The Mercedes-Benz S-Class remains the absolute standard in luxurious, full-size sedans. The Cadillac CT6 is a fine car, but spending just two minutes in each reveals the Cadillac is a grade below. That’s not necessarily Cadillac’s fault; Mercedes has spent years honing its luxury barge, and BMW and Audi arguably haven’t cracked its aura.
Hold tight with us for a moment as we bring Land Rover into the picture. Recent reports say the British luxury-SUV maker is working on a “Road Rover” sedan based on a Range Rover platform. It would take on Mercedes’ S-Class with big proportions and undeniable opulence. So, Road and Track proposed this: a Cadillac Escalade-based sedan.
Still, hang tight. The argument makes some sense. An Escalade-based sedan could, and should, boast striking design cues. Maybe not pretty, but imposing. As R&T points out, the Rolls-Royce Phantom isn’t pretty, but everyone knows exactly what it is when it shows its striking face. A large, Escalade-based sedan could take a similar approach for Cadillac. BMW could never pull this off, but Cadillac could.
Let’s not forget such a car already exists in a different form: the presidential limousine. The Cadillac limo rides on GM’s TopKick platform, a medium-duty truck chassis. Although the current limo is far from pretty, the next Cadillac limo will certainly give us a better idea as to what an Escalade-based sedan could look like.
Although SUVs are the market’s cup of tea, there’s absolutely still a market for big and luxurious vehicles. Isn’t that what Cadillac has always been measured by?
Comments
Cadillac must first restablish it’s self as a true competor to the S class before attempting to move even further upscale. If and when it does it woul need to be class leading in every way and I don’t being based on an Escalade chassis would accomplish that. That would probly be ok if Cadillac was already an established leader in the Luxery field but with the way most people see Cadillac now it would probly be looked at as another half hearted attempt by Cadillac to compete above its capability’s.
I think it could work. A big luxury sedan with the seating position of an SUV.
Here’s the problem: I think that for it to work, an Escalade-sedan would have to be just as flashy, opulent, and grand as the Escalade. However, Cadillac is moving in the complete opposite direction: understated, “tasteful” luxury. Daring Greatly where everybody else went.
Curtnik wrote: “However, Cadillac is moving in the complete opposite direction: understated, “tasteful” luxury. Daring Greatly where everybody else went.”
Exactly right. “Dare Greatly” is just a slogan, no longer a reality at Cadillac. JDN has absolutely indicated in interviews (especially the recent one in the NY Times) that he intends to give Euro-bland rounded styling to future Cadillacs, rather than the bold angular styling of today (and since at least 1967, with the Eldorado). Johan simply doesn’t understand Cadillac history or American culture, nor could he be expected to do so, as a South African with a lengthy Audi background.
Johan seems to think that Cadillac should simply be a blend of various German and German-like values, under a classic American nameplate – but with no actual connection to the history and values of that nameplate. The idea that Cadillac could make a big bold Escalade-like sedan is appealing in many regards, but that’s clearly that opposite of the “blanding in” approach that JDN appears to favor. In other words, Escalade(-based) sedan – not going to happen, not under JDN at least.
I agree to an extent. I would love to see Cadillac really take the gloves off and really throw down with AMG in a no-holds-bars type of fight. GM has always had some good “ace-in-the-hole” type chassis in their arsenal and they now have the Alpha, Omega, the Corvette and the Escalade chassis. If I were a rep at GM and i really wanted to step on some German necks with a few bada$$ cars of my own, here’s a rough sketch of how i would go about doing something like that:
The Alpha Chassis: We’ve already seen that the Camaro, the ATS-V (in coupe and sedan form) and the CTS-V are belligerent monsters and we know the new 10-speed auto is just around the corner for mainstream production GM vehicles. I think its time cadillac pulled out a few more stops on their alpha chassis cars, tuned the 3.6L TT to 500hp and 510lb ft of torque with the new 10-speed auto, however add in the all new GKN E-twinster-X AWD system up front with the already capable E-diff rear system they’ve employed on the ATS-V and Corvette. A car like that with an updated design language would really have Cadillac posed to do battle with the AMG crowd. Offer that same setup in coupe, sedan and “shooting-brake” form and you have yourself a heck of a C-class fighting lineup. Of course things such as magnetic ride, dual mode exhausts, brembo brakes and everything come into play here as well
Next you have your Omega Chassis, would would be a perfect starting point for your E-class and S-Class contenders (stretched Omega chassis of course) Here is where the LT4 6.2L 650hp S/C V8 comes into play. With the 10-speed auto and all-wheel drive from the previous GKN setup with Brembo brakes, free flowing dual mode exhaust systems, magnetic ride, etc.
Somewhere in here you will need to incorporate a few high performance SUVs in the mix.
lastly the Truck based sedan. This thing will be a Cadillac of 1972 proportions. a behemoth of a vehicle rivaling only Godzilla himself in sheer size and imposing presence. This vehicle will have to be powered by the LT4 650hp V8 with the Cadillac Escalade AWD and performance tuned variant of the SUV magnetic ride system with humongous Brembo brakes, 22″ factory wheels and tires and i don’t even know how this thing would look. I’m thinking escala mixed with the Elmiraj to be honest which would be completely awesome. That’s just my rough thought on the situation. GM have fun but just do it!!!!!!
Expanding the Escalade franchise seems like a good idea.
I’d be more inclined to do a 5-passenger Escalade first. Like, the XL5 could’ve been a family member, but it’s not.
I wouldn’t go straight to sedan, but I’ll defer to Team Dare Greatly, when they reveal their lineup.
Great Idea, I have thought for some time, the XT5 would make a great base for an automobile with size.
Unfortunately the Cadillac XT5 is front wheel drive. Not the best platform for an Ultra Luxury Sedan
Right – sorry, XT5, and AWD/4-wheel drive would be preferable …
Nope. You know why?
XT5 is based on the C1XX platform. -> The C1XX platform is the CUV adaptation of the E2XX platform. -> There’s already an E2XX with the 3.6 + AWD. It’s the Buick Regal GS.
So not only do you get something already in the GM portfolio, you get an arguably worse replacement for an outgoing car that no longer fits into Cadillac’s strategy (XTS) because it’s smaller and no longer offers a turbo with the 3.6.
You and Steve’s idea would go splendidly with an Alpha or Omega based Sport Utility Sedan, and would actually make more sense than a Cadillac CUV “coupe” like the Germans are doing.
THIS is why GM needs a truly flexible RWD platform that can support ALL body styles.
cadillac: widen the vehicle, raise the roofline and at least offer a heavy-duty suspension please!!!
nierl
But isn’t the range rover a unibody?
and if they do that then the automotive journalists will be yelling about how the platform is shared with the “lowly” Tahoe and how could anyone take it seriously as a luxury product.
All they (Motoring Press) do is Bash anything made in the US, and praise everything made overseas. What they are afraid of is that it would become such a big seller, and people would actually enjoy driving again, taking trips in their cars, Delta would not have to throw anyone off the airplane, because they are not overbooked.
Remember Dina Shore, Chevrolet ad, “See the USA in your Chevrolet!”
That ad put more people on the road, and behind the wheel of Chevy’s.
It is car production that made this country great.
As Eisenhower said, So goes GM so goes the country.
Total wast of energy and time. The SUV and electric vehicles are the future!
Land Rover making sedans? Isn’t that why the Jaguar brand exists for. The Range Rover is a sub-brand of Land Rover so we need to know which specific variant their talking about to know which platform they would use to make their sedan. As someone already said, almost all of the Range Rover variants are CUVs which means they are unibody.
Hopefully the new Escalade chassis will be class leading with IRS and air spring or some type of suspension upgrade to make it class leading in ride and handling. From there you upgrade everything else to make the Escalade second to none in the Luxery SUV class. From there you can expand it to add Sports models and Ultra Luxery models. Perhaps even add an ultimate off road super luxury model. I can imagine an Escalade with 650 HP but not as a 4 door sedan. Just my thinking but I am sure there are other ideas out there.
Done properly, this could be the start of something Big.
Presidential Limo’s
Kings
Wealthy Americans and Europeans.
They do not have to go overboard on trinkets, just a nice smooth ride that holds 5 adults.
They do not have to give it 600 hp either.
How much HP do you really need on a 70 mph expressway? The cylinder shutdown on the road would work perfectly.
This idea has great potential.
so i am driving my new $80,000 2015 Escalade back in 2015 when i feel a consistent vibration throughout the vehicle; transmission torque converter rep;acement required
i attempt to put in an address in the GPS; entire unit freezesl unit is replaced
painted wheels start peeling (HUH???) ( older version they were actually chromed and not just painted) ; wheels had to be repainted
Cadillac: are you not joking? i am going back to my Infiniti QX80 nielr
Sorry Neil you are having issues with your Escalade, for some reason the 15 Escalades had a number of transmission related issues. I had customers that traded out into 17’s and have had none of their prior issues. Love the cars. The problem could and may lie in the tires. take a look and see what amount of weight is on them. You might have thrown a weight, or when they made them they did not rotate the tires before adding the next belt, that has been known to cause issues. Give you that kind of problem. Also, I learned from Goodyear, if you add 2 more pounds of air in the rear, a lot of issues go away.
Inputting an address into the Navigation, and having it freeze is a new one on me. I usually talk to them and it programs perfectly, no issues at all.
Chrome Wheels pealing was a supplier issue that most had taken care of under warranty. They didn’t use enough Nickle before plating. GM used to have 3-4 suppliers, when they went to 1, and squeezed the blood out of them, those issues started.
All these issues are Top Down issues caused in Purchasing. I used to sell to GM and I saw lots of things it is best not to talk about.
Its an interesting idea, but Cadillac have to address serious issues with next Escalade first, Make it more Range Rover, Less Tahoe. No more Chevy shifter, switchs & buttons, “leather seating surfaces”, headliner, trunk paneling & so on. And for the love of God, give it a Panoramic roof & dual exhaust tips … The SRX had both since day one 14 years ago. Also get rid of the 2005-era DVD system.
While the Escalade can’t compete with the Range Rover’s off road capabilities, it have to go toe to toe with it & beat it on everything else … Especially interior quality & colors. Being more reliable is not enough anymore.
I couldn’t agree more. Time for all Cadillacs to become leaders in their respective fields in every way. No one is standing still so they have to fight hard to get ahead and continue to fight to stay ahead. I am hopeing it happens sooner than later.