Expert: Cadillacs Should Be Cars To Arrive In And Not For Driving Enthusiasts
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The new Cadillac CT5-V and CT4-V were the subject of controversy when they first debuted last week, as neither are true successors to savage performance offerings like the third-generation Cadillac CTS-V.
We soon learned the uproar was a bit misplaced, however, when General Motors rolled out two track-ready prototype versions of the CT4-V and CT5-V during the Belle Isle Grand Prix weekend. These two mystery Cadillacs, which we will get our first official glimpse of next year, will have more power and will be more relatable to the hardcore V-Series models we’ve come to know and love.
But not everyone is convinced that V-Series cars are what the brand needs – whether they have a V8, V6 or turbo four. V-Series was born out of a desire within GM to rebrand itself as an American BMW, but Eric Noble, president of automotive consultancy firm Carlab in California, thinks Cadillac needs to go back to its American ways and stop trying to replicate European automakers.
“Cadillacs should be vehicles to arrive, not drive, in,” Noble told The Detroit Free Press. “The Escalade is the most successful Caddy, by far, and that’s precisely because it’s the sole model in their showroom that still lives by that maxim.”
Cadillac recently took on a new direction, ousting former brand boss Johan de Nysschen, moving away from NYC and looking to take its rightful place as the technology leader within GM. The automaker could very well use this as an opportunity to ensure Cadillac’s future EVs are like the comfy, luxurious, style-forward cars the brand was once known for. This would also set Cadillac EVs apart from those from other luxury brands, which are already focusing intently on things like acceleration and sporty handling.
New Cadillac boss Steve Carlisle seems to know Cadillac is having a bit of an identity crisis. He was recently quoted in saying that “maybe it’s time for Cadillac to just be Cadillac again,” but its newer products like the XT6, CT5 and CT4 seem to suggest the brand hasn’t really changed course all that much in recent times. The next few years will truly decide the future of the brand and where it is headed as it rolls out its electrified vehicles and pure EVs.
“Right now, we’re the underdog, and that gives us the opportunity to be the comeback kid,” Carlisle said earlier this year.
Source: The Detroit Free Press
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It should be both. Except, Cadillac also used to be about design – they have lost that this generation with the boring, blob, and altima copy. Disappointing to say the least. Trying to appeal to all people will mean you will fail.
Yes, MY 1991 Cadillac lineup, the pinnacle of Cadillac design ?. …..
As with Lincoln and it’s failed approach to American luxury sedans Cadillac have gone another direction but that doesn’t mean abandoning luxury. The CT6 has been prised about it luxury ride, where’s all this wolfing and complaining when the 1st Gen CTS, STS and XLR was out, that wasn’t luxury. Don’t wanna hear from some Benz driving “analyst” about what Cadillac should been.
You’re right. It should be both. THAT’S what luxury is; the ability to choose what a car means to the owner.
Based on the sales and ATP of European luxury brands, the market has dictated that those are the vehicles people want to drive AND arrive in.
It’s real funny how people want Cadillac and Lincoln to be “American Luxury”, but nobody seems to define it in a modern context. People keep throwing out barges of the 70s-90s.
I’d ignore these ideas if GM brass wasn’t listening closely for an excuse to cheap out and call it American Luxury.
“It’s real funny how people want Cadillac and Lincoln to be “American Luxury”, but nobody seems to define it in a modern context. People keep throwing out barges of the 70s-90s.”
NO ONE does that. When the Greatest hits of Cadillacs past are referenced it’s as an example of a time when Cadillac was a leader in styling, luxury, and tech. NO ONE wants a a rehashed tailfinned Cadillac of the past. The originals have that covered.
What we want is a production Elmiraj, or Ciel, or Cadillac 16. MODERN, enchanting, dynamic, AMERICAN luxury cars with real presence and styling unique to US taste.
Hardly anyone buys a modern BMW, or Benz with a serious nod to driving excitement. In fact most enthusiast do nothing but lament how BMW gave that up years ago. With the exception of the 2 series or bespoke M addition 3/4 series the majority of BMW are anything but driver’s cars. And frankly Mercedes never was one. It’s claim to fame was superior engineering and reliability.
These days there is nothing remarkable about “good handling” most cars that truly have it are so high in their limits that it cant be experienced on the street anyway. And many of the best driving cars aren’t even from luxury marques anyway Kia G70 anyone, or Miata, Camaro 1LE, Honda Civic Si and Type R, just to name a few.
The essence of “automotive luxury” has ALWAYS been about exclusivity, superior and fantastic styling, and quality construction and components. Modern Cadillacs lack these things.
What “automotive luxury” is, that lies in the eyes of the beholder.
It is all about perception by the public.
Holy cow!!! I would like to shake this guy’s hand. He is probably spot on. Don’t take me wrong. I’m not against Cadillac having something in the line to take on BMW and Mercedes for the sport side. I’m not saying Cadillac shouldn’t have a car or two for those of you who love the V-series cars. Not at all. What I’ve been saying and will continue to say is that Cadillac has lost it’s way when they decided to go after the Germans on that front while (IMO) leaving a larger and very important group of people without a real luxury Cadillac to go to if you don’t like the Escalade. Not everyone wants a hard seat, firm riding, corner carving, loud exhaust car to drive daily. And so funny this story comes up today after I just got a ride back to the dealership with a broker in a brand new 2019 BMW M3. Is it nice looking? Yes. Is it powerful? Yes. Would I ever desire to ride in it again? NO. Every little pothole and bump he hit caused the entire car to slam and crash while sending all that “road feel” through my entire body. No thank you.
Cadillac has an opportunity now to create a sub-brand (Blackwing) in which to run wild with the V-series cars and all. Then move Cadillac back to the real luxury side. “Cadillacs should be vehicles to arrive, not drive, in,”
Amen!
Roman Mica of TFLcar said it best “Cadillac should go back to building cars that can go on the highway for miles and miles in comfort, style and quietness.”
I agree. The XT5 is a great highway car….great mileage, super quiet, comfortable and fast enough to get out of its own way. not only that, but the Escalade IS a car to arrive in. The Escalade is still on of the best looking cars on the road, and its at least 5 years old. Its so big and in your face….especially the lights. Between the rear taillights and the LED “crystal” headlights.
I love cars that can go fast, but I would leave that to Corvette…..or put it second in Cadillac’s image.
This is just wrong.. and looking at European luxury cars says that high performance does belong in luxury vehicles as this is why the Rolls Royce Cullinan is powered by a 6.8L V12 which is why the 2021 Cadillac Escalade should be equipped with a 550 horsepower Blackwing V8.
With the new Y trim strategy, Cadillac can be both. The CT6 is growing in prestige. We now know that Supercruise is a game changer for Cadillac as the take rate on Supercruise was at 50% at the end of the first quarter, and that take rate continues to grow. This is why Cadillac has been able to eliminate the lower trims and the CT6 now has a starting price of nearly $65,000.
It may not yet reflect that fact in sales numbers, but when we get the ATPs at the end of this quarter we should get a better grasp of how much closer, by price that the CT6 is to a legit flagship sedan. With the near arrival of the platinum Blackwing, the CT6 gets ever closer to being the kind of prestige sedan Cadillac buyer have been waiting for.
Also, all of Cadillac’s SUVs are tuned more like Cadillac’s of old.
He’s right. Cadillac’s focus should not be on race cars. It should be on old school straight up high style and high luxury. They can play the race car game on the side as they should (and to some extent have to). That should not be their focus however.
I agree that Cadillac should not be mimicking the Germans, but the Escalade shares most of its sheetmetal with not one but two corporate siblings and is a terrible example of where to take the brand. If Cadillac were to aim ABOVE the Germans, on the other hand, they just MIGHT reach them.
They should be both but being something to arrive in is more important.
Why can’t it be both? It’s true, Escalade is a vehicle that makes an entrance and says “I’ve arrived”. But so does a G63 AMG, M5, and RS7. Design and dynamics are two different things, that can be geared at two different missions, but in a single vehicle. A Cadillac should stand out and have a presence on the road, but it can also tear it up on the back roads, or coddle you on a highway cruise. I’d say CT6 is the closest at accomplishing all this – presence, comfort, and athleticism – depending on how the buyer equips the model they purchase.
RS7; yes! That is a car with presence. Cadillac should do a CT7 with a sportback.
Those who can do those who can consult.
The truth is Cadillac needs to be performance, luxury and quality.
The deal is Cadillac is not trying to be German they are just trying to target the segment where it is at. Just because the Germans got there first 40 years ago does not mean the segment is German only.
The Escalade is where it is due to image. There was a large number of celebrities and sports figure over the years seen in them it has given them an image. Also it has helped that the SUV segment is on fire too.
There is only a couple cars for just arriving in. The 300 that is selling at massive discounts and the Lincoln’s that are not setting the world on fire.
Cadillac needs to work to establish and regain its image it squandered.
They did a DTS that most people ignored or just refused.
Except that the DTS outsold all their current sedans combined.
Outsold them to Hertz, hotels, mortuaries, taxi/limos llcs, 80 year olds, CarMax…. for a discount.
Every little pothole and bump he hit caused the entire car to slam and crash while sending all that “road feel” through my entire body.
GM needs to rethink Cadillac, and aim higher to compete with Rolls Royce and Bentley.
There should be only the Escalade, and put the Ciel and Escalia (spelling) into production, and not look back.
Bring back Pontiac to produce the performance/luxury vehicles that Cadillac is currently producing.
Pontiac was much better suited for the alphanumeric numbering naming scheme anyway, see the C8, was very well executed, and a great example of what a domestic german fighter was, and could be.
In the current CUV world, the current GM FWD, AWD platforms would work better with Pontiac as well.
They could do this if they also move Buick up to compete where Cadillac is now, and pit GMC against Range Rover.
I agree with this writer it seems Cadillac decide to go after the sport car enthusiast and left probably 50 percent of their customers to shop else where granted I understand needing a sport luxury line to compete but to not offer a true full size car and yes similar in size to the DTS that can hit a Cleveland size pot hole and not jar your teeth. keep the dash uncomplicated and simple. a super smooth ride and quiet. and to most buyers HP wouldn’t matter as long as it met these other attribute’s and the biggest factor would be don’t over price it give it a starting price in the mid 30’s and people would buy it
I disagree with this “expert”.
Cadillac IS luxury and Cadillac IS performance. Cadillac languished for years as an old man’s car till the V Series cars came along and that put them back in the conversation with a younger crowd and not to mention back on top in performance. AT my office there is an AMG S63 and a Cadillac CTS-V and it’s the V that get’s the attention because that Mercedes looks like an old man’s car even in AMG guise. But there’s no denying that “V” as the young folks say around here. And when one of our big horse farm owners rolls in in a Escalade the “kids” (and me) go giddy to see it.
I think where Cadillac is messing up is with these crappy little dressed up crossover Chevys they are calling “Cadillac”.
This guy is huffing gasoline. Cadillac is the R&D arm of gm. Guess he never pays attention to what’s on the track at Le man’s? Hell even Ferrari licenses caddy’s magnetic ride suspension. No one is buying land yahts man.
Nope, it should be both. But GM is mismanaging their Cadillac marque. Cadillac needs a two tiered engineering and marketing system. Cadillac should engineer design and build high performance sedans CUVs and coupes using their current alphanumeric system, they are doing this now. But very importantly they should also engineer design and build powerful large luxury sedans SUVs and coupes using traditional Cadillac nomenclature… Fleetwood Seville Deville El Dorado Escalade with SWB and LWB versions.
@Evo69:
Amen. It would work no matter what all the others on here say. The issue (on here) is that it’s mostly all driver oriented (read, sports minded) people. They see this from only their perspective and want Cadillac to rival the German M/AMG cars. I don’t think they understand just how many people Cadillac alienated when they decided to take the path they are on.
So I 100% agree with what you said. Performance/sports/alphanumeric system. Luxury/quiet/smooth/simple/names. Win, win.
Exactly, Dan Berning. You get it!
And when I mean traditional luxury Cadillacs, I mean vehicles that are totally high tech and up to date with dramatic styling and sumptuous luxury based on natural exotic materials with multiple color choices as demanded by the client. Picture a 210 inch long Cadillac El Dorado coupe with jeweled LED headlights so designed you’d think its a hideaway headlights car. It would be powered by either a TTV8 a V12 engine or electric powerplant. Inside would be a sight to behold with traditional designs meeting 21st century technology. Performance wise it would be brutally powerful with gobs of torque, it wouldnt be a super athletic V series coupe but with ample power its more than satisfying to the driver as its still a drivers car.
Can Cadillac build a future powerful beautifully styled luxurious long hood short deck El Dorado coupe? Yes but they dont want to. They think performance sedans and coupes with elements of luxury and alphanumeric names are good enough for Cadillac. They are sadly mistaken.
The ridiculous names are as forgettable as the ever-blander cars they’re introducing. It is a travesty what Cadillac is becoming, throwing away all its potential in pursuit of GMs preferred market, China. Make Cadillac American again and take some bloody pride in it before Cadillac becomes another GM division confined to the history books.
Main problem for Cadillac is GM itself. Zero autonomy means standard technology for all brands. Caddy is just rebranded Chevy. Zero wow models. Zero originality, just mediory products. GM lost its connection to Europe and result is ugly design of CT4/5, XT4/5/6.
Solution: independent company, new boss with zero connection to old GM, return of real names, real Escala without actual design language, more wow models with accent of luxury than sport, hi-tech and luxury interiors, zero cheap solution (eg. old black interior, fake plastic window), better service and approach to costumers.
Ironically, Chevy’s themselves are nothing but rebranded ‘GM’s’. Just like Cadillac isn’t a real company or even division any longer, neither is Chevrolet. I suppose technically everything is GMC now – General Motors Company.
Just as Cadillac people haven’t been happy about this since the 80’s, neither have Chevrolet people.. I too long for the old days when everything was it’s own separate company or division. Things were authentic back then.
In the early 1980s, Cadillac embarked on what has now been a 40 year journey to take on BMW. Their first volley was the disastrous Cimarron launched in 1981. After that came the ‘Touring’ models like the Eldorado Touring Coupe and Seville Touring Sedan where they took a luxury oriented product and tried to make it sporty with blacked-out trim and a firmer suspension. Those Touring Sedan models morphed into renaming their cars with three letter designations so the Seville Touring Sedan became the STS and the former Deville was rechristened as the DTS shifting the focus of the entire brand to building sporty, BMW-fighting machines. Later they upped the ante by launching the V-Series cars and made the crucial switch back to RWD for many models. They’ve stayed on this path for several product generations now and the vehicles have gotten successively better yet Cadillac’s esteem and sales success have continued to plummet.
At the dawn of their journey to become BMW, Cadillac was putting over 350,000 cars into America’s garages per year and they were the best selling luxury brand in the USA. In American culture, they were the epitome of the finest of anything; the phrase ‘The Cadillac of _____’ was routinely used to describe the best washing machine, power tools, or lawn mower. The best was always called “the Cadillac” of its field. Today, after 40 years of trying to reinvent themselves, Cadillac sold only 154,000 units in their home market and they’ve gone from first place to sixth place. These days Cadillac needs the whole world to sell the same 350,000 units once sold in America alone. If one looks at Cadillac’s sales trajectory, their volumes were ever increasing until they decided recreate themselves 40 years ago and since then the trends have reversed and Cadillac’s US sales have been on a continued downward slide. It would be difficult to argue that Cadillac as BMW has been a successful approach from a business standpoint.
Cadillac’s most iconic model and arguably its most prestigious is the one with a name (Escalade) and old school Cadillac traits. It can’t carve a canyon like a BMW but it is big, brash, flashy and comfortable like Cadillac’s of yore. It’s also a thinly disguised Chevrolet Tahoe and everyone knows it yet it still sells. Imagine if it were a true blue Cadillac.
I would agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Noble that it is high time for GM to declare Cadillac’s mission to dethrone the little carmaker from Bavaria to be a failure. While they might’ve created some products that can run the ‘ring with those hailing from the Black Forest, BMW has seen their sales continue to increase over the years whilst Cadillac’s have gone in the other direction. For those who want a BMW, nothing short of the real deal will do even if someone else might have a higher lap time or g-force number.
Cadillac needs to be Cadillac again. I’ve often said that Cadillac should set their sights not on BMW AG’s namesake brand but rather on their high-brow English brand. Rolls Royce is more akin to the Cadillac of old with its glamorous and supremely comfortable cars renowned the world over as the best. I think there is little chance that GM ever wises up and puts Cadillac back in its rightful spot but the author is right to feel that if they did, they’d need to look more to their past than to BMW’s present.
@Ci2eye:
Very well said and spot on. Your historical facts are also spot on. I went through those times having started with the Cadillac dealer in 1988 and working at that same dealer through 1995 and then again from 2007 till 2010.
Thank you for the well written post.
Damn! You know the full history. Ive seen the dismal attempts from my teenage years reading C&D and Motor Trend magazines from the early 80’s to now as a middle aged man. They indeed need to look to their past and uprate/update that equity of luxury and styling to the 21st century.
They are supposed to look Big, brash, and expensive. Hard to do that properly with a front drive crossover.
They would see more success (IMO) sharing platforms between their sports sedans and their crossovers. They can knock them out of the park if they had the will power to do so.
These come to mind to arrive in and drive….
Elmiraj, Escala, Sixteen, Ciel, Cien.
Exactly!! These are the cars that excited me. Why weren’t they built?
Maybe the cars would sell if they were heavily galvanized steel like Porsche/Audi with an even better warranty of 15 yrs unlimited miles and a 10 yr 200K mile power train which would need computer protection and proper maint. done.