets where they are not required.
All very good points and analogies from everyone. Now my question is that the plastic covering the headlamps get hazy or oxidation over time, usually 5-8 years (depending on amount of time behind the wheel), how useful is the headlamp washers with oxidize headlamps? I don’t think it will be a benefit over time when headlamps become hazy especially at night time driving.
I generally detail my car’s headlamps every time I wash my car which is 10 years old now and my car has slight hazing on the headlamps but it is not enough for me to restore the headlamp cover and if I did have the headlamp washer, I don’t think it would be much of a benefit for me to use. Like for example, in the earlier parts of spring, there is a lot of dusting on the car that I constantly have to wipe dusting or pollen off, I can see the benefit for the headlamp washer. And during late summer to early fall, there is tree sap piling up badly on my car and there is a benefit for the headlamp washer same as for the highway when there is a lot of interstate and bugs splashing against the windshield and headlamps with the headlight washer become useful then. But regardless with all I just indicated, I still don’t think most people will notice the difference even they have the option or not when it comes to visibility. However, I think the government need to look at the old cars on the road with heavy oxidized headlamps and cite those drivers and make them had them cleaned than worrying about headlamp washers. If you have a blown headlamp in your car, you get a ticket or warning to get it replace as soon as possible so it is no different for oxidized headlamps.
And for windshield fluid, I keep my filled and I don’t like dirty windshields. Unfortunately, I don’t have a garage for my car to be in, but regardless, it is a feature that may not be much of a benefit depending on where you reside at but it is nice to have the feature when the time is needed.
Not just GM but this goes for other auto makers too. They omit features for the US market. For what reason? Cost perhaps? For example when my 12 Prius C hit US shores it was missing features that it had in other countries like in Australia you could get LED headlights w/ head light washers. Or in Japan it came with power folding outside mirrors. Yet in America we got none of that…
I’m with Chris above. It’s a gimmick feature only seen in cars most people will not own. I’m 45 and I have lived in the Northeast my entire life. I have driven in all kinds or storms and weather and never thought I needed to clean off my headlights.
I agree too it is a gimmick.
If it were so important and essential as windshield wipers would it not be required on all cars. 3
Some make it like it is must have item but the fact is the rest of us get around just fine with out his options. Even DOT does not require it.
One must ask the question how often do you say Damn my headlamps need cleaned while driving?
Of all the things Cadillac could do I think there are many other needs and options that would have a much stronger impact on consumers and for Cadillac’s image.
Your type of stubborn refusal to consider what most buyers want is similar attitude that has hampered Caddilacs efforts to compete (repeat sales wise) with the Euro lux cars.
It’s similar attitude American manufacturers had towards Japanese manufacturers in 60s and 70s. History informs us how that turned out.
I hate to break it to you “GM Authority,” but the ATS is Cadillac’s entry-level model. Yes, I’ll repeat that: “entry level.”
As nice as these features may be, ATS isn’t going to get a kitchen sink wish-list if the price point is to stay within reach of consumers who are just becoming affluent enough to afford the brand. And afford IS the operative word here. High pricing destroyed ELR sales and aren’t helping the CTS, which isn’t selling well either, due in large part to that and a general decline in sedan sales overall.
In another ATS forum today, an owner was whining about the lack of a metal ignition switch. . . If owners want every nice feature Cadillac can throw at a car, they should buy a Platinum level CT6.
CCC
And I hate to break it to you, CC Clarke, but the ATS’ direct rivals have all of the features that are part of the GM Authority ATS wish list, headlamp washers included.
It appears that you are very uninformed, so allow me to explain.
First: the ATS isn’t an “entry” level vehicle. It is an “entry level LUXURY” vehicle. Key word: luxury. Translation: it offers more than non-luxury vehicles.
Second: to get the features we are discussing, it is not necessary to get a “high-end” model in a BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, or Lexus. In other words, the features discussed here are either standard of offered/available on the direct rivals to the ATS, including the BMW 3 series, MBZ C-Class, Audi A4/S4, Jaguar XE, and Lexus IS. It had nothing to do with the ATS being an “entry” level luxury car, but is instead a demonstration of the fact that the ATS is behind the times and is inferior to its direct rivals in the areas outlined in the wish list. It shows an oversight on quality and a lack of attention to detail when compared to other “entry level luxury” vehicles mentioned above.
Furthermore, it isn’t even possible to get these features in other Cadillac vehicles, which tank “higher” in the Cadilac lineup. Prime example: the headlamp washer gesture discussed here.
As a current ATS owner as well as a previous owner of an Audi A4 and Lexus IS, I will also tell you that it’s silly that the ATS’ engine stop-start button isn’t finished in a high-quality metal/aluminum. This also goes for other interior components, such as the window switch trim.
And lastly: your approach to the situation is entirely misguided. I hate to break it to you, but Cadillac is a challenger in this space. Its goal is to steal customers from the established luxury brands mentioned above. To do that, it must be better than its rivals at everything and at any given moment. And the simple reality of today is that (currrntly) it is not better, which is why it’s currently not successful in conquesting customers from those brands (see are down a significant 20%). It’s not better in quality, in feature set, or in brand perception — to name a few… and this feature of headlight washers is one example of Cadillac not being better, or even on par with the competition. It’s an example of inferiority. Again, the ATS’ direct rivals do offer the features outlined in this wish list.
So, it is I who hates to break it to you. But welcome to reality!
Exactly! If Cadillac is to effectively compete in “global luxury” market then it must provide the features that its competitors do…at least as options!
Otherwise it will do little to attract new customers or entice those used to M Benz, BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus.
Alex,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it. Really.
I think it’s pretty common knowledge that Cadillac builds only luxury cars, but thanks for the reminder anyway.
Every luxury car maker has a low-end “entry car” (yes, even the Europeans) and base car trims for upper tier models. They aren’t meant to compete with their higher-priced, better-equipped brethren, but rather to get drivers behind the wheel at a lower price point. If the experience is positive, brand loyalty begins and that pays big dividends in the long term.
You pointed out a curious discrepancy that the Euro-spec ATS comes with headlight washers, and the US version doesn’t. I’m sure it wasn’t an oversight, but rather a way to reduce cost. Right, wrong, or indifferent, that’s the way it is. “Reality “as you call it.
As another poster stated, –and I have to agree, headlight washers (or lack thereof) have made zero difference in my driving experience, and I’ve owned several Cadillacs equipped with them. The ATS is not the only current model Cadillac that omits them. Just because the Europeans are required to include them doesn’t mean we do. In short, they give the illusion of luxury, but for the most part, add little to the “reality” (there’s that word again) that most drivers experience. Jeeps don’t have them and that’s a brand that might actually benefit when off-roading, but no one is clamoring for them. Form follows function. Luxury isn’t defined by techno-gadgetry, but comfort and convenience. Technology should be as unobtrusive as possible to a driver. I know, you can argue the point that it’s convenient to have self-cleaning headlight bezels, but I digress. Convenient? Yes. Essential? Hardly.
A lot of the sentiment expressed in your article is the same rhetoric oft-repeated since Cadillac’s Art & Science theme debuted. The underlying cause of current Cadillac’s lack-luster sales compared to foreign luxury cars can be summed up in one word: Perception. I wouldn’t even consider owning a Volkswagon or an Audi, and yet they build good cars; it’s perception of the brand as it used to be that colors my thinking.
One Aw$hit erases an awful lot of attaboys. Cadillac has had their share. It will take a long time to fully re-invent Cadillac as a brand that truly is, “The Standard of the World.” Case in point: Releasing cars with serious design flaws.
The first-Gen CTS-V (I owned one) was touted as the first in a line of future high-performance Cadillacs. It was intended in part, to shake the perception of a Cadillac being an old person’s car –which still exists Big-Time to this day among younger drivers. Back to the CTS-V: Great idea, horrible execution. When accelerating, the car hopped more than rabbits during mating season, and sported a differential that had a tendency to grenade under load. It took three years to address a problem that should have been fixed during development. This situation might have been partially responsible for the Gen-2 CTS-V taking a short hiatus before introduction.
A more recent example of Cadillac blundering: The 1.0 version of CUE has a litany of hardware limitations in terms of speed and memory management. The press excoriated the system repeatedly during reviews. It took three model years (and two additional HMI revisions) for CUE to perform as it should –meaning mobile device-like performance which the buying public expects, and Cadillac compared it to in sales brochures.
To make matters worse, Cadillac has no upgrade path available for previous owners to experience a CUE system that works as advertised. Dealers will not re-program a new HMI to the VIN. If you can prove otherwise, I’d love to hear about it. Remember the 2013 brochures that promised an infotainment system that would never be obsolete due to upgrades?
–And if that wasn’t enough , Cadillac advertised an upcoming app store that never materialized to improve the user experience. These actions have done nothing to improve brand perception. If anything, they have damaged it. Owners left holding the bag with earlier verions are none too happy either.
In an attempt to improve things, how about writing a series that calls attention to issues such as this? My point is, why not cast your journalistic net wider and include current problems as well as future nice-to-have amenities in an effort to improve the brand, which, correct me if I’m wrong –is your ultimate goal.
Much –maligned JdN is rocking the boat in a big way, and I support his vision as it begins to take shape. Change is tough for a lot of people to absorb, but this revolution is as much about attracting the attention of future owners as it is current customers.
Cadillac must not copy, they must lead and innovate like ono one else if they are to earn their old title back. Not evolutionary improvements, but revolutionary, ground-breaking changes to exemplify and re-define the American luxury driving experience.
The current ATS improvement Series is a great way to fill copy as the GMA team puts their vision out there in an attempt to better the brand. And if it stimulates conversation and opinion-sharing, so much the better. We can agree to disagree as to how the make things better, and that’s fine. Do GM execs read this? Maybe. Does it affect their policy? I doubt it.
Reality is a good thing.
CC
This is not directed to any one commet. GM had the most beautiful cars in the 60s and early 70s…no contest. Other countries had been making micro cars for years because of the size of the cities and streets. It’s really wasn’t possible for American Car Companies to kick out a micro car overnight…and the micro car makers took a while to make a larger car. That was an oil embargo…it’s not like Cadillac or Buick drank up all the oil for gasoline over night. Americans got greedy and cheap…and they still are. Tesla Model S is so overpriced but it’s selling like mad. Most Mercedes and BMWs are so over priced and ugly now…people still buy them. Range Rovers and Jags…you know are way over priced…but people with money buy them. Quite a few “exotic imports” are made here in the U.S. (BMW SAVs are made in America). A CTS-V is worth it sitting next to an M5 or AMG E63. The largest MB SUV is the size of an Escalade…and those Asian choices are Frankensteins! It’s always fun to dump on American products…but we did everything first and we don’t copy. But North American Edition anything usually means dumbed down or cheapened because that’s what Americans are cheap.
Alex showed his true colors, (“as an owner of a 2015 ATS Sedan with the half-moon cluster . . . “)
Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/05/we-like-2017-cadillac-xt5-gauge-cluster-design-layout/#ixzz48RRbAUo4)
when he winced after I labeled the ATS (and plenty of car mags did like-wise before me) Cadillac’s entry-level car. Not everyone can afford (or wants) a different model.
Now I understand some of the rationale behind his ATS improvement series. If I drove a lower trim version as he does, I would want improvements too. Having one’s own site to constructively complain is a convenient forum to do so.
You have to pay to play in the luxury car segment Alex.
You’re right, the re-configurable gauge cluster is awesome –on any model whose trim level includes it. Lack of a HUD and an archaic half-moon cluster wouldn’t get a second notice from me, but others could care less about these features and enjoy saving money by not including them.
Cadillac’s sales methodology isn’t hard to fathom. Goodies cost more and GM has to keep lower trim lines as affordable as possible to reach the largest customer base. In time, if they upgrade to another Cadillac, they might option a higher level model.
The next time you shop Alex, spring for the options you miss now and you’ll enjoy your next car even more.
CC
You’re really pigeonholing yourself all over the place here, CC Clarke. I don’t really know why you feel the need to assume as much as you do, but your entire comment is off the mark. Allow me to explain why:
1. Regarding “showing my true colors”: you see that big blue part right at the beginning of the article on this page? It clearly and openly states the vehicles that I own and the purpose of the Wish List series. You didn’t make some big discovery.
Strike one.
2. Regarding the ATS being “entry level”: there isn’t a question whether or not the ATS is the least expensive Cadillac model. But did you stop and consider the fact that the feature discussed here (headlamp washers) is not available on ANY Cadillac model? Not on the ATS, not on the Escalade or the CT6. It is a Cadillac-wide problem. It’s not an entry-level problem
Your rhetoric on this continues to be put under question when you ask yourself: if Cadillac is the only full-line luxury automaker *not* to offer this feature on its *entry level models*. What does that tell you? It tells you that it’s not serious about competing. Or it’s trying to compete in a half-assed manner.
And finally: the ATS (and its CT#) replacement will not be “entry level” for much longer, as there will be a model that slots underneath it in the near future. Currently, this space is owned by true “entry level” models (from a price standpoint), such as the Audi A3/S3 and MBZ CLA-Class. Guess what? Both offer deployable headlight washers.
So, as you can clearly see, this isn’t a problem of the ATS being an entry-level model. It’s a problem that impacts Cadillac across the board, from entry-level to flagship.
Strike two.
3. Then you assume that I own a “lower” ATS “trim level version”. First of all, it’s called “trim level”. Not “trim level version”. But man are you wrong about that: if you, once again, read the big blue part at the beginning of this very article, you will see that mine is the Premium trim. In case you’re not familiar, that’s the range-topper. So you’re totally off about that as well.
Strike three. But looks like you haven’t had enough just yet, so let us continue.
4. “You have to pay to play in the luxury car segment Alex.”
Thank you for imparting that wisdom on me, dear CC Clarke. I’m sure you will be pleased to know that my ATS topped out at $50k, which is roughly the ceiling of where an ATS will top out. Had the washers been part of any options package or trim level, I would have bought it/them.
Strike four!
5. “Lack of a HUD and an archaic half-moon cluster wouldn’t get a second notice from me, but others could care less about these features and enjoy saving money by not including them.”
To use your own eloquence: You have to pay to play in the luxury car segment, CC Clarke.
If you primary concern is saving money, you shouldn’t be playing in the luxury segment. Or simply buy a car that doesn’t have these features. Heck, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar (to name a few) offer the washers as part of a package. Don’t want them? Don’t buy the package. Cadillac can and should do the same.
Can you tell me where we are with the strikes now? I’ve lost count.
6. Cadillac’s sales methodology isn’t hard to fathom. Goodies cost more and GM has to keep lower trim lines as affordable as possible to reach the largest customer base. In time, if they upgrade to another Cadillac, they might option a higher level model.
You’re very much incorrect about this for two reasons:
– Despite having already been told that zero Cadillac models offer the feature, you continue to make the same error in insisting to suggest that other Cadillac models offer it. They do not. Hence, this is a problem that applies to Cadillac across the board (across its entire product portfolio).
– You should familiarize yourself with the basics of fixed and variable costs before trying to make rudimentary business conclusions such as the above. Allow me to deliver some much-needed education: offering or not offering the headlamp washer feature is purely a decision of two factors: the first is R&D cost (sunk cost that applies to all models regardless of equipment/features) and the second is variable cost (which applies to those models equipped with the feature).
Now, the first item — the R&D cost, is negligible. It is factored into and spread across all models. Engineering the feature like this one into a vehicle program isn’t and won’t be reflected on the final program tally (officially referred to as a vehicle line balance sheet).
Where the feature does shoe itself from a dollars and cents standpoint is the variable cost. It costs roughly $10 to get such a feature into a vehicle. However, the feature is sold at a price of $250. That’s a 96% profit margin. And it’s actually higher when it gets bundled into a package, such as a cold weather package offered by the German and European automakers.
All in all, your point about this being a burden or a cost or an unnecessary expense is pure BS. Moot. Poppycock. Pure and utter rubbish. Not only does including the headlamp washer feature not cost anything to build into a vehicle program, but it actually presents Cadillac with the opportunity to make more money per vehicle, thereby increasing its revenue, profit, and profit margins. And as it so happens, Cadillac is targeting to do all three of those things:
Cadillac sales target:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/11/cadillac-outlines-goal-to-sell-500000-units-by-2020/
Cadillac margin taget:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/05/cadillac-shooting-for-11-percent-operating-margin-in-10-years/
And, of course, offering this feature allows Cadillac to attract customers and actually sell vehicles.
Are we at strike six already? Sheesh. This is not looking good for you, my friend.
7. “The next time you shop Alex, spring for the options you miss now and you’ll enjoy your next car even more.”
Please revisit item #4 in my list, where I state that not only is my ATS is of the loaded variety (Premium trim level), but that the feature we are discussing here isn’t available on any ATS model or on any Cadillac in North America. Now, if I would have bought a BMW, MBZ, Audi, Jaguar or a Volvo, I would have had them. Do you not see the basic problem this presents in the marketplace?
This is just getting embarrassing for you. I mean… seven strikes is quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?
Allow me to do a quick summary here:
First and foremost, you should know that the purpose of this wish list isn’t for me to toot my own horn or advance some kind of personal agenda. Assuming that the purpose of the ATS wish list is me not having purchased the car that I wanted or a trim level that would have had the features I wanted is pure and utter nonsense: I bought the best that was available. Headlamp washers were not and still are not an option on the ATS, or on any other Cadillac model. This would have been true if I got the ATS in the (base) Standard trim. You should know that the other items on the GM Authority ATS wish list are also not available on the ATS, period.
As I touch on in the blue section at the top of this article, the purpose of the wish list is my pure, heartfelt desire as a Cadillac and GM enthusiast to advance the Cadillac brand and the model lineup to be more competitive with the well-established rivals from Europe. The hope is that owners, enthusiasts, and Cadillac executives and employees read it and at least consider the suggestions and, at best, implement them.
Trying to be competitive in the luxury space is so much more than about having a well-balanced RWD car that looks decent. No, you need the proper features, brand image, and desirability characteristics to compete and then to win. Cadillac lacks in many of those areas today and the only way in which Cadillac will come close to overtaking its rivals, now and in the future, is by being better than them. And having the right mix of features (like this one) is one of the ways to accomplish its objectives.
PS: lest you continue erring in thinking that this is some personal agenda for me — there will be wish lists for other models, as well. You just stay tuned!
Cheers! 🙂
Gotta say Alex, for such long wordy posts, you have excellent grammar. You must be a fast typist who had been blogging a long time?
Much obliged 🙂 I don’t think I type that fast… I’m probably average. But I most definitely spend the time and energy discussing a topic I care about… like this one 🙂
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