In our fast-paced, ever-connected world, news ricochets around the internet, flying across our various screens as we check Facebook for the sixth time before crawling out of bed. We’re inundated with headlines, quizzes, breaking news, hot takes, and more, but there’s an importance to reading past the headlines and reading the news. Buried deep in an interview with USA Today, Cadillac President Steve Carlisle hinted the brand is “very open-minded” about resurrecting historical Cadillac nameplates.
In the 2000s, Cadillac and even Lincoln abandoned giving their vehicles actual names. Instead, they opted for an alphabet soup approach in an attempt to elevate American luxury to the standards of Germany luxury in name only. Gone were names like Fleetwood, Eldorado, and more. Instead, Cadillac replaced them with uninspiring names such as DTS, CTS, and other nonsensical letters smashed together by a marketing team, which continues today.
It hasn’t stopped Cadillac from designating show-stopping concept cars with more elegant names such as Ciel, Cien, Elmiraj, Escala, or even the Sixteen.
What was interesting, though, was that neither Cadillac nor Lincoln changed the name of their largest SUV—the Cadillac Escalade remained the Escalade, and the Lincoln Navigator soldiered on alongside the likes of the Town Car. But something changed in 2015 when Lincoln teased a new concept called the Continental. The automaker attached a real name to the vehicle. In the fall of 2016, Lincoln announced it would revive the Continental nameplate for a new top-tier luxury car, the automotive press and fans went wild.
Since then, Lincoln has reintroduced real names onto its cars while revitalizing the luxury brand. Cadillac, however, has stuck with its lettered nomenclature, but that may change as General Motors continues to refine Cadillac’s products for changing consumer tastes. However, Cadillac is cautious, about how it uses those iconic names.
“But I think we’ve got to be really good custodians of where we apply those names,” Carlisle said. “You don’t want to just throw them out there.” He added, “Special cars or engines should have special names.”
The move back to real names is already happening. Last year, Cadillac announced a new engine—a twin-turbocharged 4.2-liter V8 producing 550 horsepower. Cadillac calls it the Blackwing—a menacing name even if it’s slipping under the hood of a CT6-V sedan. And Carlisle is right; you can’t stick iconic names on undeserving products. If Cadillac plans attach real names to its cars, it’ll likely happen as the automaker redesigns its products going forward.
After all, it appears to be working for Lincoln.
Comments
YES! PLEASE bring back real names that mean something (attached to cars that are truly world class)! This would be a huge win if they spent the money to market them well.
Names and alpha-numeric both? This just more proof that Cadillac is aimlessly adrift and needs new management that knows something.
whoever came up with the elmiraj name should open up a fortune teller academy.
Perhaps add an upscale line such as CT6 Fleetwood and make it the absolute BOMB! XT5 Seville and blow it out! XT4 Calais etc… then get rid of the stupid alphabet soup!
Names are redundant in luxury class
A class etc class 3/5series they all sell well.
Just make a car that’s nice people will buy… Cadillac’s need interior over haul designer and material section ASAP
Exactly. “Cadillac” should tell everyone exactly what the car is, the model should tell them the size.
Only true halo vehicles need names.
Rediculous comments. The car should say something about the owner, not where it fits in the line up. Thats bush league. The Germans came out with this teutonic classification system which used to mean something. Now they fake it but theirs is long established. Cadillac CANNOT be “me too….!” as they are rebuilding. They need to be different and names have always been used to distinguish the vehicle as special. Caddy doesnt need to use Brougham they can resurrect “Series 62” which is from the 40’s & 50’s or other names such as the new ones, Sixteen, Ciel, Cien, Escala, El Miraj… they evoke emotion whereas anything less than XTC is simply bable especially because its meaningless. In marketing and in the time one has infront of the customer, each component needs impact. Pathetic made up alpha-numerics is a wasted opportuinity, who cares where the vehicle fits in the line up or tells others you could only afford the XT4 vs XT5. The new XT6 is not even competitive but should have a name that evokes luxury and value, such as “Greenbriar” or “Calais”.
Without completely confusing the market my suggestion of adding Fleetwood to the CT6 and XT6 as an upscale package is currently being used by Mercedes with the S Class Maybach Pkg and Buick LaCrosse / Enclave / Regal – Avenir pkg. So CT6 Fleetwood, then dump CT6 once established. CT5 Seville… etc… CT4 Calais… etc..
Bingo.
That is what I have preached.
Most buyers buy in the luxury segment because what the cars does for your image.
We see this effect in the Denali line as people see you in a Denali and they say now we know who is making the money. The owners often just say I drive a Denali,
It used to be it was enough to say you drove a Cadillac,
“but should have a name that evokes luxury and value”
This is a contradiction. Luxury is not a value proposition, and never was.
“evokes luxury and value, such as “Greenbriar” or “Calais”.”
These names mean nothing to anyone at any age. They are blind shots in the dark hoping that they’ll stick.
When will Cadillac and so many others figure it out that names never make the car but better cars make the name.
They hung the Eldorado and Fleetwood names on cars in the 80’s and all it did was damage the names.
Now on the other hand other companies gave dropped letters and numbers on great cars and they gave give great meaning to the numbers.
Unless you have the car right it matters little if you have names or numbers the car will make either iconic.
The last cars the names were did nothing to enhance the name images.
To be honest if you get a car right it will sell great even if it were Not branded with a name or number.
Escalade meant nothing till the vehicle defined the name.
Completely agree but notice the crap vehicles were the GM shift to Front Wheel Drive whereas Mercedes & BMW stayed RWD. Audi was/is FWD and AWD and isn’t perceived to be as big a player as MB/BMW. THAT was the huge directional mistake for GM back then.
You’re right GM/Cadillac MUST build globally superb vehicles people “got to have” vs whats coming out now. They have so much ground to make up and so much time and money wasted I’m not even sure this is possible.
The XT6 is such a miss its pathetic whereas the Lincoln Aviator is stunning. Why show us the Cadillac Ciel and El Miraj only to use components of their appearance on next gen vehicles. Build the damn vehicle thats where the excitment was not in its headlight design.
GM’s failure was when they made the Cadillac just another GM corporate car.
Back in the 80’s they downsized and made the cars just rebodied Buicks and Olds that had become just larger economy cars.
Th3 market they abandoned was taken over by the German brands offering what GM stopped offering or just never offered as the market evolved globally.
The Lincoln is today just the same too much Ford not enough Lincoln.
The CT 6 was a car built by the board as they over ruled Mark often on it leading to a car that fell short. Then once it arrived the place it filled vanished.
To do this right GM needs to give Cadillac to one person to run with on vision. Fund it and let the results come.
You can not cost cut your way to the top in the Luxury market.
GM had this set up under JDM but they cut him short and left us back where we have seen them fail time and time again.
I thought we had a shot but now with the mixed message I just see the same mistakes again.
The EV plan can work but again they need one vision not board decisions.
The greatest works of art have generally been by one artist not a group of them.
While I know they will need to share with other GM products they can still do things different. The new V8 is the first step. The 4 and V6 could be shared but tuned to more power than any other GM model.
Suspensions even on base cars should be at least one step over the others,
Interiors should be no compromise.
Yes you may need to charge more but if you get it right you can charge more and get away with it.
Agree but the downsized GM big cars from the late 70’s to the 80’s were RWD and they sold very well. Only when they FWD and really downsized in the late 80’s & 90’s everyone went elsewhere. Even GM midsized cars died with FWD as the Cutlass’s, Grand Prix’s, etc… lost the market they once owned. GM quit building cars people wanted vs people stopped wanting Personal Luxury 2 door Coupes etc…
One other huge issue was GM’s legacy costs. They owed so much they simply could not build competitive vehicles that people wanted and make any money. Their cars simply were not competitive and their drop from over 50% of the US market in the 70’s to what it is now is a result of that. The bankrupcy alieviated the burden but its been and remains an uphill battle.
I agree about JDM but I”m not sure he was focused enough he also advocated the alpha numeric names which I hate. The move to NYC was controversial but once done should have been kept, moving back is just more confusion and they don’t need more of that. I think the current GM mgt is also stuck in the 1/4ly numbers and short term profitablitly vs building world class, market leading vehicles. Mary Barra is in over her head. Yes, its easy for an arm chair like me but there is so much confusion emitting from the Renn Ctr. Also these 70-80% competitive brand new vehicles is simply stunning. Their new offerings need to shake the market and that means styling, fabulous interiors, strong powertrains (NVH), and user friendly electronics at a strong value. I’d also say Cadillac should make all the drivers aides STANDARD. Alot of folks won’t pay $3K for them but they provide safety and value and can be a sales advantage. Perhaps they don’t make 20% on each vehicle perhaps they make 10% but 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing and they’re driving customers to the competition not bringing them into the family.
Cost were an issue but much of that was due to poor management. The GM culture worked divisions against each other vs with each other.
GM negotiated deals to where they could not close plants economically because they still had to pay the workers to stay home.
They needed to kill divisions but they created Saturn. They had lifers running things affraid to make the needed changes.
This put them in a place where they made cars less than they should be trying to save a buck. This put them farther behind.
Nearly every leader feared the board.
JDM was focused. The move was to protect him and isolate Cadillac from the Board. It was Mark and Mary who lost the nerve and did not protect him.
As for the names they mean nothing. It is the car not the name that matters. These vehicles will succeed on their own merits not the name.
Escalade did not make the SUV successful it was the SUV that defined the name.
People get too distracted on the name BS and forget it is the detail that set Cadillac vehicles appart from GM is what matters.
Making money in the Luxury segment should be as easy as trucks. The mark up covers much as the low end economy cars are the toughest to make a profit.
Mary is not over her head. She is between a rock and a hard spot. She is faced with dealing with a board and also making the tough decisions many before her would not make.
Her job is not one that you make many people happy with short term. One side hates you the other side can fire you. Yet you need to make the right calls and try to survive.
GM for decades has puppets for leaders that were controlled. I think the improvements Mary has done in cutting cost and profitability has made it hard for them to take her out. But if things get stagnant they can turn on her fast.
Mark used to speak out and fight but the board has taken the fight from him.
To be fair this kind of in fighting goes on st most automakers at some degree. Those with a strong single leader tend to be the ones who survive it best.
The internal fights at Ford now are getting bad and will get worse with poor stock performance. The majority holder Ford family is the only reason someone has not bought them out.
Live to dream.. the 2020 Cadillac Eldorado coupe equipped with a 550 hp Blackwing Twin-Turbo V8 plus 200-hp electric hybrid (from the Chevy Bolt EV) for a combine 750 hp to do battle with the Porsche Panamera.
Yeah, that’s a dream. I like your dream but it’s still entirely a dream. The thing is, Cadillac used to be daring and would’ve done something like that.
I think folks will eventually tire of all the silver box CUVs and will buy cars again but only if they are stunning to behold. Given the choice between a boring looking car and a dull CUV, people are taking the CUV because of its practicality but most households have multiple vehicles so there’s often a place for a beautiful and fun car.
I completely agree, the El Miraj should have been built, perhaps off the current CTS platform, the size is good. Clearly a V8 and RWD…. a missed opportunity and one that would not have been that expensive to build. I would love to have a CTS 2 door coupe, a stylized version, more like Grand Prix or Cutlass Supreme vs simply a “2 door” version. The CT6 as a 2 door coupe is also a missed oppty…. I’ve seen a few photoshopped versions and both look terrific…
I would buy an Eldorado. IMO, there isn’t a better name for a true flagship. The lost city of gold. The epitome of luxury.
First Cadillac has to make another vehicle worthy of a name.
Escalade is a vehicle worthy of a name, sure its just a GM, Suburban, Yukon, but all three are solid, or were solid. (we will find out soon enough with the IRS.
BUT, BUT, when it comes to sedans, Cadillac is confused, wandering, uninformed of there CUSTOMER, or potential CUSTOMER.
I would guess, or even bet, that if you asked ALL Cadillac owners, and ALL people who would potentially purchase a Cadillac, they would NOT want a GM “Chevy” drivetrain” platform”.
I wanted to know what my wife thought because she could care less and doesn’t know anything about a vehicles drivetrain. ( she drives a 2014 ATS 2.0T – 35,000 mi, before that a 2004 CTS 3.6 – 145,000mi). So she said I don’t know what engine or transmission is in anything we drive and don’ care. I said you don’t care, she said NO. I said what about last month when we drove that Audi A4, you thought it was great. She said well it was a lot better than what I drive but I wouldn’t spend the extra money for a car like that. I said that A4 was $7,500.00 cheaper than yours. She could not believe me and said, well if that’s the case it would be a no brainer, but I still don’t know what engine or transmission is in it and I don’t care.
So based on that how can Cadillac ever sell a product for that extra money even over a Chevrolet. If people, even my wife, don’t care all that much anymore about the “platform”, drivetrain, all they do is test drive a vehicle, look at it and say I like that, and how much is it. That Cadillac name to those people doesn’t matter ONE BIT. Its the vehicle,” look and feel” and the price.
So if the name matters to anyone why not give it a name because those who don’t care what vehicle it even is, the name will not matter.
For the US market, I like a combination as Mazda has done with the MX5 Miata. Have a CT5 Seville, CT6 Deville, CT7 Eldorado, CT8 Fleetwood, XT8 Escalade, etc. if the names don’t work worldwide, drop back to the alphanumeric in other markets. In the US market though, as with the “Miata”, I think folks will merely call the products by their names.
I love what Lincoln is doing with Nautilus, Aviator, Navigator, Continental. I’m suggesting an old Mercury name for the MKC; it should be christened the Lincoln Mariner to compliment the other travel-related names. I hear they’re looking at Corsair but I prefer Mariner. If the MKZ survives, I’d suggest Lincoln Cosmopolitan to compliment Lincoln Continental, if of course the big Connie even lives on. Cosmopolitan was a Lincoln name from the 1950s.
I am of the opinion that there is only a negative connotation with some of the old Cadillac names because they were last used on crummy cars. If something as glamourous as the Sixteen concept were built and dubbed Fleetwood, the name would very quickly regain the luster it had in its heyday.
Coming from a 25 year old, nobody wants those old names that bring back memories of my great grandfathers car. If Cadillac brings back Fleetwood or Brougham, they will lose the few millenials who are intrigued by the brand. Also, most people don’t remember car names anyway. They refer to cars as the big one or the small one. However, everyone knows Escalade (which I drive), and I’m sure most people will know Escala as well; if that is the name they choose for the top of the range car. Lincoln changed MKX to Nautilus, and the name is so ugly that I wouldn’t buy one. However, nobody will shy away from a car because its named CT or XT. I say keep the alphabet soup names and save the real names for the top of the range vehicles. Just don’t go back to the old people names!
Thanks for the opportunity to respond… millenials think they know everything and honestly you don’t. You’ve been told ever since you were born that your poop was great art and your parents lives revolved around your soccer practice and play dates. Thats not the real world….
Names are marketing, use of strong names or titles convey a message… confused message = confused sales process… every component of sales is important so each should be as powerful and impactful as possible. The vehicle itself must convey a message, pricing and the name are also opportunities to impact. Names from the past might have some tarnish but the right product can punch itself back to glory. Its expensive to establish a product and name so using ones that have established themselves is a more cost effective way to go. Everyone knows what a Toyota Corolla is but how about a Toyota Echo? Everyone knows what a Honda Civic is but how about the Insight. What if Toyota called each new Prius by a new name? They’d need to reestablish that product every time vs the Prius is extremely well known by nearly everyone. GM constantly chucks names they’ve spent millions to establish when a new model comes out, whereas some continue to refine and improve creating a bulletproof name.
Nautilus is a great name as is Corsair and Aviator. Someone also said Mariner and thats a good name too… vs some other made up crap…
Are you seriously comparing the marketing of luxury vehicles to the marketing of a Toyota Corolla? Real names may work for a luxury brand that doesn’t have many models, such as Bentley or Rolls Royce; but when you have the number of models that the volume players have, it’s too much. If Audi or BMW all had names, the target customers would be confused.
And as to your comment about being a millennial. I was raised by 2 teen parents who struggled, and that experience motivated me to start my own company at 11 years old. That company led to several other companies, which led to me owning one of the largest healthcare companies in Florida. I can afford any car that I desire, and I prefer Cadillac. So I represent the type of customer that Cadillac is spending billions of dollars trying to attract. #Donthate
“If Audi or BMW all had names, the target customers would be confused.”
Somehow, Chevrolet and Ford buyers manage it even when most of the names change every few years. I hope luxury buyers have better memories. Granted, there are many more car companies to choose from.
Because your story, which was unknown, is different from many millennials, the fact that they think they know everything is true. For the most part they are untested, spoiled brats who feel entitled. You are what I’d call a traditional American success story, you and yours would not be kept down and our system enabled your talents to take you places. Congratulations. However, be careful about saying that others whose opinions are different than yours are not “haters”. You don’t know me so using that is more than uninformed its prejudice, labeling and ignorant. That was juvenile at best.
I am not comparing Corollas to Luxury cars I’m comparing names and branding. Bentley can name their car anything they want because nearly everyone on the planet knows what a Bentley is. Everyone knows what an S Class is because they’ve used the name for decades, 3 Series and 5 Series and E Class as well. They don’t come out with a new car and give it a new name. Audi and BMW and Mercedes continue to roll out product faster than is almost believable, but their naming is established over the decades. Who, other than someone who follows Cadillac knows what an ELR is or a XT4? Cadillac’s is “me too” as it means nothing except this is where this vehicle fits on our lineup. Also, they just spent 15 years establishing the CTS and are now dumping it. It’s about marketing and once they’ve reestablished itself, which is very much still in doubt, they can start coming out w/new names but using established names that already have recognition is faster and more cost effective. Lincoln resurrected the Continental, why? Because everyone knows the name, its been around for 70 years.
I also am in the market they are selling to and I am passionate about the brand. I’ve had many Mercedes but only 1 Caddy. I like their vehicles but their dealers stink and the customer svc pales in comparison to Mercedes, not even close. Cad needs to press the marketing budget harder as they simply dont spend their marketing budget well, I haven’t seen any marketing especially on TV in forever. Where I live, I see more Tesla’s daily than Cadillacs which is disappointing. But finally, they need to build cars people want to buy more than the established competition and ½ @$$ed attempts like the XT6 won’t pay the bills for long
Demetri,
I’m curious. Is your company called HCC11 or something similar or does it have a name?
“You’ve been told ever since you were born that your poop was great art and your parents lives revolved around your soccer practice and play dates. Thats not the real world…”
The real world also doesn’t have any need for affordable cars masquerading as top-shelf luxury cars (as Cadillac did from the 50’s on through to the late 90’s). Naming them only made them more visible objects for the luxury buyer to avoid.
By the way, Cadillac’s true demographic is not (and should not ever have been) retired blue-collar workers, as your generation had forced Cadillac to lower it’s standards to cater to. No other luxury automaker lowers their standards, but your entire generation was raised to be cheap and dull bastards that incorrectly think that the Sloan ladder would guarantee you a Cadillac when you retired.
If you’re unwilling to spend big to get the best, you’re in no position to ever ask Cadillac to offer a low-cost barge car just to satisfy your thin and frail vanity, especially when only want the car as a retirement reward; tainted further by insisting that it be called something vague and nebulous like Fleetwood; a name that each day gets further from the luxury public conscious.
So what I get from your comment is exclusivity is your luxury and you’ll happily pay 10’s of thousands more regardless of the real value of your purchase.
Heaven forbid that some poor shlub who’s busted his ass for 30 or 40 years decides to move up from his Buick to a Cadillac ruins your day.
The bean counters as well as stock options have done more to marginalize Cadillac than anyone you deem unworthy. All large corporations have been chasing the next quarterly report to the detriment of their long term viability. Oh just wondering, was it the pool boy or the gardner who was banging your wife?
“So what I get from your comment is exclusivity is your luxury and you’ll happily pay 10’s of thousands more regardless of the real value of your purchase.”
Not just me, but for millions of luxury consumers the world over; from Boston to Beijing to Beirut. Nobody wants a cheapskate product pretending to be a luxury.
“Heaven forbid that some poor shlub who’s busted his ass for 30 or 40 years decides to move up from his Buick to a Cadillac ruins your day.”
Your champagne socialist ideals are not only embarrassing yourself, but are outdated. Not everybody will know what it means to have something exclusive.
But if someone is indeed a “poor shlub who’s busted his ass for 30 or 40 years”, then all it tells of himself is that he has worked hard, but not worked smart. Working in the labour force for decades isn’t smart and most certainly isn’t an effectively or easy way into any kind of luxury.
I shouldn’t have to tell you, but the Sloan Ladder is dead and doesn’t work anymore. Today, people in their 30’s have already made it, and therefore have no need to wait until they are in their 60’s to own a Cadillac (or any luxury car for that matter).
“Oh just wondering, was it the pool boy or the gardner who was banging your wife?”
I do all 3. What’s you’re excuse? Scared of proving your worth, or do you still believe in heave and hell to your personal detriment?
You’d be much better off if you saw the luxury market as what it is; the vanity playground of the wealthy. Why you insist on seeing Cadillac as a retirement reward is known only to you and your dying, insignificant demographic.
Cadillac have a unique position, use the al/num names for Jr models (CT..XT..) and names for range topers (Escalade, Elmarj, Escala, Fleetwood..)
Going back-n-forth from alphanumeric to names to alphanumeric to names again just shows lack of organization and leadership for the brand and confuses the buying public even further. Can we have an automaker that have a president who knows what he is doing and stick with it for once and for all? We need a person in charge who understands branding and be consistent with it. If you look at the S-Class, it is one of the best cars, if not the best, in the class and Mercedes S Class did not need a real name to be successful for each generation with volume fan support. The product spoke for itself. Lets take a look at the Lexus LS400 when it came out. It took the world by storm i the ’90s. Now look at it. People are not giving the LS500 a time a day because Lexus became lazy with the so-called flagship. Same thing with the Continental. The Continental is not a great car. Slapping the Continental on an uninspired car design build on a FWD platform is a waste.
Special names should be used for special flagships and halo cars costing north of $100K above the Escalade and Escala. Cadillac needs to understand branding in hierarchy with alphanumeric. Based on what I am reading, Cadillac is still keeping alphanumeric for standard models while halo products use names.
Carlisle seems to understand Cadillac but he is beginning to talk a lot and he needs to start talking about things that is wrong with Cadillac and have a solution to them. He needs to do is not talk about what is currently wrong with Cadillac but refuse to discuss to remedy the wrong doing with it and not talk about names that you have no intention on changing from alphanumeric and get to work with a solution. In previous stories, he already said that halo vehicles will have special names way before the Detroit auto show coverage. So this is old news.
One of the guys with a video channel at the autoshow couldn’t keep the XT’s straight. Granted, he was on camera, but how do potential, non-car-buff customers handle it?
2022 Cimmaron anyone?
Cautious? They ran all the iconic names into the ground. The damage is done.
If they’re serious about returning to names, it have to be new names.
^ This X1000.
If Cadillac is use names, they need to be new; free of the hang-up and baggage of the past.
I never want to see another Eldorado or Fleetwood on the road ever again and thereby know that the name is the newest generation of a long-line of terrible and under performing cars that were always out-gunned by it’s contemporaries.
How about we start with true No compromise interior materials and technology first. I mean who is GM kidding with this?
Cadillac doesn’t even offer the best GM has on their vehicles. What a joke GM has turned Cadillac into.
I mean Cadillac to compete needs the…
2.0T (which is a weak engine in the XT4 at least) Hopefully more power in the CT4/CT5
3.0T and the 3.0TT (350HP version and 400HP)
4.2TT
But what we actually get…..
Corporate 3.6HF V6
Six year old interior design on a vehicle that is a year away from going on sale
No PHEV
No pure EV
I’m hopeful Cadillac is just saving all the capital to put all their cards in the EV game.
Momolos,
Developing IC engines is a complete waste of money. The entire luxury segment is going full electric.
Tesla with the Model S has wiped out 50% of the S class segment of the market and the Germans have all those engines and way more. The educated, successful people with real money want electric vehicles, period.
The GM executive team has made the right decision, even if it’s a bit late.
“Six year old interior design on a vehicle that is a year away from going on sale”
Three y.o. design on a vehicle that can be ordered in 3 months.
Considering how little the German dashes have changed in decades, and only for the worse IMO, tweeking a pleasing and distinctive design is not a bad idea. At least it isn’t a tablet lazily stuck on the dash.
Agree about the engines. A turbo is needed for stoplight grand prix and towing.
Voltec would be ideal for a CUV, but GM killing it indicates to me that electrics will be a limited market for some years. The people that want them now go whole hog, so it’s a niche market away from the Left Coast.
Good points, Ralph. I drove top, top of the line Benzes and Bimmers until I married a GM dealer. The BMW and Benz dashes of my youth (i’m 57) were inspired. Now they are a jumbled, confused mess. Somewhere along the way they forgot that aesthetics matter. Cadillac, for all its challenges as described above, has some stunning dash designs. And my 3.6L Twin Turbo puts out 410 hp (though most importantly, 369 ft lbs of torque at 1,900 rpm) and is wicked smooth. Great car. Perfect, no. But neither is the comptetition.
These older names are still trademarked, and competition can’t use them. That’s a good thing.
Back in the day a Fleetwood or Eldorado were very special vehicles, for that matter, even Cadillac was a very special vehicle. Since these names were used for sedans and two door coups, they may not work for SUVs and crossovers. However they could used for upgraded trim levels for an appropriate existing model.
Looking back at those older vehicles, having plenty of interior room and trunk space, were also very important features. Higher roof height for most of these older big sedans made them as roomy and functional as today’s SUVs and Crossovers.
That CT6-V sport Blackwing is the best thing Cadillac has done since the glory days of those older models. Add to this the soon to follow CT4 and CT5.
Very few people relate to those old names because they are either dead or in old aged homes. GM needs to focus on the people who can buy those cars now. The names need to be tested, reviewed in focus groups and can be used for ANY type of vehicle if they resonate well.
I’m Not Dead Yet….
As long as they’re not made up word like prescription drugs and Catera.
De Ville, Calais, and Biarritz are French, Seville and Eldorado Spanish, so how about the Cadillac Nice?
Good video. Lol
I don’t understand why some think names must have a permanent association with the past. Cadillac is an old name, Chevrolet is an old name as is Mercedes-Benz. Most people associate those brands with their contempary lineups not with the 1990s. The Chevrolet Suburban nameplate has been used since 1935. It’s a very old name yet when it’s mentioned, most people envision a modern iteration of that product. A number of years ago Daimler resurrected the Maybach name and it’s now associated as much or more with the present as it is with its illustrious past.
The reason names like Fleetwood and Eldorado have a somewhat negative connotation, often associated with our grandparents, is because there are no contemporary products wearing those names. They are frozen in time. However they could have a renewed image associated with them if they were affixed to modern products. For those who assume anyone suggesting the Fleetwood name could be resurrected must have been alive during the name’s heyday and are seeking to relive our youth, nothing could be further from the truth in my own case. I only know of Cadillac’s glory days from reading about it and it’s precisely why I’d like for them to return to greatness. I’ve only known a life where German luxury cars rule. I’d like to see Cadillac embrace their past and be true to it instead of imitating their competitors. Resurrecting classic names with a storied past could be part of that.
“I only know of Cadillac’s glory days from reading about it and it’s precisely why I’d like for them to return to greatness.”
Cadillac cannot return to greatness by perpetually emulating the past, or by serving to idolize it. It needs to show the world the future. Resurrecting old names will not do anything for Cadillac if the cars aren’t cutting edge or showing the world what the future hold.
Anybody can remember the past, but no luxury buyer will ever pay money to relive it. Not even if the car looks old or its name can be traced back to the 1920’s; the luxury buyer wants exclusive and preferred access today, not a trip down memory lane and a bean counter remembers it.
Still in awe of the 2003 Cadillac V16 concept and 50’s Eldorados.