Cadillac owners don’t really care for CUE; we don’t really care CUE. Guess what? Cadillac internally doesn’t like CUE much, either. That’s according to Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen, who told Motor Trend it didn’t meet the brand’s expectations.
Despite being much better today than at its initial inception, de Nysschen specifically stated the brand will “overcompensate” with the next generation of CUE, which will include a touchscreen and a rotary dial to give the driver a “choice of how to interface” with the system.
“We will give customers a choice of how to interface. The rotary controller conveys through haptics a feeling of quality and creates an emotional bond and feeling of interacting with a precision-crafted automobile,” de Nysschen stated.
After much frustration from the current system, an update involving physical dials and buttons is welcomed.
Comments
Finally!
I’ll need to see how they execute this “rotary dial” before I judge it, but it does sound like a step in the right direction. The interview highlighted some crucial areas of where Cadillac is and where they’re going. What stood out most for me was their approach to producing their upcoming crossovers and SUVs. de Nysschen pretty much confirmed there’ll still be platform sharing, but with greater levels of engineering to better define their product placement. Again, I’ll wait to see how this is executed before I make judgment….
This is GREAT news! I came out of a CTS and hated the CUE system in that car. My CT6 is a huge improvement but the touchpad on the console is tricky to work with and a joy-stick type knob I think would be better. Additionally, I use Android Auto from my phone 95% of the time and the reach to activate certain functions on the screen is an annoyance. Looking forward to the next generation.
Being from the millennial age group, I find CUE not as frustrating as the journalist make it out to be. Once you get used to it, not that bad and I am using the 2014 system. I have experienced the updated version in the 2016 w/ Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and it is much easier to use. I will complain about the finger prints and find it necessary to carry a microfiber cloth in my car at all times to wipe away the prints. I do welcome the choice between touch and rotary knob. My guess is the rotary knob will be similar in function as Audi given Cadillac’s president is from Audi. Great news to hear about change coming in the future and look forward to seeing what is to come.
The Cue works well it is just the learning curve on it for those who never used it before. Improving the interphase should resolve the initial user issues and make this a top line system in the market.
Many car companies spend so much time on these systems they tend to forget that most people have only a few mins. to look at a system and sort it out before they drive off. Those first few mins can really be frustrating to some.
Many systems have had this issue and all end up addressing this and the complaints go away,.
The first thing any automaker needs to do is take this system and give it to someone with no clue and just see how long it takes for them to connect with how it works and they will see if they have it right. If it takes more than 5 min to master it go back and start over. Note they need to test users of all ages too.
Totally agree! I’m an old fart and have never had major issues with CUE. Once you get acclamated it is fine. Actually have zero complaints other than fingerprints all over the screen. Then again I’m more than a little particular about the appearance of my car.
The NAV stinks…almost no detail, and bad appearance choices… Android Auto’s maps are much, much better and easier to use. I never use the NAV function on my CT6. The big screen makes most of the other controls look great though.
I think the CUE system is horrible and takes your eyes off the road. My 2013 Cadillac CTS Coupe had a great infotainment system. All buttons and knobs, it was neat and clean, and I could just about hit any button or knob without taking my eyes off the road. Why did they spoil things?
For me, CUE is no issue (other than fingerprints). The layout and the touchscreen work perfectly when I use them and I caught on quickly to the system. I am a younger buyer though, and this system is more geared toward younger buyers. To bridge that gap, a rotary control and some physical buttons are necessary. I have tried all the infotainment systems from the major luxury brands and I have found Audi’s to be the best. Mercedes and BMW can get you lost in pages of settings and options, and the addition of touch screens to Audi makes it that much more user friendly. After seeing the Escala, I would imagine that is the best look at what is to come from Cadillac dash design and infotainment.
Put an external button..(mabe beside mute button).. to turn display”off” instead of having to go into a menu to do so.That is my complaint and while driving at night it is an issue to have to go into menu.
Nice addition. Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and others have the rotary dial for quite some time now. I like both the touch screen and the rotary.
The most frustrating part of “CUE” isn’t the touch screen, but the capacitive touch buttons below the screen. If they compromised by replacing the touch buttons for high quality physical ones, I don’t think there would be a need for a dial that will eat up console space.
I own a car with CUE and love it. I see a lot of folks that don’t like it but I am thinking most of those folks don’t know how to use it. I took the manual and went onto Cadillac.com and browsed their how-to vids. 30min later, I started to really like the system. Easy to use once you know how to use it. I barely use the touchscreen, darn near everything can be done with the steering wheel controls.
“After much frustration from the current system, an update involving physical dials and buttons is welcomed.”
– Maybe for you, I like the nice clean look without the copycat dial.
I don’t have a problem with the CUE system in my 2014 CTS, but providing a choice of interface methods makes a great deal of sense.