Why The Cadillac Escala Keeps Me Bullish For The Future Of Cadillac
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The Cadillac Escala is not my favorite Cadillac concept vehicle in modern history. In fact, that recognition (if it’s worth anything) would be awarded to the Cadillac Elmiraj. I think the Escala looks good, but maybe a bit pedestrian in a crowded sea of automotive design.
That’s not to say it isn’t stunning; the Escala is a very handsome vehicle in person and it carries plenty of presence. However, the exterior isn’t why the Escala keeps my hopeful the best is yet to come for Cadillac, it’s the interior.
Vintage American luxury vehicles are hit or miss when it comes to exterior design. You’ll have those who say vehicle X is gorgeous, and others will say vehicle X had been beaten with an ugly stick. But, there’s one thing vintage Cadillacs always got right. Well, to me at least. That was the interior.
By today’s standards, material usage is poor and build quality even more so in some respects, but I’ve never looked at a 1960s or 1970s Cadillac and thought, “Well, that’s rather boring.” Instead, they feel special. Someone was thinking about how to create a luxurious space drivers and passengers want to spend time in, something thoughtful and striking even.
The 2016 Cadillac CT6 is a good car, but frankly, I don’t think the interior matches anything a modern Cadillac should represent, and it does not do justice to the engineering sitting beneath it. The everyday driver may not notice, but it’s easy to point out areas where Cadillac dug its hands into the GM parts bin for the sake of cost, ease, something. I don’t know.
The Escala, on the other hand, does something very different, even more radically different than other Cadillac concepts. Its thoughtful interior design reminds me of the over-cared for designs from yesteryear. Someone was thinking about creating a cabin where you want to spend time and enjoy yourself. What does this have to do with the future of Cadillac?
Cadillac has already hinted the Escala showcases the future of its interior designs, and not just the fact it features a curved, OLED display. It’s the materials that have me bullish. Even Andrew Smith, Cadillac’s executive director of global design, says the interior is his favorite part of the concept vehicle. For good reason, too.
The interior isn’t awash in typical leather, something so commonplace I can rent a Corolla with what used to be reserved for the standards of the world. Instead, the design team chose fabrics to adorn the door panels, seating surfaces and dashboard. And the result is spectacular in my eyes, with striking whites, greys and browns flowing so easily against different textured materials. This is a modern Cadillac interior.
And it’s an interior ushered in under Johan de Nysschen and Andrew Smith’s Cadillac, not old GM, like the CT6 and XT5 began life under. I think it’s fair to remind Cadillac enthusiasts pulling for the brand every single day that we’ve yet to see much of anything from the latest Cadillac regime.
I’m not saying the Escala is a retro design in any way, shape or form. But what is throwback is the idea of a well-tailored interior and an air of craftsmanship inside for the driver and passenger. To me, that’s daring greatly.
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I have to agree that the interior is my favorite part of the concept. Specifically, I love the seat design. The seats look like a piece of retro furniture, and reflect the low and wide stance of the car. Additionally, they way the seat back wraps around the head rest and hides the rear seat entertainment screen borders on a piece of fine sculpture. Seating has become so generic and boring in Cadillac’s vehicles, and this is a refreshing sight. Additionally, I can’t agree more about the use of fabric. I enjoy leather, but the market has become so saturated with it. Fabric gives you so much more customization and options in terms of texture and color. I can’t wait to see what comes from Cadillac in the next couple years.
I love the Escala interior. The only other thing they need is to add all of the exterior color options of a 1956 Cadillac in addition to their current staid colors, and, as long as they maintain their performance perspective, they can once again lead the luxury segment.
The exterior looks like new Opel Insignia minus the grace.
The interior is nice yet isn’t groundbreaking in its design.
I love the dashboard in this car…its thin and it’s not fat like I’m a lot recent cars.
It is good you like the interior as from what has been said it is the part of this car that is closer to production than any of it.
I saw where one of the designers said this is really the direction they were looking. How much is production is yet to be seen but the glass dash is said to be in the future.
How nice is that white cloth interior going to look when it encounters some dust/dirt? How many Chinese executives are going to be happy on their back seat of cloth, while the driver sits on leather?
I do like the idea of a large sedan with a liftback, but the US automotive press will deride any midsize or large American car if it has a liftgate (i.e. hatchback), unless it’s a Tesla.
I can’t really see how the author is excited about Cadillac’s future due to a white cloth interior on a concept car that will likely never see the light of day. I’d be more excited about Cadillac’s future if they decided to create the cars that actually are what the public wants Cadillac to be, but at least the interior of the Escala shows some originality. And at least the name resembles one of Cadillac’s few current “hits” even if current management sees no future for Cadillac in anything resembling the Escalade.
Drew,
It’s not a matter of me being excited over cloth, it’s a matter of craftsmanship. That’s the overarching point I’m trying to convey here. When a Chevrolet Malibu can be ordered with similar appointments, the luxury brand needs to step it up and find new ways to differentiate itself. The interior of the Escala does that for me.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
-Sean
So it’s about “differentiating” Cadillac from the plebian cars, rather than making something that’s actually nice to ride on? If leather seats are the best – and to me they are – then I want leather seats even if the Chevy Malibu can be equipped with leather seats as well. Cadillac can make nicer, better padded leather seats. Or if the Malibu has top-of-the-line leather seats (and that’s great if they do), then Cadillac can match those and make their car better than the Malibu in numerous other ways.
If mere “differentiation” is the goal, then I suppose Cadillac can offer gold-plated seats, I bet the Malibu doesn’t come with those. Then the Cadillac owner can go “nyaa nyaa, I’ve got gold-plated seats” to his Malibu-owning neighbor, who will then have to hang his head in shame and concede that he’s not the manlier man of the two.
I know this will sound strange to some on this forum, but I just like it when Cadillacs have the ride, reliability, power, looks, and features that I like. I don’t care if other people bow down to my superior car ownership, and if their cars have the features that they like, then that’s great for them.
My original point was with regard to the ability to keep all that supposedly gorgeous white cloth clean in this car, as well as thinking that cloth Is an inferior seating surface to leather. When Cadillac does something different than the competiton, my belief is that it should also be better, not just different. Or at least equally good, not a step backward for the sake of being different. If however differentiation and exclusivity is the goal – bring on the gold-plated seats!
Thanks for writing,
– Drew
Agreed!
A big part of ‘luxury’ ownership of anything is one-upping your neighbours or peers.
If whatever ‘luxury’ item you have bought does not do that then what’s the point of buying said item?
Agreed!
A big part of ‘luxury’ ownership of anything is one-upping your neighbours, friends or peers.
If whatever ‘luxury’ item you have bought does not do that then what’s the point of buying said item?
Jamdown wrote:
“A big part of ‘luxury’ ownership of anything is one-upping your neighbours or peers.
If whatever ‘luxury’ item you have bought does not do that then what’s the point of buying said item?”
Well I was actually being sarcastic (maybe you are too). I happen to like what I like, and if that’s “luxury” for certain things then I’ll get it, if not then I don’t care. I have a fairly costly high-end stereo in my house, just because I like the sound. I don’t blast it and my neighbors and peers generally don’t know I have it, and that’s fine with me. I also own a Cadillac that is not “cool” for a Cadillac (DTS premium) mainly because I like the ride and the features. And a Timex watch because it looks fine and keeps time just as well as a Rolex. I could not even tell you what watch any of my friends or peers owns, I don’t know (or care).
But I may be out of step with this message group, if the auto interest is mostly about one-upping neighbors and peers. I do wonder how many Rolexes would be sold if the owner could merely appreciate it for himself, but he knew ahead of time that no one else would ever know he owned one. I would hope people enjoy their Cadillacs (and other luxury cars) for a bit more than their status symbol value, given all the work the engineers and others put into them. But if a status symbol is all someone wants, then absolutely enjoy that aspect, for whatever it’s worth.
The interior is by far my favorite, especial the material choice. If we only see one thing from this concept I would want it to be the materials. As you said you can get leather in economy cars now and I doesn’t have the prestige that it used too. I have never really liked leather seats in cars except for the thick German leather that old Mercedes had. No one does leather like that anymore and to me unless its that quality then don’t even bother.
Speak of Mercedes, If Cadillac were to bring the entire interior to production and do it right quality wise, I think that is could beat the S class’s interior. The Escala’s does a much better execution of the screens. They dont look like an after thought like the S class’s which i dont think will age well.
Sean makes a great point about most luxury appointments these days like leather for one- you can get in almost any car now. When I first bought my 2001 Cadillac Deville DTS in 02, it had night vision, nav system, heated front and rear seats, tri zone climate control, and of course leather. Other then the night vision which thankfully is still reserved for the best out there, you can get all these features and a ton more on Toyotas, Chevys, Ford’s, etc. The point I am making is Cadillac, Lexus, MB and so on need to raise the bar much much higher on luxury tech options and materials because like Sean said, all these lower end cars have just about caught up.
Cadillac’s Escala is the grand experiment and the biggest question is whether Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen has the guts to incorporate styling cues found in the Escala for the upcoming replacement cars for the ATS or CTS because if he doesn’t then it’s time for General Motors CEO Mary Barra to terminate de Nysschen.
Sean, I couldn’t agree more! As a CT6 owner, I love the car and the vehicle dynamics and I think the exterior style while somewhat generic, has the presence or gravitas if you will of a full sized luxury sedan. As I’ve stated in my past comments, I fin the interior pretty basic and some of the material choices to be substandard for the category. The Escala interior is STUNNING and I’m encouraged because the Escala is built on the CT6 platform which means that much of the scaling and hard points utilized on the concept can transition their way to production.
Remember, JDN came from Audi. Audi under his tenure made handsome looking cars on the exterior but the interiors were the benchmark to be judged against in the segment for years and still rank among the best. We spend almost all of our time inside and it looks like that’s going to be a much better place to be going forward.
there’s no WOW factor in the CT6….it just looks like any other Cadillac but bigger.
Like to see Madam’s maneuver to get in that back seat. The rear door opening has alot to be desired. The whole thing looks it was designed in a virtual scan.
Has anyone take a two-three hour ride in the back seat of CT6?
My father in law and his girlfriend went from Detroit to Chicago and back in mine and they said it was very comfortable. Heated rear seats and a handy armrest.
I love the escala’s interior. It has an old school and modern style at the same time. It is simply great. And screams Cadillac. Smth like that MUST be in the modern cadillacs.
Ct6(ats-cts) they all look boring and simple. Jeez, look at the ct6 seat controls lol
ct6 inside and out is a boring bs. Cadillac wont have a good future with cars like that.
We need smth like escala.
I hope they do understand it.
The Escala is a great step forward for Cadillac, the exterior is very expressive but not without quirks. It’s the interior that really makes me worry. that picture of the white interior has a very cheap Ikea-sweedish-volvo tweed look that sends shivers down my spine. Cadillac should have a warm caramel & milk chocolate mix to the interior or black with a serene, gently sweeping dash that flows into the doors and the center console. The design is nearly spot on in the escala and I hope they bring the elmiraj to life to compliment the escala both with the new LT5 V8.
I wish Cadillac would not spend as much time and effort on what goes on in the back seat! The front seats are where the time and money should be spent!
So let me get this straight the best place to sit in the car is the back seat but the guy who is paying for the car gets to sit in the front seat which is not as nice!
I say screw that! Make the front seats as comfortable and as spacious and leave what is left over for the back seats!
I truly think things in this world are backwards!
Escala Sedan Looks Great! Hope it also has a large trunk like 23.3 cubic feet. Any Full sized Luxury Sport Coupes in the works? The best car I ever owned was a used 2003 Chevy Montecarlo SS. Wide Stance Ride, Interior Room, Seats, Dash, Instrument designs and English words marking controls and indicators, more physical buttons and less menu driven controls (enables driver focus on the road) Longer Trunk lids enabling to fit larger items in the trunk. Great great chevy.
Why do people love buttons and knobs? Why are people stuck in the 80’s and 90’s?
Why is it so hard for people to learn the cue system? Take a few mins to learn the different pages, and how to navigate the system so that when you are driving you can select what you need without having any driving issues.
Touch screens are the future and I hope people embrace this and maybe we can have a interior that has zero buttons or knobs.
Newer is good when it is an improvement. Touch screens have there place. Controls for a person driving a vehicle should not be one of them. Separate buttons and knobs allow drivers to keep their eyes on the road, while adjusting the air conditioning, heat, defrost, bass or balance on the radio etc. When your driving on I90 and a good song comes on the radio you shouldn’t have to go through menus to turn up the bass. Just reaching for the right knob and turning the bass up is much safer.