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Latest Cadillac Escalade Incentive Is All About Customer Loyalty

Cadillac doesn’t seem bothered by the Lincoln Navigator’s rapid success story, but to keep its Escalade customers in the family, the luxury brand rolled out a hefty incentive.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that Cadillac is offering a $10,000 discount for lessees of 2016 Escalades. The offer is $7,500 for current owners. The publication obtained a memo from General Motors showing the incentive is good through May 31 and a GM spokesperson said it’s an offer designed to “keep people in the family.”

The Escalade still outsells the Navigator, though there’s no denying Lincoln’s SUV is popular. On average, the new Navigator sits on a dealership lot for just 10 days. However, internal Cadillac data from February showed most Navigator buyers have come from Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and Lexus. Meanwhile, average transaction prices continue to rise for the Escalade, which gives the brand wiggle room to discount the luxury SUV.

The Cadillac Escalade will have to soldier on for a couple more years before a next-generation model debuts. The next Escalade, due around 2020, will likely sport even greater differentiation from the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon. It may also gain independent rear suspension.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. Cadillac should be bothered by the new Navigator. Almost any review I’ve read picks it over the current Escalade. Even more importantly, is the approximately $20 K lost profit for each sale that goes to the competition!

    Reply
    1. Bothered…perhaps, perhaps not. The Navigator still lacks a lot of technology the ageing Escalade has. The lack of a V8 hurts it too.

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      1. Nonsense! Didn’t you read the article. Navigator is stealing sales from Superior vehicles from Lexus, Land Rover and Mercedes which don’t have pick-up truck rear axles and chassis. When you can’t compete on product, the only thing left to do is to lower the price. Cadillac are lucky that the Navigator is production constrained.
        The Escalade is a mediocre product rating at the bottom of reliability reports from Consumer Reports and JD Power. It’s even on Consumer Report’s list of 10 worst vehicles to buy. How can this be explained by GM considering it’s humble and basic pick-up truck chassis? Yes it’s a glorified pick-up truck so why is it so unreliable?

        Ford’s Navigator and other competitors are all significantly more refined.

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        1. And yet don’t sell as well.

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          1. McDonald’s and Burger King sells. Do you consider that “good” food?

            Give it time. GM are implementing the 10K discount because they are terrified. They know the truth.

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        2. Escalade sales speak for themselves, always on top. Lincoln finally “caught up” and will enjoy sales growth for a few more years until the New Escalade comes along and blow it out of the water.

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  2. Acceleration performance equal to Escalade and tow ratings higher. Trying to figure out how it could be hurt?

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    1. It does not and will not have the attraction of the Escalade. That’s a fact. Time will prove that plus a new Escalade is in the works. Lincoln has always been a bridesmaid, never a bride.

      Reply
      1. What an ugly bride! The face and styling of the Escalade is grotesque. Before you continue to mouth off, go and test drive the competition. You will be shocked. Start with the GLS which feels like it’s carved from a solid block and not a modified farm implement. LOL

        Reply
        1. The people that buy it, love it. It’s that simple. The fact that you find it unattractive is likely of little consequence to anyone reading this. Once the people that replace their old Navigators starts to trail off, so too will the sales of the Navigator. Cadillac will experience the same when they release the new Escalade. I don’t much care either way. It’s just the truth. Despite what anyone writes, people still love the Escalade. Problems and all.

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        2. Do you have an escalade?

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        3. Men if its so ugly y did it sale so well huh exactly

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          1. People are sold an illusion of high end. And it only does well in the US. In other markets, the European brands do much better, even in Canada.

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        4. was just gonna say.. be a lot cooler if you did.

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  3. 2016 Leases only…2019s will most likely be for sale in six months…

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  4. Cadillac doesn’t seemed bothered by the Navigator , but feels it necessary to throw out a $10,000 carrot to the leasees of the 2016 models ” to keep them in the family ” . And this is in addition to the $5000 Cadillac threw out there as the Navigator was hitting Lincoln showrooms .
    I have yet to read a negative review of the Navigator , but on some sites the Escalade is and mostly its a reliabilty thing .
    There is a lot of wiggle room withe price of Escalade which costs more than the Lincoln . And it addresses the biggest complaint which is actual buttons for things like climate control etc. The seats are totally amazing and the interior is also getting high marks for the materials used and its superior ride quality .
    If I was in the market for either of the two , I would still get the Escalade , but to say Cadillac isn’t sweating a bit wouldn’t be true .

    Reply
  5. Any way you slice it, folks, the new Navigator is the current “king of bling” in the full-sized luxury SUV segment! The favorable reviews pretty much speak volumes of this! So there’s no shame in Cadillac taking measures to ensure it can hold on to existing customers, as well as attempt to garner newer customers by offering these incentives. Thankfully for them the Escalade is still very profitable, and provides a little wiggle room for Cadillac to provide these hefty incentives!

    But right now, we can only give credit to where credit is due! Lincoln is on top of the game right now, but at least Cadillac isn’t far behind with the upcoming Escalade!

    Reply
    1. That, is a reasonably fair statement.

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  6. Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen needs to demonstrate a willingness to transform the Escalade from being more than just a Bling-mobile as it has to be a world class sedan meaning Cadillac needs to develop a Vsport variant with an improve suspension and brake system.

    Reply
  7. The next generation Escalade, Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon, should be out by Q3 in 2019. Once the new GM pickups come out, the new SUVs have many related components, which will already be in production.

    Should have independent rear, better space for third row short wheelbase models, with improved handling.

    The Navigator has all the latest features, and they will sell all they can build. The one problem for Ford is that they do have limited production capacity and also have to build the Expedition in quantity, to meet demand from the Ford dealerships.The end result, Lincoln and Fords don’t have to be discounted, at all. This may in fact be a good situation for GM and others, since the outgoing Lincoln and Fords were deep discounted for many years. The actual selling prices for the new Navigators are averaging $25,000 higher than last years model.

    Reply
  8. I’m reading these comments like they dont already know there’s a new Escalade on the way. GM doesnt have to be really bothered the K2 Escalade is doing fine right now and the New Escalade is almost out of development. Just wait guys its coming faster than u think, cant just rush a product out the door because of newer competition.

    Reply
    1. Bingo

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  9. I neither agree or disagree w/ the 10K incentive till May 31st. In spite of how I feel about it, at least it is nice that GM is giving current Escalade buyers gratitude for their next potential purchase if choose to by another Slade. However, it just goes to show you that the image of the Slade is just too strong that the new Navigator can’t seem to capture the few Escalade consumers.

    Although the Navigator is greatly improved and appears to be better than the Escalade on several things, the Navigator does not offer flagship type of features, technology and luxury what a true luxury flagship should represent.

    IMO, the Navigator is overrated. I wish Ford success with it but it doesn’t break any new barriers or boundaries for that matter.

    Reply

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