Cadillac Escala Wins Best Concept Car At 2018 Chicago Auto Show
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The Cadillac Escala isn’t a new concept vehicle, but the masses still love it. The Chicago Auto Show announced winners of its “Best Of” categories, and the Escala was voted the “Best Concept Vehicle.”
The Escala made its debut nearly two years ago and previewed the future of the brand’s design language. Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen also called it a potential addition to the brand’s vehicle portfolio. We’ve yet to learn what the luxury brand’s flagship vehicle will be, and the range-topping CT8 was supposedly axed some time ago.
Notably, the Escala is a four-door coupe with a liftback design for extra cargo space. The trend has begun to proliferate the sedan space as more consumers turn to crossovers. Not only does it make sedans more functional, it also exudes a more distinctive design. In the Escala’s case, it absolutely works.
We’ll see the first design effects from the Escala on the 2019 Cadillac XT4 crossover, which will debut next month at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.
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So why not take this baby and make it all electric. I know that the interior would have to be reworked but the exterior is perfect.
“So why not take this baby and make it all electric.”
An EV Escala would kill, and the Model S wouldn’t even stand a chance in appearance.
The problem is that Escala concept is already old and won’t do Cadillac any favours being released now as a new car. It’s already occupied the head-space of millions for 2 years now, and that would make it start to look stale right out of the gate.
Although that hasn’t stopped the Model S from being virtually unchanged for the last 6 years.
“The problem is that Escala concept is already old and won’t do Cadillac any favours being released now as a new car. It’s already occupied the head-space of millions for 2 years now, and that would make it start to look stale right out of the gate.”
That is simply not true. The Escala is a concept.. it is in no way stale because this 2 million got a glimpse of it in a magazine or car show.. I can name dozens of cars that people see daily that still aren’t stale in the eyes of the general public.. In truth.. Cadillac cold release the 16 year old SIXTEEN and people would lose their minds at its beauty.. the Ciel, the ElMiraj.. or certainly this and Cadillac legitimately becomes the Standard, beating out the S-Class.. if properly appointed with 15% more tools than the current CT6 has. One of those tools would be a V8. Any V8.
It is a show car the production car will be changed and updated.
Show cars are not real cars.
The car will do well. The majority of car buyers never saw the show car anyways let alone live.
Beauty never goes ‘stale’.
If Jaguar were to build a new XK120 or XKE, or Chevrolet a new Sting Ray or 55′ Nomad they sell out in hours.
The Escala is beautiful. Like the Elmiraj before it, they epitomize what a modern Cadillac should look like: Bold, daring, glamourous, unabashedly American and instantly recognizable as a Cadillac. GM has proven with their recent concepts that they know how to ‘Dare Greatly’ and how to bring Cadillac back from the brink of extinction. Why they steadfastly refuse to actually execute on that vision remains a mystery. Why Escala will never be built but the frumpy FWD XTS just got refreshed and soldiers on confounds the imagination. GM talks big, and nobody talks bigger than dy Nysschen, but they don’t deliver on much.
In spite of the frustration of Escala, I still love to look at it and imagine what might be. Escala, Elmiraj, and Buick’s gorgeous Avenir are concepts that I wish could move beyond being merely gazed upon on a revolving platform amongst a sea of uninspiring production models.
Well to go from show car to production takes more than 2 years.
I expect the car is a good representation of where they are going if they are still showing it. The fact it is a hatch and we were told the new flag ship would not be a 4 door sedan is a another hint.
Now also temper your expectations to expect a production car not a show car too. The show car is not 100% producible or legal for the road as show.
Pay attention to what is going on and learn the time line for taking a car to production and understand that at time they need to wait till the platform upgrade has to come or they would have to even more compromise the show car to go production.
Things are lining up here soon and we should see the result not too much longer. As for the coupe. Well the market has killed that I believe as it is hard enough to sell a sedan let along a small number of coupes anymore. Besides the Elmraj had no platform to fit. It did not fit Alpha or Omega unless they were totally re engineered.
The fact this car was shown in Chicago this far down the line was a big fat slap to the face that it was telling you it was still relevant. GM does this with car that are symbolic of the coming production cars. Note too they never said this one was not going to be produced.
Often GM speaks loudest then they say nothing.
I’ve been hearing promises from GM on Cadillac for so long, I can’t even remember how long its been. Their motto shouldn’t be ‘Dare Greatly’ but rather ‘Just Wait’. Something big is always just around the corner but it never materializes. I think the closest we get to a production Escala is the new front fascia slapped on the ungainly corporate platform FWD XTS.
As for Elmiraj, true leaders don’t read the market and craft a product for it. They produce something so irresistible that it stuns the world and creates its own market. That’s the definition of daring. Ask Elon Musk. He dares. The California-crafted Tesla Model S is now outselling the S-Class and 7-Series IN EUROPE. The naysayers would’ve told him there’s no market for an electric luxury car because before he dared, there wasn’t.
Sorry if the reality of production does not fit your personal time line.
Sometimes you have to use al, the facts to get the big picture.
Today’s Cadilkac started when JDN entered the door. The reality is a Cadillac was not in a place to make major changes he invisioned till they got new platforms and new models. That takes 5 years min.
You were even warned that it was going to take a period of time before we got more than the refreshed models that old Cadillsc did.
As for people who do not read the market most go bankrupt in time.
Tesla at this point is down to 3 billion dollars. If they had read the market better and learned how to be a production company the tens of thousands of presold 3 models being canceled would have been on the toad.
To have a successful company you do need to give designers and engineers room to work but you also need to protect them from theselves. It takes both sides.
My opinion? No that is what one of the best dreaming product men Bob Lutz says..
By the way Tesla did take a calculated risk in the Luxury market. But the risk to low volume high priced 6 figure cars is calculated when there is no competition. They soon will face some big names with deeper pockets so the risk goes up.
Porsche will make a large dent soon.
They introduced the Escala in 2016 in Pebble Beach. So, four years apparently isn’t enough.
If GM put the new 755 hp Corvette motor in it, they could sell 20K/year at $150K.
Hatchback is nice, but 755 gets it done.
They need a Cadillac specific V8 of their own if they want to Get it right.
I expect they will use the DOHC block but have their own sized and tuned V8.
If you want to rebuild the Cadilacs image you need to give the customer more than just a Camaro engine.
If you want to claim to be the standard of the world you must stop picking parts from the parts bin.
Did I say Camaro?
No, I said the new 755 hp CORVETTE engine in this Cadillac would blow the competition out of the water.
Do you think it is cheap and easy to develop new engines? Why would you do that when you already have the most powerful engine ever put in a GM car?
Corvette engine isn’t appropriate either. Yesterday I’m sitting in a parking lot looking down at my phone and I hear a car pulling up next to me. Sounds like an old GM muscle car with that distinct rumbly OHV V8 sound. I look over and it’s a CTS-V coupe. The car looked sleek and modern but it sounded like something from years gone by. Cadillac needs their own engines and they need to be sophisticated, and sound, sophisticated. Folks used to marvel at the smoothness and quietness of a Cadillac. They should again. There is no reason a Cadillac can’t be a car people marvel about again. It can and should be both quick and quiet.
I have owned a number of Cad/LaSalle flathead V8’s and you could put a glass of water on the engine while running and there would be no hint of vibration.
But is a specific ICE really where Cadillac should put its efforts for a range topping mark vehicle. Time to move on technically and too address reality.
A 2 year old carbon copy of an Audi A7 with a Cadillac badge.
Really?
Dare greatly?
Nope
Dare to Copy!
The design envelope employed by the A7 and the Escala goes back to the late 40’s and resides at the GM design studio. Audi didn’t invent the concept. The Pontiac ‘Silver Streak’ preceded the A7 by quite a few years. Buick had the same styling with their like models.
While I greatly like the styling of the A7 and always pause to study and enjoy it when one is present, it is no Escala.
The lady on the stage didn’t hurt, either. Gracious and well informed, she did speak of the upcoming new V8.
Didn’t the 3.6 start as a Cadillac exclusive, then trickle down, and isn’t that the way it usually works nowadays?IMG_7748.jpg
In reading the comments I have a Cadillac and I rented a Chevy Impala and it was as nice to drive as my caddy so who would want to spend a 130k on a Cadillac design that is 6-7 years old. I like the looks of the Escala , but if It was changed for production it would not be as popular.