Virtually every model in the Cadillac lineup has implemented its new horizontal tail lamp design, which combines a long vertical lighting element with shorter, horizontally-positioned element. All of Cadillac’s most recent models use this design, including the XT4 and XT6 crossovers – so why does the 2021 Cadillac Escalade retain the same vertical tail lamp design as the outgoing model?
To find out why this design decision was made, Cadillac Society asked Cadillac Escalade Product Marketing Manager Dave Schiavone about the matter. Cadillac actually did experiment with a horizontal tail lamp design for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Schiavone explained, but the vertical design tested better in focus groups, so designers decided to stick with what they knew.
“One thing that [General Motors] is really good at is research,” Schiavone told Cadillac Society. “It’s an exciting time to be there because you’re getting all the people who are buying Escalades, you’re getting the people who are buying anything else in the segment, and we’re showing them dozens and dozens of different ideas.”
“In the case of the Escalade, nobody liked the look with the horizontal tail lamps,” Schiavone added. “We had plenty of these designs. It works for the other models, I don’t argue that at all. But we made an exception here for the 2021 Escalade because the customers told us ‘no, we like the thin vertical lamps.'”
We’re no experts on design, but it’s hard to deny the Escalade’s tall, vertical tail lamps look right on the SUV’s boxy rear end. They also help give the vehicle a ton of presence at night, and large luxury vehicles like the Escalade all about making a statement. Schiavone also pointed out that vertically oriented tail lamps have appeared on every Escalade since the model’s inception in 1999, so customers are also used to the look.
Cadillac Society rightly points out that the Escalade’s tail lamps have grown progressively thinner over the years. Advancements in lighting technology have enabled vehicle designers to get more creative and daring with tail lamp designs and make them thinner and more complex.
The 2021 Cadillac Escalade isn’t the only Cadillac without horizontal tail lamps, though. The Cadillac XT5‘s tail lamps don’t feature a horizontal element, either. The XT5 is also the oldest vehicle in Cadillac’s portfolio, however, and is due to be replaced in 2022.
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This report was written in collaboration with our sister publication, Cadillac Society.
Comments
Cadillac has ‘owned’ vertical tail lamps since 1948. It’s one of the few things that have identified Cadillacs for 70 years. Why would you walk away from that? Because YOU didn’t invent them? There are so few elements that are differentiators today, they may want to give that some serious thought.
What is more important is whether the 2021 Cadillac Escalade has more rear passenger legroom; imagine how embarrassing it is to have a competitor say your $75K luxury SUV has less rear passenger legroom than a CUV made by a competitor that cost half as much as this is the type of insanity that has run amok at General Motors with Mary Barra as CEO.
And what does this have to do with vertical tail lamps – the subject of the article?
Clearly, every relevant article states it has more and the “lack” of room didn’t hurt sales before.
Omegatalon
Complaining about 2nd row legroom in the Escalade is like complaining that Trump doesn’t tweet enough.
Ford is getting desperate.
The more and more I look at this Tailight the more I think it looks exactly like the CTS Wagon taillight. Literally pulled it from the car
No, don’t think so. Other than the vertical element of the design it doesn’t look like the CTS Sportwagon tail light. My wife has a low mile ’13 which by the way is her all time favorite car. Love the vertical tail lights on Cadillacs.
The body-on-frame, RWD biased Escalade is pretty much a unibody FWD biased XT6????? Okkkk. Even if true, what’s your point?
This is a definite improvement from every aspect. The vertical headlights would have been very difficult to integrate into the front end but the taillights are outstanding.
I wish they would have kept the stacked headlight look as well.
I guess I’m in the minority but I really don’t like those at all. I thought that was the worst part about the last Escalade. It looked so tacky during the day like a pep boys add on. At night lit up it still looked too gaudy for my tastes. It was a gorgeous vehicle otherwise and I don’t hate the vertical thing, I just don’t like it floor to ceiling. It’s like they took a good thing and took it too far.
Matt, this vertical tail light not only looks good, it makes the car more visible from the back, plus it identifies that vehicle as an Escalade. If you see those tail lights up ahead of you, you know that it is an Escalade. I own a current generation Escalade and LOVE those tall, vertical tail lights. I also owned the previous generation Escalade, but the tail lights was one reason that I wanted the current model. Also the current model rides so much better than the previous one.
This is a definite improvement from every aspect. The vertical headlights would have been very difficult to integrate into the front end but the taillights are outstanding.
I’d still like to know what the focus groups said about the front of the next gen Escalade. Most of the comments I read online are unimpressed with it’s Chevy Tahoe-like appearance and many lament the loss of the vertical headlamps that made the front end as distinctive as the rear.
The new gen Escalade lacks the boldness of the outgoing model and it’s kind of sad to see Cadillac’s flagship vehicle get watered down this way.