The latest news on the topic of a Cadillac “halo vehicle” surrounded a report alleging the Escala concept will go into production in December of 2021. It appears the information is off target, as Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen told Automotive News last Thursday that a halo vehicle won’t come until after 2022.
The timeline gives Cadillac plenty of time to reorganize its U.S. portfolio of vehicles to just three sedans, three crossovers, and a next-generation Escalade. Once the core products are in place, Cadillac will turn its attention to a show-stopping vehicle. de Nysschen previously said the vehicle will “stun the world,” and added the world “does not need another large-box conventional sedan.”
Thus far, all signs have pointed to the Escala heading for production since it’s not a traditional sedan, but features a fastback design. Despite reports, Cadillac has not indicated the Escala concept has been approved for production.
Comments
Finally the core portfolio is coming to light:
CT4 – Subcompact Luxury Sedan
CT5 – Compact to Mid Size Luxury Sedan
CT6 – Mid to Full Size Luxury Sedan
XT4 – Compact CUV
XT5 – Mid Size CUV
XT6 – 3 Row CUV
Escalade
Then in 2022, the Escala name will compliment nicely with Escalade. I wonder if we will see the two models pair together for a type of top-tier sub-brand, like Range Rover. It would be interesting to see the 5 door Escala and future Escalade share design details and exclusive touches to show what it means to be the top Cadillac in the car and SUV portfolios.
Were going into 2019 MY now more or less, someone will be showing a 2020 model by Christmas I’m sure, and previewing a 2021 car by summer 2019. So we’ll probably be able to see this car in 24 months.
You’ve already seen it, well sorta, in some ways. It will not be a sedan or SUV. It will be a 1st for Cadillac, and….it will go very, very, fast.
More like 36.
2022. That means they’re working on it already. The seed has germinated.
They are…as a matter of fact they have been working on it for over a year!
I love the way GM keeps falling for Johan de Nysschen’s sales pitch. He was hired in 2014 and he keeps pushing back the date that he’s actually supposed to deliver on the “turnaround”. It’s always “Don’t expect to see results for 15 years”, which seems to never get any closer to 15 years, despite the passage of time. Now it’s “We’ll stun the world”, “but not just yet”. After 2022 could be 2050 for all we know. And how do you measure “stun the world” anyway?
Meantime, Cadillac’s US sales keep falling, they are burning through cash like crazy, and JdN acts as if it’s all going according to his master plan. The master plan that no one else has seen. As I’ve said previously, it’s easy to sell the future to the naive. “Pay me now, and I’ll deliver for you in the future, beyond your wildest dreams”. Only the future never gets here. But he keeps collecting his big pay and perks anyway, living it up in New York City at GM shareholders’ expense.
JdN has shown that he’s only good at two things, self-promotion and destroying the last vestiges of the classic Cadillac brand. Some people here complain when I point out that he doesn’t have the background to run Cadillac. But it’s simple observation that he only has a background in sales/marketing, not in engineering, design, or production. It’s also simple observation that as a South African, he does not understand what made the Cadillac brand resonate with Americans for so many decades.
Instead JdN pretends Cadillac is his personal brand, even though his only ideas are to copy the Germans, one generation behind. Despite German cars being designed for German roads and German preferences, and if Americans want to buy actual German cars, they already have that option. As an American, I wouldn’t know what sells in other countries either, but I’m not in charge of their historically best loved auto brand. Please Ms. Barra, get the hook for this guy. And next time get someone who is truly qualified.
I love the way absolutely nobody is falling for your pitches…
Well, it may be too early to call, but as far as ‘living it up in NY’, I’d guess he’s doing about 70-80 hours a week – maybe more. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for partying & socializing.
JDN already stunned the world, twice. The Escala, then the CT6 TTV8 LTA.
Burning through cash? Well, that’s another way to describe planned investment. What, you want GM to not invest at all? I get it, you’re upset they haven’t included you in the inner circle that gets the master plan. Well, nobody wants Eeyore the Donkey on the planning team, sorry.
Sales/Marketing people are always the worst to decide on what to present for sale to the public, right? After all, a free engineer would make the finest F1/Indycar style speedpod they could, a much better car. And then the public would buy that speedpod to go to Walmart and carry the shopping, right?
We know, because you’ve said it so many times, that you’re “not racist”. It’s just that South Africans just can’t understand things here in America. It’s “not their fault” because “only those born in America can understand America”, right? (so I repeat again, Cadillac to Americans over the last 30 years has been LIVERY. Your constant claim that Americans “know” Cadillac is so ridiculously Dunning-Kruger in this context. It’s like saying London Taxi’s have some kind of essential Britishness that only the Royals can ride in them because only the Royals understand how British the taxi’s are. Your entire point here is VERY racist).
Personal brands. So, you didn’t want Enzo to build his Ferrari’s to exactly his wants, you don’t want Adrian Newey to make those exclusive Aston’s to his own mandates, you think Koenigsegg is an over-egotist, and Horacio Pagani just makes stuff for galleries, uh huh.
Drew, next time you want to comment, get someone who is truly qualified.
I think you’re going a bit far with the “racist” name calling, but it seems to him, Understanding Cadillac = white walls, wires and landau tops like NaNas DeVille in Boca……
“it seems to him, Understanding Cadillac = white walls, wires and landau tops like NaNas DeVille in Boca……”
R, it seems to me that you fancy yourself as some sort of funny guy, but if you really believe what you wrote above, you couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve always been in favor of making modern Cadillacs. But since people like you can’t accurately disagree with what I’ve actually written, it seems to me that instead you choose to lie and knock down a straw man of your own creation.
I will respond below to Gino’s post with my actual view of Cadillac core values, none of which has ever including era-specific cosmetics of the type you’ve portrayed. If you want to learn anything, you’ll read it. If you prefer to make jokes and continue to lie about my actual views, you won’t bother. The reality is, my views are echoed by a large segment of the car-buying public. These websites however tend to draw only cheerleaders and people who want super-sport performance vehicles everywhere.
US sales are up in March….
“Meantime, Cadillac’s US sales keep falling, they are burning through cash like crazy, and JdN acts as if it’s all going according to his master plan”
PS. Global sales are up too. Although I know you don’t care about the rest of the world.
Chris wrote: “Although I know you don’t care about the rest of the world.”
And you “know” this how? Please show where I have ever stated this view. You can’t do it, because I’ve never written it. Chris, you are a liar.
BTW, Cadillac US sales have fallen significantly ever since JdN took the helm. Including last year. One 3 month blip against terrible 2017 results is nothing to crow about.
@Drew, I should have said, you don’t care enough to do research about the rest of the world when making claims about how terrible JDNs record is:
Cadillac sold 34,404 units globally in March 2018 — an increase of 25.6 percent from the same month last year — marking the brand’s 22ndconsecutive month of global sales growth. The March sales increase was spurred largely by continued consumer demand for the XT5 luxury crossover and the iconic Escalade. For the first quarter of 2018, Cadillac global sales of 96,331 units were up 22.5 percent compared to the same period in 2017.
https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/cadillac-global-sales-surge-25-6-percent-year-year-march/
Chris that’s fine, and thanks for the explanation. SInce you are a new poster here, I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were piling on with the regular trolls here who think it’s funny to say I hate anyone who is not American (falsely calling me “racist”, “xenophobe”, etc.), simply because I feel JdN is wrong for the Cadillac job, in part because he did not grow up with exposure to Cadillac and therefore doesn’t understand what this iconic American brand means to Americans. So when you wrote “I know you don’t care about the rest of the world” , I thought “here we go again” with those lies that I only care about Americans.
Yes it is nice when Cadillac can sell outside of the USA. Though I still think that Cadillac should adhere to its roots in the sense of making cars that are suited for US drivers first, rather than copying cars that were designed for the Autobahn and German driving habits. That way when the rest of the world takes an interest in Cadillac, they’ll enjoy that it’s not just a clone of what they see from everyone else, and they can view it in the same way they might view American blue jeans, cowboy boots, Coca-cola, etc. – products that succeed strongly in the USA and are authentically American, then are offered to the rest of the world.
As far as the “global growth” of Cadillac, that’s essentially due to one country, China. And virtually everyone selling a branded vehicle in China, built in China to avoid their import taxes, has been doing very well there in recent years. That’s about opening up a massive market hungry for cars, rather than some great job by JdN. The apples-to-apples comparison that matters is the US market vs. the US market, and JdN has not done a good job there, on his watch.
Now if Cadillac would get back to their traditional values of offering roomy (front and back seat), comfortable riding, refined, reliable, true luxury cars suited for American roads and American drivers, they would probably sell even better in China.
Chinese luxury buyers are often chauffeured in the back seat, thus they care about room and a comfortable ride, not about whether the car can put up great track times on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Thus genuine American Cadillacs might sell better than the German-imitators that JdN wants to make. The Chinese already have the option of buying real German brands anyway, if they so desire. But I don’t think they have an auto press that tells them they need German “performance luxury”, the way it’s promoted in our press.
I sense a pattern that when anything good happens, its because of the market and the products handed to JDN but when anything is negative it is directly related to his decision making and his decision making alone. You have mentioned that in multiple posts about how anyone could have done a good job at Audi, he just got lucky.
Now the same is true with global Cadillac sales, which I agree is totally driven by China. Essentially you are saying, people are buying in china and so Cadillac got lucky, never mind that they decided to invest there to drive that growth.
Here is an article that explains clearly why JDN decided to invest in production there: “We had to prioritize China in order to solve our U.S. product challenge,” de Nysschen said.
GM had a large presence in China, and Cadillac a modest one, when de Nysschen came on board. But luxury sales were booming in China, and de Nysschen saw an opportunity to invest in a much bigger presence.
Cadillac also invested in a big expansion of its China dealer network, de Nysschen explained, carefully selecting high-quality dealers who were willing to take chances on stores devoted entirely to the Cadillac brand.
In 2014, Cadillac had sold about 68,000 vehicles in China, far short of the 170,000 it sold in the U.S. that same year. But growth came quickly once de Nysschen’s effort got underway: Sales rose 17% in 2015, 46% in 2016, after the new Shanghai factory was up and running, and another 51% in 2017 to 116,406.
“The China business has now become self-sustaining. It doesn’t need our investment anymore,” de Nysschen said. “In fact, now the opposite is happening. It’s sending us money, which we can now directly apply here.”
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/why-general-motors-made-cadillac-wait-for-the-all-new-xt4-suv
In regards to the US market specifically, do you think raising the average transaction prices had anything to do with slower sales in 2017. Cadillac, as the standard of the world, had to change the perception of the brand and, like it or not, luxury brands don’t offer discounts. Rolex doesn’t send 20% off coupons to your door.
Chris, good point about JdN making sure that Cadillac matched the rest of GM and other luxury car makers in having a China presence. But that should have been obvious and was a shortcoming of prior Cadillac management, more than brilliance on the part of JdN. As I’ve said, the guy is a copier, not a leader. He copied what the rest of GM was doing and what the other luxury car makers were doing, and some here – possibly including you – want to make him the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk.
As far as Cadillac raising ATP and seeing sales fall, there’s not much that JdN has done to make that happen. He’s offered cheap base versions of cars, such as the vinyl seated, halogen headlamped ATS and CTS entry level models. As well as the 2.0L CT6 base version. He’d like people to think he’s upgraded the line-up, yet here he is with the cheaply priced, cheaply built XT4. He hasn’t been remaking Cadillac into the standard of the world (as it used to claim to be).
He may have offered fewer rebates than predecessors, leading to lower sales with higher ATPs. But that’s a balancing act regarding production and investment. Given the amount of money Cadillac/GM has invested in each model, the more you limit production by holding out for a higher price, the more you may be hurting net profitability/ROI.
Now if he’s done a better job than his predecessors in not overproducing unwanted vehicles than they did, fine. One of Cadillac’s problems of the recent past is that they overproduced cars that were not popular, such as the ATS and CTS, while not producing enough Escalades to meet demand. Thus the heavy discounting on the ATS that was reported in 2015 and 2016, and the below demand sales of the Escalade in 2015. If JdN fixed that problem by producing more Escalades and fewer ATSs, then good for him, but again it’s pretty obvious that you should produce more of your hot seller, and produce fewer of your poor seller.
I’d like to give credit to JdN for at least understanding the obvious, when he matched the production of other in China, and balanced Cadillac production in the US with demand. But he’s missing so much more that is obvious with this brand, that it’s hard for me to give him any praise. If you think though that the “catch up” China investment and the production rebalance is a big deal that only a genius could notice, then by all means keep cheerleading him as if he’s the next Steve Jobs.
“It needs to be big and ride soft…..like a Crown Vic….with diamond door handles….but it shouldn’t cost more than $28,0000……. “and it can’t have a single pretense at any kind of handling, because the minute a Cadillac doesn’t launch off its wire wheelcovers at every turn, its a “BMW copy”
Am I far off?
R. – Ok funny boy, I see why you are here now. Just to lie about others, make up things they never said and wouldn’t say, and chuckle about it like a deranged clown. Have fun with your lies. Hopefully some others here would like to have a serious discussion about Cadillac.
Why? You don’t seem to want to have one.
*High precision description of a Drewmobile*
“Am I far off?”
“And it MUST be FWD. Luxury vehicle buyers don’t know, or care which wheels drive their $70k car…
Or what engine choices are offered for their money…
Or what drivetrain other makes offer in that price range…
Or what amount of power the drivetrain can reliably handle…
Or whether their $70k car looks like a sleek $70k car, or just a stubby dressed-up $30k car, thanks to the dash-axle ratio…
Or whether the manufacturer thinks they’d tell the difference…
In fact, most buyers prefer FWD for superior traction in slippery conditions, because rear-biased AWD haven’t been invented yet, all tires are bald from the factory, and no FWD vehicle has ended up in the ditch.”
Oops, Drew’s been quiet about that ever since news broke that the new Lincoln Continental is selling so poorly it might not see another generation (at least on that layout, if at all).
Hey Jurknik, if you are going to put out a quote such as “And it MUST be FWD”, please attribute the source. I’ve never written that, nor have I seen anyone else write that here, regarding FWD. In fact just today, on this very topic I wrote: “Note that above I do not say every Cadillac should be FWD to be a Cadillac.” Your other “quotes” are bogus too. Let’s face it, you can’t make an honest case for yourself, so instead you lie – setting up phony straw men to knock down.
As to the reality of FWD sales numbers, look at the latest sales numbers from GM. GM has 7 vehicles in production (if you count the Escalade and Escalade ESV as 2 vehicles; the ESV is much longer than the Escalade). Of those 7 vehicles, only 2 are FWD, yet the FWD vehicles produced 55% of Cadillac’s March sales. The Cadillac XTS sold far more than any Cadillac RWD sedan, and it nearly matched the sales of the CTS and CT6 combined. That’s despite not being advertised. Not that you want to hear real numbers, or any sort of reality.
The AWD Cads with factory RFT are useless in light snow.
Nothing screams luxury like hoisting tires into the tiny trunk twice a year for safe winter driving. Making two trips because the car cannot accommodate all four tires at once is good too.
I’m impressed lol
Susan, JdN and most of the people who read this website don’t care about the practicality side of luxury. If they did, Cadillac would be focused on reliability, refinement, comfort, roominess, traction in the snow and slippery conditions, etc. In other words, the things they used to focus on that made them the #1 luxury car in the USA for over 50 years straight.
But now JdN, the South African who has no idea what Cadillac is all about, much less what driving in snow is like, puts all the emphasis on “performance”. Except of course when he’s saddled the car with a cheap underpowered engine, expecting people to buy the V version if they want more.
I’d say that 90+% of the people reading this website don’t care about classic Cadillac luxury. reliability, the classic “Cadillac Ride”, or stability in the snow. They just like hot-rod type cars, across every class of vehicle. Why they are even here on a Cadillac-oriented site, I don’t know.
Drew, as we often experience Murphy’s law kicked in the day I dropped off two rims and tires. On the way back a pothole took out one tire. The compact spare was at home. I removed it to make room for the first tire run. I was able to get back. They changed the tires.
I hope Cadillac rethinks the lack of spare tire facilities. A well in the chassis is a necessity.
JdN has remarked about our infrastructure not being up to his standards. Teachable moment?
At this juncture I try to laugh off the deficiencies. It’s my last Cadillac so no reason to stress about Cad’s future. C&D has an item in the current issue on CT5 and CT4. One will price about $35k. Looks like GM will be competing with itself.
I don’t want a tiny stripped down car. I’ll look elsewhere.
Susan, sorry about your experience with tires on your Cadillac (3rd gen CTS I think). Johan is now gone (great news out today!) but he often contradicted himself, and clearly had no coherent vision (despite trying to sell GM on “the future”, something charlatans often do).
You rightly point out that JdN complained about the state of US roads, yet he did nothing to address that in terms of his Cadillac offerings. In fact he made it worse by putting rough-riding, unreliable low-profile tires on Cadillacs at the same time he was pointing out that American roads were not so great for low profile tires.
He also said he wanted Cadillac to be premium – remember his snide “right driveways” comment? Yet he sold cheap decontented ATS base versions, and offered the really cheap black plastic XT4, with vinyl seats in the “luxury” (base) model. Furthermore, he said he wanted the XT4 to bring in younger drivers so that Cadillac would have customers for life, yet a couple weeks later he’s offering $10k rebates on the current Escalade to certain existing Escalade owners, as a way of ensuring ” loyalty” Well if Cadillac has customers for life, why would they need a $10k rebate?
I realize that you don’t care where JdN is from, but I still think that as a South African he was simply unable to understand what Cadillac means to North Americans. He didn’t know what Cadillac was, and on top of that he didn’t have a consistent vision of what it should be, other than some vague ideas of copying what the Germans were already doing.
I agree with you that Cadillac should not sell tiny stripped down cars. GM already has Chevrolet for that. Maybe GM finally woke up to that and fired JdN. The weird thing is, why were they so stupid to hire him in the first place?
You’re right, Drew is a plain old xenophobe, not a racist but just as pathetic.
US Cadillac sales were up 8% (1Q 2018).
OT wrote: “Personal brands. So, you didn’t want Enzo to build his Ferrari’s to exactly his wants…”
When will you figure out the difference between a start-up brand and an established brand which is so beloved that it is a national (and beyond) icon?
Let’s go with the Ferrari example. Before Enzo Ferrari, there was no Ferrari brand. Now there is a well-established, well-loved brand. But imagine if in the 1980’s, some guy who had grown up in rural Mongolia was named the head of Ferrari, and he decided it was now his personal brand to make whatever vehicles he wanted. And let’s say that he decided that the Chrysler minivan was the vehicle to be copied, since those were extremely popular (and profitable) in the 1980’s.
So no longer does Ferrari make its famous, elegant sports cars, but now they make clones of Chrysler minivans under the Ferrari name. Is that a great use of the established Ferrari brand? And did the car market really need another imitation of the Chrysler minivan? But hey, it’s up to the chief, and he’s telling us “Just wait 15 years and we’ll dominate the minivan business”. And if you question why a Mongolian who grew up with no exposure to Ferrari is in charge, then you must be a horrible racist.
It’s ridiculous that some people here are comparing de Nysschen to Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and now Enzo Ferrari. Those people were/are visionaries who ESTABLISHED NEW BRANDS. There’s nothing to suggest that JdN is any sort of visionary. All he does is copy others, and he doesn’t even do it well. The CT6 was already under development before he arrived, and the tweaks he’s given the styling are not an improvement (in fact the new taillights are a negative, because they no longer reflect Cadillac heritage). The Escala is an interesting looking semi-copy of the Audi A7, but it hasn’t even been built for production. Cadillac’s designers came up with it in 2016, and not until 2018 did JdN supposedly give it the green light, for 2021 or so.
Imagine if a guy from Germany became CEO of McDonald’s USA, and decided to replace the current burger-fries-shakes menu with sauerkraut, sausage, and potato pancakes. Not necessarily bad food, but not wise to throw away an icon. Or what if a new CEO from Japan decided that Coca-cola should stop selling their famous carbonated cola, and instead will sell green tea under the “Coca-cola Classic” name? You’d probably say, “What’s wrong with a brand selling green tea, you racist!” and there’s nothing wrong with Japanese green tea, but when you’ve already got a well-established and iconic, beloved brand, why would you throw that away? Create a new brand if that’s your thing. JdN is no Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Enzo Ferrari, or Walt Disney (if someone wants to throw him into the mix, in the future). He’s a salesman along the lines of the fictional Harold Hill.
So in your mind…..and let me see if I follow this…..in your mind JDN was out in South Africa tending to his flock of tigers when Marry Barry landed her helicopter next to him, stunning the hell out of JDN no doubt, having never seen a magical flying device before, since he was just wearing a loin cloth and a bone through his nose, and selected him to run Cadillac?
@ Mr. R, lol, good one.
Yeah that’s hilarious R. But you are still missing the point. It doesn’t matter what de Nysschen’s background is, because he doesn’t know what Cadillac means to Americans any more than I would know what kimche means to Koreans. He can study it (not that he’s bothered), but he has to grow up with it to “get it”. Cadillac is unlike other car brands to Americans. JdN is treating it as if it has no history, no meaning to Americans, was not the subject of many American songs, etc. He grew up loving German car brands, with zero exposure to Cadillac. No surprise that he wants Cadillac to be a BMW clone, but that’s not Cadillac’s history and it’s not what will make the brand stand out in the future.
JDN does not want to make a Cadillac as American BMW. He talked about this many times. You could know, but you do not know …
JdN might say he doesn’t want Cadillac to be a BMW clone, but those are just words. His actions have shown otherwise. Like I said, the guy is good at selling “the future” to the naive. He acts like he’s got some master plan, known only to himself. That’s what charlatans do; I’ve seen plenty of them in my life. From what I can see, he’s just a salesman and his only plan is to copy “what works now” from others, rather than being a leader. His products will always be seen as copies and at least one car generation behind the leaders. Also not adapted for individual markets, which he will say something like “That’s because I plan to sell them worldwide!”. Yeah right.
By the way, when JdN was at Infiniti, he tried to run the same playbook as he’s running at Cadillac. He wanted to remake Infiniti as “the BMW of Japan”. He moved their HQ from Tokyo to Hong Kong. He renamed all their cars with letters and numbers, so that every sedan started with a Q, and every SUV/CUV started with QX. Followed by a number. Sound familiar to Cadillac’s Detroit to NYC move, and his renaming of Cadillacs?
Further, JdN decided to make a super-performance version of one of their sedans, something like 550-600 hp, which he named the Eau Rouge project, after a famous racetrack in Europe. Shortly after he left Infiniti, they decided to kill the Eau Rouge project, and yet he still complained publicly about the Japanese engineers not appreciating that type of performance car, the way (he felt) the German and American engineers do. As if he understood the Japanese market better than the Japanese! I bet Infiniti is very happy they are rid of that guy.
Psst…..Infinitis were always named after letters and numbers……Q45, J30, I30, etc. They used Q because it connected back to what was probably the only good/unique Infiniti ever made, the 1st gen Q45. The Japanese market really doesn’t matter to Infiniti BTW…….as they are pretty much a creation to sell expensive Nissans to Gringos that don’t know better…….
Drew: “But imagine if in the 1980’s, some guy who had grown up in rural Mongolia was named the head of Ferrari”
What, like American Peter Schutz going into Porsche as CEO in Germany in 1981 and literally saving the 911? Is that what you mean?
Drew: “Those people were/are visionaries who ESTABLISHED NEW BRANDS.“
Which is why I used the example of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin. Did you think Newey was Lionel Martin or Robert Bamford, or even David Brown? Fool, again.
@Drew: I think you just dropped the mic.
Good points and good examples.
JdN is not a visionary; at best, he’s a functional manager.
Drew, I am not agreeing or disagreeing with anything you say.
I just am curious as I read your posts on here and it seems like you prefer the XTS and DTS.
those are FWD cars, wouldn’t Cadillac’s roots and heritage be more in RWD cars.
It sounds to me that you definitely prefer the more luxurious comfortable ride.
I am more curious about the FWD thing.
Thanks
Gino, thanks for the question. I will list the attributes which I feel are “core” for Cadillac in any era, and that does not include FWD as essential. I do prefer the roomy comfortable luxury ride of Cadillacs to the cramped hard feel-the-road ride of the German “performance” cars.
I realize that Cadillac was a RWD brand before it was a FWD brand. I do prefer FWD for several reasons – more legroom, better traction in snow, better fuel economy, less costly to make. Those last two might not matter to the ultra-wealthy buyer, but the first two would matter to everyone.
As far as RWD, the only “advantage” I can see they have is for people who want a super-performance car, and they want to drive it as if on a racetrack. And that’s only going to work on dry pavement. Even then, this supposed advantage is overstated, as many FWD cars have been made with powerful V8 engines (the Cadillac DTS for example had a more powerful engine than the RWD Lincoln Town Car of the same era). Only a small fraction of “luxury” car buyers actually drive in a way that they would even notice RWD or FWD (until the road became slippery). But the professional auto press has promoted RWD well out of proportion with the natural demand. Some people are obviously influenced by the auto press into thinking RWD is “better”, in part because it is more expensive, but the reality is that very few people would actually enjoy its “benefits” while most will suffer the detriments.
As far as Cadillac history, they were RWD only until GM perfected FWD, first offering it on the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado, then on the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado – itself a milestone, important, and classic Cadillac today – one which still resonates with the brand (though JdN is erasing the last vestiges, bit by bit). The Toronado itself had a 385 hp V8, pretty impressive for 52 years ago, despite being FWD. The Cadillac Eldorado engine was 375 hp in 1968. GM marketed FWD as an advantage that the other brands didn’t have (until they eventually copied it), due mainly to the superior traction in snow, as well as the extra legroom via FWD.
I do think it is desireable that Cadillac offers at least some FWD vehicles, and yes these are part of Cadillac history. Currently Cadillac has 4 sedans, 3 are RWD and 1 is FWD. Oddly enough, the RWD fanatics can’t wait to see the last FWD sedan killed off, as well as seeing the FWD CUVs changed to RWD. This is apparently JdN’s plan, as he thinks every vehicle sold by Cadillac should be a “driver’s car” (his exact words) just like BMW.
Below are what I have identified as Cadillac core values, which should be in place regardless of era:
CADILLAC CORE VALUES (then and should be now)
– Seating should be roomy, head and legroom for driver and passengers.
– Ride should be plush and comfortable, best among the mass-produced cars (aka “The Cadillac Ride”).
– Car should be very reliable, similar to Lexus today.
– Car should be very refined – no loud engine, no hard shifting gears, no squeaks and rattles, etc.
– Interior should be real luxury. Seats comfortable and supportive, no cheap materials.
– Electronics should be up-to-date, including very good sounding stereo.
– Engine should be smooth and powerful; easy merging and passing.
– Exterior styling should be bold, angular, and reflect some classic elements such as the iconic vertical taillights (which are based on the Cadillac tailfins of the past).
– Cadillac should not sell cheap cars under the Cadillac name, including “base” versions with cheap seating surfaces, cheap headlights, cheap stereos, downgraded engines, etc. in other words, every Cadillac should be worthy of the name.
– Cadillac flagship especially should be offered with very few if any options, so that all who drive or ride in it will be getting the best that Cadillac has to offer.
If anyone disagrees with any of the above core values, I’d love to hear why they don’t like them, rather than just thumbing them down with no explanation. Note that above I do not say every Cadillac should be FWD to be a Cadillac. But I also don’t feel that being FWD prevents it from being a Cadillac. Note also that I don’t say that a Cadillac can’t have “sport handling”, but I would only accept that in a Cadillac if it doesn’t compromise ride quality. Unfortunately JdN’s “Cadillacs” put sport handling first, ride quality last.
If Cadillac could proudly connect to their own history, while making modern cars, they would not only fill a niche that is currently unoccupied, but they could sell their advantages over the others, such as the plush and roomy “Cadillac Ride” in every Cadillac. Further, they could run ads such as the “Breakthrough” and “Roll” commercials which connected Cadillac to their past in a visual way. But if all they do is copy the Germans, both in driving dynamics and styling, they have no real purpose in the market and no apparent history with which the public can connect. Still, it amazes me how many people here just want to cheer on JdN with his ordinary copies of the Germans and disdain for the Cadillac brand.
I do think as long as the XTS is selling and GM has the platform a full size FWD is good to have on the dealer’s lots.
I also like the RWD cars they have.
thanks for the reply.
Thanks Gino, and welcome to these message boards. It’s good to add someone who wants to have an honest, serious discussion here. Those who don’t want a serious discussion, I’ll ignore.
Nothing wrong with Cadillac offering both FWD and RWD, though that’s not in JdN’s future plans. He says all Cadillacs will be “driver’s cars” (New York Times interview, September 2017) which seems to mean they’ll all be RWD and “performance”, in a few years. That’s not Cadillac’s history but it’s JdN imitating BMW.
Yes, the FWD Cadillac XTS, oriented toward a comfortable ride rather than “performance” is outselling each of the 3 RWD Cadillac sedans. Naturally that’s the one that JdN intends to kill off after this year, with only RWD sedans slated for the future. I don’t understand his thinking, but I guess he figures if BMW doesn’t offer something, he won’t offer it either.
Yep, no performance heritage at Cadillac ever, never raced at LeMans in the 50’s, Cadillac engines were never used by hot rodders, Cadillac never raced in a Carrera Panamericana…….
I hope he does ape BMW, they have like 3-4 coupes, a couple of convertibles and couple of 2 seat sports cars too……where Cadillac currently has 1 coupe and nothing else, I know that some FWD bloatmobiles are what people “really watn” but I would love to see Cadillac equivalents of those too……
I take issue with Drew stating “It’s good to add someone who wants to have an honest, serious discussion here. Those who don’t want a serious discussion, I’ll ignore.” while preventing any sort of serious discussion because JDN’s country of origin (in Drew’s mind) disqualifies him from being able to correctly lead the brand.
Cadillac does build the Escalade and the XTS. These fit your description. Again (with feeling) – why aren’t they allowed to sell anything on top of that one type of vehicle, to people who are buying Panameras, Bentley’s, and Maseratis? Do you want that money from those buyers going to Europe instead of staying here in the USA? Why does building an ATS-V mean they can’t build an Escalade? It’s like saying gay people getting married makes you have to do the same thing in your bedroom as well. Fool.
Drew! Search: “Cadillac RV”, then click “images”…
There’s YOUR Cadillacs, exactly fitting your values.
Man…somebody hurt you deeply. My question to you is, what does it even matter? We are all up to speed with your feelings, dude. Move on. It’s a big world out there full of other manufacturers. Give them a go. You won’t be missed.
The reality is Cadillac need to get their house in order first selling the products that make money and provide volume. Numbers is how MFG work.
This means they need to get the XT4 out and other CUV models before they worry about a low volume Halo car that adds nothing but attention to a line up lacking the needed product till you get it in place.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/why-general-motors-made-cadillac-000700311.html
The Halo is not that far out but also we have many new products coming in the mean time that will put the house in better order.
Before anyone draws attention to themselves they need to make sure their fly is zipped up. Make a fuss and not be properly ready just adds more trouble.
Cadillac is also now a global company and must serve many markets and it will take different and diverse products.
JDN is a champion for what Cadillac needs unlike past leaders who were had no back bone or were GM lifers not willing to rock the boat.
A company like Cadillac need to be run partially with a spread sheet but also with emotion and ego.
A Cadillac needs to be more than just transportation it need to be a form of transportation that provides status, feeds the ego and provides image on the owner.
Other wise just buy an Impala they both do the same thing with the image, ego and status removed.
The truth is Cadillac has never been a global manufacturer like the other more famous German brands . It is also something that can’t be done overnight . Building a ” Halo ” vehicle would be something that would be done when the company is on solid ground especially in it’s home market .
Cadillac sales are horrible right now and what is holding things together are Escalade on one end and XT5 on the other . Going into JDN’s hiatus was meant to stop the bleeding that occurred before he got there . Mary is the one who brought on JDN to fix the troubled automaker ( division ) and bring to market what is now selling . What used to take almost a decade to bring a new car to production has been trimmed to 3-5 years and even that will be shortened as more innovation occurs .
Also just because JDN may be from South Africa doesn’t mean that he is clueless to the history of Cadillac , we live here in America and some think they know alot about German automakers .
Another miss used complaint is that Cadillac wants to be more German like , in design , ride and even the new alpha numeric names . So far JDN’s new car , XT4 ,looks nothing like any German vehicle on the road nor to they ride like one . Cadillac’s suspensions are solid and grip the road unlike years past and they offer the Magnetic Ride Control to keep the car planted to the road which helps in the handling . With the horrible shape of our roads in this country it’s a bit safer having a car that can handle them than ” float ” over them .
Cadillac’s Halo car coming in the beginning of the next decade just makes good business sense , and we don’t even know what it’s going to be . JDN is not only the head of Cadillac but is also it’s public salesman and should be telling the world that this car will stun the world , just what else would you have him say .
“JDN is not only the head of Cadillac but is also it’s public salesman and should be telling the world that this car will stun the world , just what else would you have him say.”
He could have actual product to sell. Telling people to wait until after 2022 is not selling Cadillacs to the public, it’s JdN selling himself to GM/Barra. JdN’s “Stun the world” Cadillac is vaporware.
And how about that TV commercial during last year’s Oscars, when Cadillac advertised a car (Escala concept) that was not for sale? More vaporware. More JdN selling “the future” to the naive. That might bring a fat paycheck to JdN, but it doesn’t ring the register for GM today, next week, or even this year.
Zach, I definitely think Cadillac’s design and look of the cars do not look German. Cadillac’s lines and design I find as a huge strength.
I do like BMW’s looks, but if any automaker/automobile division has a “dated” design, it has to be BMW.
For seem reason or another, BMW does not take much flack for this.
The only things I agree with Drew is Cadillacs need to have certain features and standard equipment to set apart from the Imports for example a standard V8 in CT6 while the 4.2 is the upgrade, or a 6.2 n/a option on upcoming CT5 and CT4. I see Caddy is going back to the “tweener” strategy which is a plus but thinking Cadillac needs to have uncompetitive fwd crap isn’t the way to go, can’t wait till the XT(po)S dies.
I agree with you on the XTS needing to die. But the irony of calling out that particular car is too good since it most resembles what Drew thinks a Cadillac should be.
Will JDN still be a GM employee before his Volkswagen Phaeton flops?
The talented JDN has always been controversial but he and his vision were hired by GM to elevate the Cadillac brand…Like a lot of egotistical types, his ego/stubbornness will not allow him to adapt to market conditions…In his mind, he’s the CEO, we’re not, he’s right, we’re wrong, the Escala will be produced and (in his mind) the Escala will held in a higher regard than the Escalade…He couldn’t have picked a less popular “trophy” project as market conditions are proving demand for the exact opposite…The market is wanting “electrified”, crossovers and self-driving cars…JDN was just recently asked less than a month ago about the market and sedan decline and he complained about youngins not liking sedans (he later had a condescending followup response) and that roads no longer (they really did before?) supported low profile tires. During the Escala he literally ASKED the audience if he should build it, unfortunately when he was asked if there would be an electrified option or why it was a sedan, he answered in negative tone.
If the automotive leaders can offer active safety features standard, why shouldn’t Cadillac be GM’s first brand to do so as well? But it looks like rather than a GM or Caddy specific active safety package, it looks like AEB will become standard on a Chevy Spark at the same time as other Cadillac’s (however most of GM’s MY19s are produced yet, there’s still time!)…Not only is supercruise not available on like anything other than one GM vehicles, but ACC (which usually requires the top tier trim and additional options before you can add it ) is extremely limited GM wide…
I’m still trying to figure out why other car companies don’t offer “advanced GM features” like “automatic headlights” that come on in the dark automatically so you don’t look like a bozo driving around with the DRL’s on…….
ATS, CTS, XTS are all gone:: CT5 and CT4 will replace them. XT4/XT5/XT6 First gen crossovers.
With Cadillac it’s always next year or right around the corner Cadillac needs to step up their game and build the cars and SUVs that people want. Cadillac anymore is a day late and a dollar short.