GM Chief Ed Whitacre Personally Orders Cadillac to Build RWD Flagship to Top XTS

nickthaskater · Jun 11, 2010

whitejeep1989 said:
XTS is a done deal. Caddy is employing a Lexus-like 2 car/segment strategy. The recently re-approved Cadillac version of the Acadia/Enclave will compliment the Escalade, the XTS will compliment STS(?), and the SRX compliments the CTS wagon.

Not so fast. The Converj was a "done-deal" as well, but it's since been scrapped. Until the thing is rolling down the production lines, nothing is certain, particularly when it comes to GM these days.

whitejeep1989 · Jun 11, 2010

sailski07 said:
I'm really glad to hear this. Cadillac had been making a lot of headway with the CTS. Recently with the XTS and news of the Lambda Escalade, I though it was backpedaling.

A true RWD flagship will be great for the brand - a big Cadillac is such a classic car archetype.

I don't see the XTS and Lamdallac as backpedaling at all. ATS, and CTS will be the volume players, and will be/remain RWD. The Escalade is the Escalade and is probably going to remain the brand's most visible ambassador. The Lamdallac and XTS, seem like a 2 vehicle approach to replacing the DTS and former 3-row SRX. Let those vehicle serve as limo duty, funerary service vehicles, etc..., and save the ATS and CTS for enthusiasts.

mdp310 · Jun 11, 2010

1SICKLEX said:
Caddy has mojo here. While the CTS is bought by older buyers there are a few younger buyers in the mix. This flagship needs to be;

CTS's seem to hold their value pretty well. I was looking into picking up a used one, but they were either still $30k, or had a bazillion miles.

patrikman · Jun 11, 2010

whitejeep1989 said:
The naming convention that Caddy is using is not hurting the sales of those models by any means!

I honestly cannot imagine the CTS being called the "Fleetwood Brougham" under any circumstances.

The STS name/trim level has been around since the 80s, and I think people have gotten used to it. CTS is equally as familiar now.

I never said it hurts sales. As a former Coupe de Ville owner I miss beautiful names like Eldorado Biarritz and stuff like that. Every single luxury car company calls their cars XTC-LS123iS and crap like that. Even Lincoln has fell victim to the blandness of abbreviations. Are we that much in a hurry that we can't give a beautiful car a beautiful name anymore? Where is the romance in that? Keep your sci-fi I want Americana.

J-Tim · Jun 11, 2010

patrikman said:
I never said it hurts sales. As a former Coupe de Ville owner I miss beautiful names like Eldorado Biarritz and stuff like that. Every single luxury car company calls their cars XTC-LS123iS and crap like that. Even Lincoln has fell victim to the blandness of abbreviations. Are we that much in a hurry that we can't give a beautiful car a beautiful name anymore? Where is the romance in that? Keep your sci-fi I want Americana.

Exactly. Cadillac is known for most beautiful names in automotive history.

It's a real shame that those have been replaced by alphabet soup. :banghead:

Impeccable · Jun 11, 2010

J-Tim said:
Before they do that, they need to bring back proper names for their models :thumbup:

FLEETWOOD:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

KahviVW · Jun 11, 2010

patrikman said:
I never said it hurts sales. As a former Coupe de Ville owner I miss beautiful names like Eldorado Biarritz and stuff like that. Every single luxury car company calls their cars XTC-LS123iS and crap like that. Even Lincoln has fell victim to the blandness of abbreviations. Are we that much in a hurry that we can't give a beautiful car a beautiful name anymore? Where is the romance in that? Keep your sci-fi I want Americana.

All the manufacturers who went to alphanumeric model names did so because 1) they wanted to mimic European brands i.e. Volvo, Audi, MB, Saab and 2) using an alphanumeric name puts the emphasis on the brand not the model. Someone would say they own a Lincoln XYZ instead of a Navigator.

The proliferation has largely backfired when so many brands adopted such silly names with no rationale behind them. This creates an opening in the market to establish some interesting names like Riviera, Continental, etc. Cadillac has done a great job with the CTS, but it remains to be seen if they can make a strong D-segment car without relying on livery services. I hope they can. The world is ready for a reborn Continental or El Dorado.

[spoon] · Jun 11, 2010

KahviVW said:
The proliferation has largely backfired when so many brands adopted such silly names with no rationale behind them. This creates an opening in the market to establish some interesting names like Riviera, Continental, etc. Cadillac has done a great job with the CTS, but it remains to be seen if they can make a strong D-segment car without relying on livery services. I hope they can. The world is ready for a reborn Continental or El Dorado.

I think it backfired when it got confusing and the numbers stopped meaning anything... x28... x35... every AMG x63, etc etc.
I like Audi's scheme. It's simple yet coveys what you need to know. BMW would be ok if the 28 or 35 or xx actually meant the displacement but it doesn't.

patrikman · Jun 11, 2010

[spoon] said:
I think it backfired when it got confusing and the numbers stopped meaning anything... x28... x35... every AMG x63, etc etc.
I like Audi's scheme. It's simple yet coveys what you need to know. BMW would be ok if the 28 or 35 or xx actually meant the displacement but it doesn't.

What is so confusing about the BMW X5 xDrive35d? :laugh:

[spoon] · Jun 11, 2010

patrikman said:
What is so confusing about the BMW X5 xDrive35d? :laugh:

I was gonna bring up the redundancy and fugly badging of the xDrive X5 but I figured I'd leave that for someone else... Personally I think it illustrates that the average IQ of a new BMW buyer is slightly lower than that of the majority

unleashedd · Jun 11, 2010

[spoon] said:
I think it backfired when it got confusing and the numbers stopped meaning anything... x28... x35... every AMG x63, etc etc.
I like Audi's scheme. It's simple yet coveys what you need to know. BMW would be ok if the 28 or 35 or xx actually meant the displacement but it doesn't.

the whole point is to strengthen the 'Lac brand name; most average luxury car buyers don't care what BMW or Lexus they drive

and +1 for the fins!!!!! i hope this new 'lac will be the boldest, blingest, most futuretro-styled, american car - because europe wants it!!!!

soldierguy · Jun 11, 2010

patrikman said:
What is so confusing about the BMW X5 xDrive35d? :laugh:

All I can think of when I see a name like that is a windows-based corporate file naming convention.

I have a Mac.

Bring back Fleetwood.

Pun intended.

whitejeep1989 · Jun 11, 2010

Let's not pretend that this is new. Chrysler and GM have both had alphanumeric named cars as far back as the 1920s. Chrysler's 300-Series, Olds 88/98, Cadillac Sixty-Special, and a few others come to mind from that era. Lincoln has used variations of Mark and Mk., and now MK since the 1950s. I am not sure if fake Spanish names "Eldorado" are any better or more romantic than "CTS". If the CTS Coupe was named "Eldorado", I am sure that this car would be saddled by the traditional customers for that former Caddy coupe, and it would be adorned with dealer add-on crap.

patrikman said:
I never said it hurts sales. As a former Coupe de Ville owner I miss beautiful names like Eldorado Biarritz and stuff like that. Every single luxury car company calls their cars XTC-LS123iS and crap like that. Even Lincoln has fell victim to the blandness of abbreviations. Are we that much in a hurry that we can't give a beautiful car a beautiful name anymore? Where is the romance in that? Keep your sci-fi I want Americana.

xdre · Jun 11, 2010

I disagree. Eldorado, Fleetwood, Escalade, Seville, even Sedan De Ville...those all sound a lot more special than CTS, STS, XLR, and so on, and they're certainly a lot more emotional. Leave the cold and antiseptic naming conventions to the Germans. For that matter, even Sixty Special is better than XTS.

Fritz27 · Jun 11, 2010

[spoon] said:
I think it backfired when it got confusing and the numbers stopped meaning anything... x28... x35... every AMG x63, etc etc.
I like Audi's scheme. It's simple yet coveys what you need to know. BMW would be ok if the 28 or 35 or xx actually meant the displacement but it doesn't.

Why does the displacement thing matter? I'd venture a guess that 98% of new BMW buyers don't have the foggiest idea what displacement even implies. To them, 335i > 328i because it's a higher number. That rule goes with most brands. The bigger the number, the more expensive the car, the more rich/successful you appear to be.

Some of you guys are silly and project your auto enthusiasm onto the masses. Most people barely know what make and model of car they drive. I know I've encountered way more:

A: "What do you drive?"
B: "A Toyota"
A: "Which one?"
B: "Uh, a silver one"
A: "Which model?"
B: "Um, I think a Camry, maybe a Corolla"

ATL_Av8r · Jun 11, 2010

He also demanded that dealers immediately stop using the term "Caddy".

GTRaavv · Jun 11, 2010

Wasn't this always the plan? I remember reading a long time ago that a stretched CTS platform would eventually be used to build an XTS and that the XTS would be a temporary stopgap. Maybe it was just speculation in the article I read, but it got it right. I'm actually impressed with GM's response to the rejuvination of Cadillac because they seem to have this gradual transitional approach to getting the brand back to Tier 1 status, but its also realistic. Gradually pushing the CTS upmarket, making the DTS a lot hipper in the form of the XTS, which should keep DTS customers while others gradually get used to a $60k+ Cadillac sedan, even the SRX position change. Hopefully with the new RWD flagship, the XTS will move down to Buick and give Buick a new Park Avenue.

patrikman · Jun 11, 2010

ATL_Av8r said:
He also demanded that dealers immediately stop using the term "Caddy".

I think I know why.............

Air and water do mix · Jun 11, 2010

looking forward to big fins and pointy taillights.

Yeah, I know they won't pass pedestrian regs, but it would be cool. LED '59 caddy tails. Mmmmmmmmm.

Air and water do mix · Jun 11, 2010

xdre said:
I disagree. Eldorado, Fleetwood, Escalade, Seville, even Sedan De Ville...those all sound a lot more special than CTS, STS, XLR, and so on, and they're certainly a lot more emotional. Leave the cold and antiseptic naming conventions to the Germans. For that matter, even Sixty Special is better than XTS.

I agree completely. :beer: If you want to modernize it, perhaps 'Six Hundred Special' would be more appropriate, since it's a higher number than the Germans normally use.

GM Chief Ed Whitacre Personally Orders Cadillac to Build RWD Flagship to Top XTS

nickthaskater

whitejeep1989

mdp310

patrikman

J-Tim

Impeccable

KahviVW

[spoon]

patrikman

[spoon]

unleashedd

soldierguy

whitejeep1989

xdre

Fritz27

ATL_Av8r

GTRaavv

patrikman

Air and water do mix

Air and water do mix

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