Rolls-Royce Reveals Cullinan Luxury SUV: Should The Escalade Move Upmarket?
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Rolls-Royce and Cadillac play in two very different arenas, but General Motors’ luxury division helped create the luxury SUV segment. Now, with consumers SUV crazy, nearly every luxury make has jumped aboard.
The latest is Rolls-Royce and its Cullinan SUV. The vehicle provides all the luxury one would expect from a Rolls-Royce with the off-road capability of a sport utility vehicle. After digesting the British luxury marque’s latest, it left us wondering if Cadillac needs to move the Escalade even further upmarket.
Right now, the Escalade is no match. It’s built on a GM truck platform shared with GMC and Chevrolet that simply can’t match Rolls-Royce’s aluminum spaceframe architecture. The platform incorporates self-leveling air suspension that automatically drops the SUV 1.5 inches upon entry.
Exterior looks are subjective, but we think the Cullinan is a looker. Inside is where the Rolls really shines, though. Hand-finished metal pillars frame the center stack and leather washes over much of the cabin. Real woodgrain separates the interior motif. Of course, like any Rolls-Royce, the rear seats are the place to be.
Suicide doors give way to the rear cabin, which is walled off from the trunk with a glass partition. The seats can also fold electronically.
We’ve heard rumblings that the Cadillac Escalade could absolutely make a push more upmarket, specifically over the $100,000 mark. Yet, the Rolls-Royce costs $325,000 to start. Cadillac is nowhere near the point where it could price such an SUV, but with a little more branding, the right content and more, the Escalade could (and should) be an ultra-luxury SUV.
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GM Brass wouldn’t let Johan get the proper CUV’s he pushed for and you think Cadillac will now go after a Rolls Royce LOL
Would be great if they did but we all know the answer about the upcoming Escalate. It will be great but not ground breaking unfortunately as it should be.
Agreed. The premise here is truly a LOL proposition. GM can’t even compete with Hyundai’s luxury cars and they are nowhere near comparable to BMW’s namesake cars either. BMW’s premier brand, Rolls Royce, is in a whole different stratosphere. Sadly, there was a time when they were comparable which only serves to illustrate how far Cadillac has fallen. I wanted, and had hopes that they could return to this league, but I see no way that happens now. Such a notion is wildly out of sync with reality. Cadillac is more of a blue collar bargain luxury brand that continues to live off their name, rather than living up to it.
As a huge Cadillac fan, I completely agree. GM simply does not have what it takes to play the slow game in the Ultra Luxury field let alone Tier 1 luxury like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes. GM completely dropped the ball by hiring Johan (which was a fantastic move) and then saddling him with corporate Parts Bin things to try and prop up a dying Luxury brand. You’re either All In or you are not. We all know what decision GM ultimately made with Cadillac.
It will be such an embarrassment if the Brand New startup luxury make Genesis out classes them in the near future.
Heck Lincoln might leapfrog them with their upcoming CUV RWD platform.
One of the car magazines had a comparison test of the Genesis and Cadillac XTS and it seemed to me the Hyundai was the better product in every way (RWD,V8, better interior, etc). The only thing the XTS had over it was that name and all the glorious cars that had come before it that had created such an aura and rich history for the brand. The Hyundai had none of that.
It’s time for Cadillac to start living up to their reputation and their name, rather than living off of it. I don’t expect that to actually occur but it should.
Y’all have missed the 2016 election result…
Luxury today is LOUD, not comfy. Folks don’t care about their own comfort, they need others to be distinctly Uncomfortable. Put gold letters 20 feet high at the top of your tower. Have ladies of the night debating in public during the day about what happened last night. “Real Housewives” compete for eyebrow-angle bichtory. Presidential candidates willingly describe their willies to our 350Million population, including our kids.
Crassness = Class now
The Escalade is already the LOUDEST luxury vehicle on sale today. There is literally no need to do any improvements to it at all. That’s why Carlisle got the gig.
Very well said! The reality I believe many of us struggle with accepting is that Cadillac is indeed a blue-collar, bargain luxury car brand nowadays, and has been for the past several decades! Every time they try to commit to moving upmarket, their efforts get put down by both GM themselves and their customer base, which as been those who favor bargain luxury cars!
Cadillac can’t even effectively compete with Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi, let alone Rolls-Royce and Bentley! Cheap luxury has garnered the sales numbers GM wants, so they ought to just stick to that! And if they’re lucky enough to create an image of wealth and prestige with the likes of the Silverado-based Escalade, let them have at it! Perhaps they should only target Genesis, Kia, Lexus and Lincoln from here on out! Leave the tier-1 luxury brands to do the heavy lifting in our crazy profit-driven market!
Cadillac has never been comparable to Rolls-Royce.
That is actually not true, Susan. Cadillac has had a multitude of successes in its past and at times, offered cars more opulent and expensive than Rolls-Royce.
Cadillac Man, do you have a citation for that? I’d love to read about that. Thanks!
In 1957 the Eldorado Brougham was one of the most exclusive cars to be had. Prior to that, particularly in the late ’20s and early ’30s when coachbuilt cars were still the norm, the prices were as low or as high as anyone wanted. The quality was remarkable as well. There were a multitude of cars costing well above Rolls-Royce in those days. Look them up. You will find cars you never knew existed, like Minerva. That kind of exclusivity is quite rare today and there are few to support that kind of market.
With GM puppets in place, Cadillac will never be more than bargain luxury. They need outsiders with experience in the high-end market – not some guy that ran GM Canada…
I think Cadillac should offer an even more luxurious version of the ESV platinum.
For example, have the regular ESV, and then have an ESV+ or something with a much softer ride, a larger rear seat area, a rear center console…. more of an “executive” car.
Also, I would love to see a “picture Friday” where every week GMA staff would post a picture of a past or present GM vehicle with no badging, or parts of a vehicle.
the vehicle is definitely a looker – OMG it is gorgeous!!!!! It is one of the few vehicles that the proportions are near perfect, there is no bad angle. Now compare this is the the new XT4 which is such a let down. I don’t see Cadillac ever really competing in the same realm as Rolls Royce. It is all about the design that sells vehicles and if Cadillac wants to be a contender they need to up their game. If the XT4 was the direction de nysschen envisioned for Cadillac it’s probably a good thing he’s out. Lincoln with the Navigator and Aviator I think is headed in the right direction. But beauty is all in the eye of the beholder.
Cadillac could compete with the Escalade but it would take more than just a Yukon with added content.
They would need to take this a step farther and use an upgraded platform and offer the TT V8 standard and an upgrade.
Now JDN is gone there is little chance an long time GM puppet will authorize such a project.
GM is looking at this as we could take the risk and move to the next level or we can play it safe and just upgrade the GMC and still make money with less risk.
I hate seeing this but when someone’s job is on the line what would you expect them to do.
GM has to get to the point they want to move up bad enough to take the risk. I think they could do it but then again my job is not on the line.
Exactly! There’s no other way this can work for Cadillac! Now lucky for them, the Escalade, in all its Silverado-based technology and glory, does a good job of projecting an image of wealth! And continues to lead the segment in sales! Its name and looks certainly carried it lo these nearly 20 years on the market! But as long as it remains an upgraded Yukon Denali, it’ll NEVER effectively compete with anything other than the 2nd-tier luxury brand SUV’s! The Navigator has already surpassed it in terms of luxury, quality, refinement and performance! Infiniti is finally starting to get serious about its QX80! Who knows where Lexus will take the next LX SUV; the newest LS is a good indication of things to come! So I don’t see Cadillac doing anything beyond what these guys are doing in the segment!
Yes, but as a sub-brand
Escalade is in the sweet spot: very nice vehicles that are very profitable. RR is not going to sell many vehicles at that price to justify mass production.
It ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. Just continue to refine this segment.
No sub brands they are too expensive as they carry a lot of added cost. GM learned their lesson on Hummer and Benz on Maybach.
Agreed. The trim strategy is better; look at Denali.
Well it comes down to dealing with it as a model or a brand and the model is always cheaper.
Also if you need to make changes be it additions or deletions it is much cheaper and simpler.
Look at Hummer and how much it cost to shut down as a division vs. if it was a GMC model.
$325,000 base, then add in some options and the price goes up to $400,000?
I’d be happy to see the next generation GM full sized SUVs. These will be all new designs with Independent rear suspension, and all new interior designs.
I’d expect these new models to offer upscale interior and exterior trim options.
GM can easily make a $300,000 vehicle, but unit sales would dwindle to nothing.
No way. Not enough buyers at that level. Let Rolls dip their toe in that pool.
I feel that thing is about as ugly as that Merc. Concept that just came out
Hate to say it and see it but it seems that GM is on this fast money kick. If it cant make them lots of money real quick then they cant be bothered.That may be be well and good for short term gains, but what about long term? One of the many problems with that plan is if they don’t spend the money and take the time and effort to make Cadillac a true luxury contender they will be stuck with too many similar vehicles competing with each other. Please Mary and the GM board allow Cadillac to rise up to the top or the class. Cadillac needs to be more than just a dolled up Buick which itself is just a dolled up Chevy.
Rolls Royce and Cadillac are two completely different car companies. GM would never and will never push their bread and butter Escalade in to a 2-3 hundred thousand dollar price range. None of their current customers could afford it.
The Escalade could play in the 2-3 hundred k range if GM would let Cadillac equip itself with the proper vehicle to replace it in its current range. I know it will never happen of I at least think it will never happen( I have been proven wrong before). I think GM needs to have three seperate class of vehicles Cadillac at the top competing in the Rolls and Bentley class, Buick in the middle competing with Mercedes, BMW and ect but just their middlle thru high end vehicles and Chevy takeing the rest. That’s jus my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. Lol
” GM would never and will never push their bread and butter Escalade in to a 2-3 hundred thousand dollar price range. None of their current customers could afford it.”
You act like there are no customers in that higher price range. Rolls certainly knows where they are. Why shouldn’t Cadillac reach higher and entertain wealthier customers?
It’s raining new millionnaires around the world especially in Asia. The middle class and upper middle class that got wiped out in the US is now in China and they love to buy high end stuff.
VSS-R chassis, RWD/AWD. XT7/XT8 RWD/AWD crossovers, ( XT4/XT6/XT5/XT3) next gen will be RWD/AWD. New gen escalade will move upmarket.
Hideous and vulgar and it looks like a London Cab, this is a joke for $325K, tacky garbage.
Agreed. To my eyes all of the current batch of German Rolls Royces are ugly as sin. That said, with few notable exceptions from Jaguar, great looks have never been a mainstay of British car design anyway.
These cars sell on pure snobbery. Nothing more. In fact these days they are all re-badges anyway. With BMW 7 series re-skins (RR Ghost) and Volkswagen Group’s MLB platform underinning the Bently Bentayga (what a dumb-ass name) which is with the second-generation Audi Q7 and the third-generation Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q8, and Lamborghini Urus.
That said, I don’t hate on the business model, or even some of the actual cars – I LOVE the Lambo for example. I don’t think GM or any automaker for that matter – should be knee-jerking to every new niche or model a competitor creates.
Alot of the issues in the current climate is a general lack of innovation, and none of the singular independent drive that made many of these auto makers in their past.
The Escalade does look like a rental car compared to everything else. And a real gaudy one too.
Cadillac just needs to be Cadillac. Not BMW, not Rolls-Royce.
Exactly. Cadillac needs to not be afraid to serve the customers that want it. Not try and steal German car customers that it doesn’t have the cachet to steal.
“Cadillac just needs to be Cadillac”
In other words, Cadillac needs to be safely middle-class and no higher. Why should Cadillac ever rise above its station and lead the world like it did back in the 1920’s?
Because the money is higher up. Why do you think everybody are scrambling to come out with higher end models. The Germans are moving up and down at the same time and cashing-in big time.
Grawbuddy, don’t put words in my mouth. I never said Cadillac needs to be safely middle class and no higher. What’s wrong with you that you feel the need to distort other people’s words?
The point is that Cadillac needs to be Cadillac, not an imitator. I’ve always said that Cadillac shouldn’t be going cheap and down market, where have you been? But it hasn’t done GM any favors for Cadillac to copy BMW for the past 37 or so years, and it won’t do them any favors to directly imitate RR. Can they make big expensive luxury cars again? Of course. But with their own originality and standards, not clones or others. Why is that so hard for you to understand?
Cadillac did some good things in the 1920’s but they weren’t leading the world. They weren’t even leading the US luxury market at that point. Duesenberg and Packard were ahead of Cadillac, Duesenberg especially in the 1920’s and Packard in the 1930’s. Cadillac didn’t take the US luxury lead until after WWII.
Cadillac does not need to imitate the Rolls-Royce model. They need to stop imitating everyone else’s model and go back to their own. Hopefully your fellow Canadian Carlisle understands that better than you do.
There will be an SUV above the Escalade. Nothing has changed since JDN left.
Btw, I know RR has a big name, but its interior will be outclassed by the Lade.
C’mon Sean, let’s be realistic here, the days of Cadillac competing with Rolls Royce are looooooooooooooooooooong gone. The best Cadillac have can hope for is an Escalade that’s as luxurious & prestigious as the Range Rover. Rolls is in a whole different level!
While I’d to see an Escalade similar to the Range Rover SVAutobiography L & the upcoming Maybach GLS, the Board thinks going back to rivaling the Navigator is the best way forward… Sigh *eye rolls*
Cadillac never competed with Rolls-Royce. The luxury hierarchy was Rolls-Royce was twice the price of Mercedes Benz. Mercedes was twice the price of Cadillac. Cadillac led domestic luxury vehicles, not imports. Asian imports were not a thing a that time.
Many people preferred Cadillac. I’m one of them. My husband likes imports. Whenever I was outside washing our cars no one ever stopped to gaze at the Mercedes or Cadillac. Roller got all the attention.
I have simply run out of comments about Cadillac. I do also wish Cadillac would be Cadillac. But we all know its just the same GM. Also I don’t think those are German car customers, they are Cadillac customers driving German cars. People like to talk sales numbers Blah Blah Blah, and profit margin Blah Blah Blah. I understand business success. But now more than ever its GM success, ONE GM.
In my opinion they, GM, are simply wasting money BRANDING. Branding anymore for GM plays only to the ageing US customer. I would say a few 40ish to mid 50ish care, and all over 50ish care, but GM brands are small pieces of plastic to make those people feel good like when they were young. I am 49 and have a 58 Corvette, and a 68 Camaro. I am a current 14 ATS owner and have owned 5 Cadillacs. Would have loved to buy the new XT4, I like the size and looks, but Drivetrain NO WAY. I hope for GM success I have been a 34 year fan. I can tell you where I live the new Lincolns are all over compared to Cadillac, and Audi too. But its a world game, and GM wants to be a world player, look at China sales.
GM is trying to compete but US talent is small and GM cant pay enough for it. I cant believe GM isn’t selling vehicles on Amazon and getting rid of dealerships. Paying independent techs to fix there 5% trouble stuff and move on. Unless you are under the warranty, or bought it new at the same dealership, you are a fool to take it to a dealership for repairs. GM wants loyalty but that game goes both ways. If you buy a new $46,000 vehicle and it gets hail damage, your insurance company totals it OK. It only has 10,000 miles so you buy it back for your FAMILY OK. Only trouble is now it has no warranty on it, Branded title, so if you have a known trouble that would have been fixed under warranty you are out of luck, ALL FOR TRYING TO HELP YOUR FAMILY. YOU KNOW GM FAMILY.