Repair-It

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compani ... spartanntp

Cadillac began to end a quarter-century drought in appeal around the turn of the 21st Century, Carlisle said. Vehicles like the ATS and CTS won acclaim from critics in the last decade.

It's true. I can find you a significant amount of good press across the past 1-2 decades of Cadillac product.

The problem is Cadillac “doesn’t need to be a German luxury brand. It needs to be an American luxury brand,” said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst at Portico Analytics. “They have great products in the showroom,” but the marketing was “completely unrelatable” and failed to break through.

They spent a lot of effort and dollars to make platforms that are great to drive, basically starting with the first Sigma CTS in 2003. They were less attractive as a luxury brand due to lagging interiors (however they were almost always cheaper, usually much cheaper), and if a luxury brand isn't attractive/desirable (as a nameplate), you....don't really have a good luxury brand.

The irony of this is twofold. One, you can say Cadillac should have never gone after the Germans. I completely disagree. The proof is there is no used Lincoln I'd buy - I'd probably take my chances with something European before I bought some warmed-over FWD Ford, regardless of how many ways the seats adjust.

Cadillac must find ways to appeal to “people who have false impressions of who we are” and “people who don’t know us at all,” including millennials, Carlisle said. The brand has the features of industry-leading luxury vehicles, but many people don't know it, he said. Cadillac will focus on new technology and new models that fill gaps in the lineup, he said.

Right. So the second irony is, even though they've been doing good RWD stuff (at least from a performance enthusiast standpoint) for a good 16 years, there is still a good chance that the average person still does not understand this. The only common denominator is, the people who do not think the brand makes anything athletic is not buying them. And the people who DO know they make athletic platforms, are also not buying them. Which is why I do not think the "go after the Germans in driving enjoyment" approach was a mistake - it may not have single handedly solved the sales issue in the long term, but I also do not think it hurt them or was a waste. At the least I'd say enthusiasts know the V-series is legit.

“If you look back over the long history of Cadillac, which I have – 116 years of it – where we’ve done best, where we’ve thrived, is when we’re leading,” Carlisle said. “We stepped away from that for a long time.”

The direction now, however, is a little distressing.

Next up: Cadillac will become GM’s “lead electric vehicle brand,” Barra told investors last week.

It’s too early to tell how that plan will shape up. But Carlisle said it’s likely to involve advanced self-driving capability in vehicles available for sale at dealerships, not ride-sharing networks.

That continues a trend of GM debuting its most advanced technology in Cadillacs.

GM picked Cadillac for its recent introduction of automated highway driving technology called Super Cruise, which has impressed critics with its high-tech functionality and safety features. Enthusiast site Autoblog named Super Cruise its 2019 Technology of the Year. The system steers, brakes and accelerates on its own in highway driving, and keeps a camera trained on the driver's eyes to alert them if they become sleepy while relying on the autonomous technology.

I guess if they think they can step over Tesla, but can they? With a company as large as GM, it should be a matter of applying resources and sheer will, not a matter of whether they can or not. So what do they want to be when they grow up? Not Lincoln. Let's start there...please.

If they could target some combination of Mercedes and Tesla, that might be a winner. I always thought GM was a peer of Mercedes in terms of R&D/engineering capability, at least. A major difference is, GM brings the technology, often in an equivalent time period, at a MUCH lower price and often with less complexity of design.

Random note on that: I could be wrong but I don't think GM or Mercedes have ever used a ZF automatic transmission. They always had their own. Even today.

I can see the idea that a super luxury car would drive itself (chauffeur mode) and have the amenities inside to conduct business from a plush mobile office. I can see why people would like this. They can use their tech, get work done, have meetings, and not "have to drive".

I think if this is the route they are going to go in then they should give up on the V. It is completely counter to this concept in every possible way. There is really no point at all in giving these plush pods V level performance, and really, no point in giving them the same platform unless the V stuff was also going all electric.

I think if they do this, the GM lineup should be something like this:

Chevy - Economy/Solid Commuter (Cruze, Malibu) and Performance (Camaro, Corvette, add some other sedan/coupe to replace CTS-V but in Chevy trim?)
Buick/GMC - Upmarket interior trim/optioned Chevys (Maybe including some performance like mild upgrades from the Chevy Economy vehicles??? but not electric as a mandated chassis requirement?)
Cadillac - Premium, highest tech, autonomy, electric

bill25 wrote:I can see the idea that a super luxury car would drive itself (chauffeur mode) and have the amenities inside to conduct business from a plush mobile office. I can see why people would like this. They can use their tech, get work done, have meetings, and not "have to drive".

Right.

I think if this is the route they are going to go in then they should give up on the V. It is completely counter to this concept in every possible way. There is really no point at all in giving these plush pods V level performance, and really, no point in giving them the same platform unless the V stuff was also going all electric.

Unfortunately, in the long term (which may be a short 10 years), I think I agree. But with the whole Tesla/MB motif, there is certainly plenty of room for an electric V.

I think if they do this, the GM lineup should be something like this:

Chevy - Economy/Solid Commuter (Cruze, Malibu) and Performance (Camaro, Corvette, add some other sedan/coupe to replace CTS-V but in Chevy trim?)
Buick/GMC - Upmarket interior trim/optioned Chevys (Maybe including some performance like mild upgrades from the Chevy Economy vehicles??? but not electric as a mandated chassis requirement?)
Cadillac - Premium, highest tech, autonomy, electric

This probably isn't that far off. The thing about Cadillac is, I actually like their offerings because they end up being good used car values. I like the fact that my V is performance before it is luxury, but I am also glad it has some luxury features and ammenities. So I liked that position Cadillac had made for itself in the market. Performance with a discount, with some amount of luxury. Obviously not enough people who have the money to buy new luxury cars agree with this.

I would not want to see Cadillac give up performance. But it doesn't really fit with the vision of a completely self-driving car.

It also means something depressing. BMW was probably right all along to be luxury first, performance second. And then still show up with the new M5 that is apparently still very good (after a long hiatus since the E60). But they saw the trend. When full autonomy rolls in, you will have luxury/comfort matter 100% and performance matter 0%.