Poll: How Do You Feel About Cadillac’s New IQ Naming Convention?
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Cadillac is making a transition to EV power, ditching internal combustion in favor of batteries and electric motors, with the first Cadillac EV out the gates being the Cadillac Lyriq crossover. With this latest switch to EVs, Cadillac is also changing up its naming conventions, adopting a new structure that incorporates the “iq” suffix. However, as is the case with any major change, the new naming convention has been somewhat controversial.
Let’s start with a quick recap of how we got here. Back in 2019, it was revealed that Cadillac would return to “real model names” by 2022. At the time, the bulk of the Cadillac lineup was composed of alphanumeric model names with a selection of numbers and letters, such as the Cadillac CT5 and Cadillac XT4, with the iconic Cadillac Escalade SUV being one obvious exception. However, it was reported that Cadillac was poised to adopt a new naming convention using “real” model names rather than alphanumeric model names, i.e., names similar to the Cadillac Escalade rather than Cadillac XT4.
Later, however, it was revealed that Cadillac was indeed ditching the alphanumeric naming convention, but rather than adopting “real” model names, the luxury marque would instead adopt model names that rewrite real words with the iq suffix.
In an interview with GM Authority Executive Editor Alex Luft, Cadillac head of global strategy, Phil Dauchy, said that the new naming convention was indeed intended to symbolize Cadillac’s transition from internal combustion to all-electric powertrains, “[signaling] that Cadillac is bringing a different type of vehicle to market, one that works in concert with man, nature, and machine.”
When asked specifically about the Cadillac Lyriq, Dauchy said that it was a nod to the fact that Cadillac is the most-mentioned brand in songs, automotive or otherwise.
Of course, naming conventions are similar to styling in that they can be quite subjective. In fact, one could argue that Cadillac was better off sticking with the alphanumeric CT / XT naming conventions and simply sticking EV or Electric at the end for the upcoming range of battery-powered vehicles.
That said, we want to know how you feel about Cadillac’s new IQ naming convention. Tell us by voting in the poll below, and make sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Cadillac news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
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C’est elec(trique)
I love Cadillac. I have 3 of them (2014 CTS coupe, 2010 CTS, and ’77 Coupe DeVille). I never liked the acronym naming and hated the DeNysschen alphanumeric approach even more. The all-electric is a bad idea and the proposed naming is… Let’s see… Idiot-IQ and. Moron-IQ.. How about GM just start building attractive and reliable vehicles again and maybe use names like Eldorado and Seville that already have cache (the El Miraj they teased years ago would have been an earth shattering kaboom to the reining champions in Germany and Japan. There’s nothing to reinvent here and no need to follow. Sadly, GM should change it’s name from “General” Motors to “Private” Motors because they no longer LEAD like a general!
David Alan,
Way too much testosterone in those names. They all sound like they could knock down walls. Concentrate on butterflies and peonies for a while then try again. You’ll be more in line with where Cadillac is headed. I used to hear the adjective “swagger” used to describe Cadillac. Those days are gone.
Ci2Eye:
Thanks for the suggestion. The interesting thing at play here from the Tesla demographic purchasing data to date is that the vast majority of Tesla car buyers are male. Also if you attend any auto event: SEMA Show, Barrett Jackson auctions, Hot August Nights, Chicago Car Show, Fab Tech, even motorcycle rallys: Sturgis, Daytona, Laconia, Street Vibrations, etc. the huge vast majority of attendees are male. Motor vehicles are a man’s game, hobby and love. How many women did Henry Ford have in the ranks of his organization? Read Robert Lacey’s book FORD The Men and the Machine.
GM and Cadillac targeting women is going to backfire. Sorry Mary. As an example how many women post and follow this site? All the authors on GM Authority are male. I rest my case.
I agree 100%. How many father’s take their wife and kids and let them pick out the car. My late father always bought American muscle and switched to wagons after the 3 child. Just my humble opinion 👬🌍
Keep the model name simple and single. Since these models are going to be electric I would suggest something like celestial names or related to electric physics.
Just to throw some examples for your consideration: Megatron, Davtron, Creston, Goldtron, Diatonic, Eltron, Tractronic, Aveterro, etc. Contact me for more free suggestions. Fun project.
Forget the computer password type letters and numbers combinations.
Anything but terrifIQ this awkward, forced attempt at unIQness that’s patently moronIQ and on a deeper level kind of tragIQ for Cadillac which has already been through far too many unsuccessful, halfhearted brand reimaginings meant to solidify the impression of quality that only cemented Cadillac’s reputation for building compromised cars with way too much plastIQ and not nearly enough substance and chIQ. Surely, no formula to pIQ luxury carbuyer’s interest and turn the tides.
I hate to be one to critIQ, but their utter failure to embrace the grand history of the marque treating past successes as relIQs or antIQs instead of drawing inspiration from them is endemIQ of serial corporate mismanagement. Far from remaining squIQy clean, in failing to connect the dots, Mary Barra and her clIQ have perhaps unwittingly dragged Cadillac further through the mud and inflIQted another decade of irreparable damage to the brand’s mystIQ.
I like names better than numbers but I don’t care for Cadillac’s “ick” naming convention. I think their new names are silly sounding and Lyriq and Cellistiq are decidedly feminine. Based on Cadillac’s advertising though, that’s the demographic they’re going for. It seems their ads today are targeted to young female POC types. The curious thing though is that EVs, based on Tesla’s sales data, are selling primarily to Caucasians (86 percent) and to males (70 to 87 percent depending on the model) yet Cadillac in the names they’ve selected and the ads they’re running seems to be focusing entirely on groups that heretofore have bought virtually no EVs.
We’ll see how all that works out for them. I’m inclined to think they have people making decisions that are way smarter than me. On the other hand though, the decision-makers at gm have pretty much destroyed Cadillac and gm itself is a mere shadow of its former all-conquering self. Perhaps then, logic is just in short supply at lowercase gm.
The naming convention is incredibly stupid.
But so is telling shareholders that Ultium products would be in customer’s hands by Q4 2021….then failing to deliver a single one.
Cadillac is so lost. Who are they designing these cars for? Now that I have the $$ to buy a Cadilllac, they have no cars I want to buy. And I am a “buy American” guy. The Liriq thing misses me. Bring back the DTS with a really great engine and really fine interior finishes, and Cadillac will sell all they can make. Stop the crazy angular designs. No one wants them.
GM most likely spent Billions getting the World to understand what CT4, CT5, CT6, XT4, XT5, and XT6 were.
Then they completely change it. I absolutely think that the upcoming Lyriq will be a Home run and I love the direction that Cadillac seems to be taking but the new naming Scheme sucks.
The Lyriq should have been the All New Cadillac XT5 and then replace the lineup accordingly by 2030.
Momolos: CT4, CT5, CT6, XT4, XT5, XT6 sound like construction equipment model names and industrial machine tool model names. Now we are on new Cadillac names that sound like Estee Lauder and Revlon products.
Cadillac model names need to be revisited. My favorite car name for a vehicle I designed in high
school during the muscle car era is Chapparel.
Ford Motor to me wins the car naming contest. How can you beat Lightening, Bronco, Mustang, Continental, Zephyr? Let’s resurrect Ned Jordan’s car name from the Jordan Motor Car Company of Cleveland, Ohio, for the best and most classic car advertising copy ever produced ” Somewhere West of Laramie “, The famed Jordan PLAYBOY.
Perfect for Cadillac’s target to women buyers. The ad copy and name went down in both automotive history and advertising history. Sex sells.
That ad reeked of muscular, toned and skilled feminism. It is beyond great.
You mean like 3,4,5,6,7,8, X1,X2,X3,X4,X5,X6,X7 also A, C, E, S, GLA, GLB, GLC,GLE, GLS
and A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8, Q2,Q3, Q4,Q5,Q7
Because those vehicles Absolutely OWN The Tier One Luxury Segment!!!
Also, they tell you where in the Lineup said vehicles stand within the Brand.
But yeah Lyriq on a Luxury Brand Vehicle is Genius
hate this german system… i3M, iX… then, why not
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 ….
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, W, Y, Z
like this system, Ghost, Wraith, Spectre, Phantom, Cullinan, Shadow, Silver Shadow, Silent Shadow, Seraph etc and my invented name Soul to my model
pity since 1998 the cars are not according, it could be better, details corrected and improved and with total no wood for some € 10 000 as my name Soul
…. 2022 GM Cadillac Lyric … would be totally ok. However the whole shape and details are ugly
further … you could have Mystic, Galactic, Futuristic,
Yeah and I’m sure Mercedes, Audi, and BMW hate themselves with all the sales around the World they get every single year. Lol
wait is not a question of sales, of course, whatever ugly they do, they sell, they are lucky, God chose them to be bulti billions million trillionaires, as said whatever Egal they do
you changed theme, we were talking about taste in names, just that. no one buy a iX7 because the name but because the Germans were best in the odd famous Made in Germany worldwide
PS . minimal CV
<<<
1995 – 1997 GM Engineer CAD – asked demission
1997 – 1998 VW Engineer CAD – asked demission
1998 – 2008 Webasto VW, BMW, Audi D4, Porsche Indirect CADs – ~ 'jude' crazy time
2008 – 2012 no cars. but SSJ100, Sail Yachts – more crazy defibrillators, ~ ss, you know
> 2012 Freedom
I was talking about the pure clarity that the German Big Three have for their customers.
Cadillac was well on their way as well but you know GM will GM with new names.
I never said that CT4, CT5, CT6, XT4, XT5, and XT6 are great names just that I prefer them over the Lyriq and IQ names.
Remember some if not most luxury car drivers want people to know and understand they drive a 7 Series and NOT a 3 Series. Nobody will know the difference in the Brand hierarchy of the upcoming Cadillac IQ names.
And I love the new shift to BEV’s for Cadillac and their new Design language inside and out with the upcoming Lyriq is fantastic. Just the name structure makes ZERO sense.
ok, let’s see the final result in a year
it is like a Rendering a Building, never comes like the drawings
most are in reality a deception, like Concept cars X Series ones.
“Lyriq” … Lyric 😀
“Ascendiq” … Ass and Dick. 😳
N’uff said !
Some names are good while others leave you wondering… WTH? 🧐
… completely rewritting other new trademarks names : stupIQ, stupidIQ, assdIQ … kkk
I like “Lyriq”. Except the Aztek like rear end. Or is that “Aztiq”. ?
I hate the random alphanumeric names. It will be great to go back to real names that can be remembered.
I went into the dealer Friday to convert my reservation into a “order” for my Lyriq. Only choice of colors and wheels. Went with the early availability of Silver, Sky Cool Gray interior, and three smallest wheels possible for maximum range and better ride quality.
No. Get rid of it. Pronto. No more of these -iq names. If you want to add IQ as a separate name like “Escalade IQ”, fine. But Lyriq, Symboliq, Celestiq? No. It’s clear Cadillac already reached the bottom of the barrel with these names and they need a life preserver to get out.
Terrible play on words IMHO. What’s next the Caddie Brainiac
Moroniq.
With the exception of the Escalade and the last DeVille, I haven’t been able to keep
track of which Cadillac is which since the advent of the meaningless numeric identifications. (Except for the ‘V’ series).
Cadillac needs to concentrate on building quality, reliable, durable vehicles whether ICE or EV. They need stability in product names and marketing.
They have been wandering in the model name, product image, brand image desert for too many years. This is why they have fallen so far, awful management.
agree, but have many styling, design issues … must be corrected as well
Soul: Love it!
I saw a gangbanger in Sin City, aka Las Vegas, legally change his full name to Snake Breeder. His ride is a black Escalade. The women absolutely love his changed name, and style. Snake had tats applied to match with his new name. The ultimate in Bad Ass. Snake and Breeder symbolize things in more ways than one. Sex sells.
Cadillac should consider bad ass model names. Like the Phantom, Reaper, Spider, Blade, etc.
I would be glad to assist GM in vehicle naming on a gratis basis. Fun project.
Mary wears cool black leathers and duds in important public appearances. Looks great. GM should reimage itself along the lines of Harley Davidson, Dixxon Clothing, Hot August Nights, with the promotional pizazz of Barrett-Jackson.
Hit the 20 to 45 year old crowd.
many thanks liking the Soul… it has a problem. the Kia uses it, so maybe translated to Alma
with all blacky body and wheels trendy, agree totally with Blade, Sharp etc
Not a fan of the iq naming system. Despite that, Cadillac need to be on the bleeding edge of technology and produce high standard quality well designed luxury vehicles that are status symbols desired by the target market.
How many times is Cadillac going to switch from words to alphanumeric back to words? I mean Jesus Christ from the consumer standpoint it’s going to make them confused as hell.
Anybody unlucky enough to have a Gremlin? 😉 Talk about bad names doesn’t get much worse than that IMHO 🙄🇨🇦🇨🇦👬😋
The only bad part of MY Gremlin was, mine had the 2-litre 4-cylinder engine from Audi/VW. It burned oil due to bad valve stem seals, and it ate exhaust manifolds. “Precision German Engineering” at its finest.
The rest of the car was sturdy, and remained completely trouble-free, and rattle-free despite suffering a year of being driven on Puerto Rican streets and highways. The Gremlin gets a bad rap, but, it just, plain, was not a bad car.
Ok I will be honest with you. My Gremlin was easily the worst car I ever had. I was living in Regina Saskatchewan in the late 70’s and I regularly got stuck in my parents driveway. Also no AC and the heater was not up to winter in Saskatchewan. Just my humble opinion 🌎🇨🇦🤔