Spy Shots Show 2021 Cadillac Escalade Interior For The First Time
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We’ve already shown you exterior photos of the future Cadillac Escalade as it was undergoing testing, but we have yet to see the cabin of the all-new luxury SUV, until now. That’s because we just managed to grab a few photos of the 2021 Cadillac Escalade interior as it was driving on public roads, giving us our first look at the utility’s center stack.
The photos show a tablet-like center screen running the latest, third-generation CUE infotainment system. The display looks larger than the screen in the current-, fourth-generation Escalade. To the left of the display is a vertical row of buttons to select the gear. The shots show an illuminated “D” – for Drive. Notice that there isn’t a column-mounted shifter. It’s worth noting that GM Authority was first to exclusively report on both elements.
Below the screen is a pair of air vents, and below those are media controls via two circular knobs – one for the audio volume (on the driver’s side) and channel/track seek/tuning (on the passenger’s side).
Below the media controls are the HVAC controls, including two temperature controls – one for the driver and another for the front passenger. They flank an air fan speed dial.
In what we see so far, the 2021 Cadillac Escalade interior will feature various metallic accents that work rather tastefully with the visible piano black features.
We should see the Escalade revealed in the very near future. It will launch in late 2019 or early 2020 calendar year as a 2021 model.
Update: it’s very possible that this interior belongs to the 2021 Escalade, rather that the GMC Yukon. We’re unclear at the moment.
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Let’s see if GM will learn from the mistake they made last time and reveal the Escalade first.
I know there’s a lot we can’t see, but this is underwhelming.
How are you sure its the escalade and not the yukon?
It’s the Yukon, the icons on the LCD give it away. Cadillac have mostly transparent/black icons while the GMC are filled in grey.
Ill be short.
No. Its not the Escalade.
I’ll be even shorter. Escalade.
This In guy is funny trying to act like he knows something. Go play in the sand buddy. Let the big boys talk.
The only problem I have with your conclusion is that the knobs on this vehicle looks cheaper than the knobs on the XT4. Do they have non-production knobs switchgear in test vehicles?
On the other hand, spyshots of interiors tend to be very bad photographs. These photos are very grainy and dull looking. There are reflections in the window. And of course, what we are seeing is out-of-context. Imagine trying to judge a work of art under the same circumstances.
Even when the cars are revealed in car shows, you often get comments like “looks better in person than in the photos.” Car interior photography, even in the best of circumstance, is very tricky if you wish to capture the full grandeur of the automobile.
Not being able to see this dash as a whole piece makes it very hard to judge. I have been completely underwhelmed by spy photography of car interiors only to be very impressed in the final product. So, I reserve judgment.
But you know, I am looking at the dash and it does seem Escala-like, but without the curved OLED screens. This could be a base model, while the platinum gets the full Escala OLED treatment.
Not to mention, the climate control knobs aren’t Cadillac. Those are clearly GMC or Chevy knobs; Cadillacs don’t have those knobs, not even on the newest models.
Yea the filled out icons make it seem like the interface is either chevys or gmcs instead of CUE but its hard to tell.
No Escala wide curved OLED display! 🙁 This is looking very unimaginative. Bummer
It’s a GM interior. If it were imaginative then it would mean they fired and replaced scores of designers at the GM Design Studios, lol.
Did they finally do away with the column shifter? Hard to tell, but it looks absent in the pic.
Yes.
I just hope GM can finally get the transmission to shift well. I’m not asking for some fancy PDK or dual clutch type of shifting, just a regular competent transmission. Mine never did shift right no mater how many times the Cadillac dealer “reprogrammed” it. The engine would stumble before it would search for a gear and then surge when it downshifted. Not very luxurious at all. Dealer said “that’s normal, they all do it.” Whataya expect from a $80k truck?
It never shifted right based on what? Your expectations? Your desires? Your expert advice?
This is what I don’t get, what makes people think they know how something is supposed to work?
I see normal people complain about things they have very little knowledge in like they designed the whole system.
Even in my industry we see this all the time, and we more times then not have to explain to them. That is the way the system is suppose to work.
I think people love to complain and want to make sure someone hears what they have to say.
I own 2 cadillacs at the moment, ATS and CTS, and I can tell you that when my transmission shifts from first to second and it feels like I just got rear ended, that is not how its suppose to work. On my CTS, even when I shift out of park, the whole car shudders hard in the mornings.
The dealership keeps telling me the same thing that even though they can re-create what I am experiencing that the transmission is “operating per design” because that is what the bulletin states.
So what I question is why would a team of engineers design a transmission to have a very hard shift every now and then per design?
You have to remember, most customers are not going to know the technical workings of the systems they use, however they will judge the vehicles performance based on their past experiences with other similar vehicles they have driven or owned. And if your vehicle’s performance is not up to par, then they will not purchase it.
Don’t get me wrong, customer education certainly has its place in today’s highly advanced vehicles when it comes to Active Safety features or Infotainment, however when it comes to judging smoothness in the shifts it would be difficult to “educate” the customer to accept hard shifts as part of normal behavior on luxury vehicles such as Cadillac.
Brian W, I have a 2019 Silverado with the 8 speed and it’s still bad. Literally lurches into gears sometimes, making a clunk. Dealer also says it’s normal. We have a 2015 as well, and it does the same thing. So I guess to GM, it’s normal. But I’ve owned enough cars in my life to know it absolutely isn’t normal.
Like I said what makes you a expert?
READING! Driving cars. Living life is what makes him an “expert”! STFU and stop condescending to people.
I never claimed to be an expert, but I’m pretty sure that, having owned over 25 cars, I know what a transmission should feel like. When it clunks into gear, lurches forward, and struggles to find the right gear, well let’s just say anyone with any experience at all would know it’s not normal. Doesn’t take an expert to figure that out.
Nobody is being condescending. I am pointing out that the only person qualified to say that the transmission is shifting right is a trained technician or a engineer that built the transmission.
Saying you have driven for so many years is not a qualification.
Like I said before, I deal with these situations everyday and they say this is not working properly. I run a manufactures test, and it passes all manufacturers test. I kick it out the door because it works as its suppose to.
And I dont work in the automotive industry!
Just because you sit in front of a computer screen all day and drive a couple of hundred miles around town every week does not make your opinion about how a transmission shifts valid!
Are you a certified mechanic?
Are you a transmission expert?
Are you a engineer that designs transmissions
Then how can you tell one of those three people above that I mentioned that they are wrong about how a transmission is supposed to shift?
Brian, I can tell those three people they are wrong very simply. When I drive my wife’s Lexus, there is no comparison, smooth engine, great shifting transmission. It’s no mystery why Cadillac’s sales are down. GM just does not care enough to build a quality product. At least top management is getting rich while the company goes down the toilet.
This is probably Brian who made a fake account to make himself feel better because he has no friends
Not impressed with the center stack so far
When will they stop with the 2000’s “Kate Spade” stitching on the dash?
Hope the quality of that leather strip is top-flight, because that’s going to attract a lot of eyes.
I always hate what I can’t see too.
We’re talking about what we can see…in the pictures they posted
Maybe its a Chevy? Several people told me about the long screen ala Escala/ciel inside the Escalade.
W. t. f. is that? Oh my God. Escalade was my last hope… This is a shame… I dont know what to say now…
If u think this photo above belongs to the upcoming Escalade then ure wrong, Alex. I saw the Escalade’s interior. It has a long screen ala Escala… This is GMC.
Looks great, but Cadillac is a whole different game. Ur last news about the Escalade actually were about the GMC.
With all my respect, but Do not mislead people, please. Now this will be all over the internet…
I hope you’re right. I wouldn’t be surprised though if some last-minute cost-saving has taken place.
Don’t worry. This article is wrong.
Nothing has been changed. Escalade will get exactly what I saw.
I’m sure you can’t say much, but I’ll ask you this. If someone were disappointed by the CT4 and CT5 interiors, will the Escalade also disappoint?
No.
Escalade has a different (new) architecture inside which has nothing to do with the previous models.
Same semi-tacked on tablet as the CT5 and CT4. While those dash designs are ok, I’m not getting the feeling of “premium” as far as design is concerned. I’m hoping that is not the case in Caddy’s cash cow. Will need to see more and in person before final judgment.
I hope they upped the quality of the materials everyone and their dead, great grandfather has been
complaining about. I’m sick of hearing about it.
You people over react to this type of stuff!!! Maybe this website likes it because it gets more people to the site for comments, but cant you people at least wait until you see it in person first?
For a year, even the fired savior from Cadillac said Escalade would be amazing – do they even know what that means at GM design anymore? Is Mary “fashion kills me” Bara making all the decisions? Is boring the new norm at Cadillac?
As many of the other comments are saying, we can’t see enough to make a solid decision on the interior/dash. Too early.
However, from what we can see, I’m not feeling that at all. I’m trying to imagine it without the covers, hands, words and all partly covering it. What I’m imagining is not good.
I can’t wait for this trend of I-pads being in/on/stuck to the dash to be over please!! Every time I walk or drive past a M.B or Tesla Model 3 I just cringe. It’s like an infection and it’s spreading to everything.
I’ll say one thing. This article is wrong.
There are too many things wrong for this to be an Escalade interior. That tiny leather strip with the stitching looks cheap and out of place. A cluster of Chevy-style climate control knobs with the fat blue and red hash marks (when was the last time we saw that in a Cadillac?). Infotainment screen too small. This is GMC utility not Cadillac luxury. It’s hard for me to see how this new interior is going to blow my socks off as promised. It’s functional, yes, but not elegant. There’s a logo under that piece of tape on the steering wheel and my bet is that it says “Denali.”
Zero Escala influence. Somebody from GM try to copy Lincoln tablet style. It is average interior, zero original or luxurous style. A lot of knobs tells me, that it is Chevy interior not Cadillac. Lets hope that real Caddy interior looks much more Escalish 🙂
You can always tell where the designers are from or those the wrote the requirements. Like the Blazer interior, you cannot have the AC vent that low when you live in the South. The cool air has to circulate along the top and to get into the rear part of the vehicle. A Cadillac may have rear seats AC vents as standard but black interior is the norm for most cars from the manufactures. Anyone in the sunbelt knows when it is 90 plus outside that the dashboard sitting in the sun is like an oven.
As anyone living in the souithwest knows, a dark dashboard is a 5 minute problem with AC, but a light dashboard is downright dangerous in the sun as it reflects off the windscreen.
Also, pro-tip: you can aim the vents up, even if they’re low on the dash.
The center stack looks awesome. I can’t wait to see more.
Judging by the comments and looking at the photos, I really don’t think this is an Escalade interior. Other than the screen, there is nothing that says Cadillac about it. While the new sedans and SUVs have been underwhelming inside, they all use similar tech to link them to brand. The HVAC appears to be the generic GM knobs and buttons we’ve seen used on the new pickups and the large crossovers. It would be baffling if this is an Escalade because even the current model has it’s own Cadillac switchgear.
Unless we see photos of the cladded exterior of this particular vehicle that prove otherwise, I’m thinking this is either the Yukon or the upper trim Tahoe.
It’s the Yukon, our dealer group ceo was in detroit last week and gave me a brief low down on the escalade. This is not it, the Escalade has an OLED screen that expands all the way across the dash.
Yes. That’s what I thought. Can u tell more?