I'm old enough to remember when the Cadillac name was a synonym for quality. That said, the brand's glory days were already behind it; the expression "the Cadillac of…" was already becoming quaint. I came of age as GM's brand managers trampled any remaining brand equity underfoot. Even as I marveled at BMWs and Mercedes, I wanted Caddy to triumph. Why should the Germans build the world's best sedans? When Lexus launched the LS, I abandoned hope. If the Japanese– masters of the economy car– could build a better Cadillac than Cadillac, well, forget it. Even though Cadillac has enjoyed something of a renaissance with the Escalade (puh-lease) and the CTS, I refuse to get my hopes up. And for good reason. Cadillac's brand manager is still talking about an "entry level" baby Caddy sedan. "I was first kind of consistent that we didn't need one — it would need to be $25,000 to $30,000, which is a pretty cheap Cadillac," Jim Taylor told Automotive News [sub]. "But as the CTS moves up to be $30,000 to $40,000, you are creating space for a smaller Cadillac. So it is starting to be emerging on the list as more viable to me." Note to Jim: the more viable a $25k Cadillac, the less viable the brand. If that's even possible.
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
Oh dear, that’s a horrendous idea.
They have an entry level Caddy – the CTS. Anything less and you’re looking to Cimarron the company again. Those who cannot remember the past…
“But as the CTS moves up to be $30,000 to $40,000, you are creating space for a smaller Cadillac. So it is starting to be emerging on the list as more viable to me.” Note to Jim: the more viable a $25k Cadillac, the less viable the brand. If that’s even possible.
The problem is, with incentives, there already is/will be a sub-$30,000 Cadillac – the CTS (assuming healthy incentives).
VW’s 50-state compliant diesels are due to go on sale in July ’08.
I won’t speak again of Cadillac’s strategy or how incalculably wrong you are on this.
I will tell TexasAg03 that I doubt the CTS is selling below $30,000. Not with a base price of $33,490. That wouldn’t be healthy incentivizing. That’d be wholesaling.
Even though Cadillac has enjoyed something of a renaissance with the Escalade (puh-lease)
A truck-based SUV wasn’t my idea of a Cadillac either, but what is anymore, really, especially in light of these new developments.
Besides, in my view the Escalade is the spriritual successor to the Eldorado.
thanks blautens for putting a name to unspeakable horror. I knew exactly what I was looking for, yet somehow Google images refuses to give an adequate response to “cadillac k-car.”
The horror, the horror…
Mr Farago,
You made a couple of mis-pronunciations.
Dr Ferdinand Piech’s surname is pronounced “Pee-ek” and VW’s Tourag is pronounced “Twar-reg”.
Mr Niedermeyer,
I clicked on that link and saw the Caddy Cimmaron for the first time. Who the hell approved the budget for THAT car to be made?!
Katie – you don’t like the Cava-Caddy? ;-)
That was the name most people gave it when it came out – you could tell it was a rebadged Cavalier from a mile away.
Ummm, WTF is Buick for than????
Or is this a stealthy way of informing us that Buick truly is toast! But $25,000 is actually Chevy territory, is it not? Hell that is the mean transaction price for your garden varity 4cyl. Accord/ Camry.
Now what does that mean for Pontiac, which supposed to be a fancy Chevy?
If those dumb block heads had any bit of sense they would know that they could actually use the FWD oriented SAAB brand as a means of getting a $25,000 entry level wannabe premium car to market in the USA.
Spend a few coins to polish up the turbo Ecotec engine.
Skip the leather and other silly worthless options go with some funky styled velour seats and a nice sound system.
Offer AWD as a option, but stick to the fun to drive performance aspect.
Keep the look of the car swedish simplistic chic.
Be sure to offer an affordable convertible, hatch/wagon but make sure to bring the coupe to market first to promote the fun/ sporty image.
Park a few around some of the better colleges and grad schools, offer up EXECELLENT finance terms to QUALIFIED entry level customers with decent income and good credit. Yes, that right make ownership seem/ feel a reward for being smart!
Find a USA company or two and start a partnership for fleet sales in the manner of the europeans. A job perk! I am sure their are a few folks out here that would be happy to take a cut in pay for a free (nice) car.
Build a culture around it like the 3 series. Racing events, ownership clubs, etc. Create a factory backed dealer based aftermarket for a host of nice accessories; performance, utility, and appearance.
I can see it now – A Cobalt with a Caddy badge on it.
lprocter1982: I can see it now – A Cobalt with a Caddy badge on it.
Well, I understand the Cobalt/Pontiac G5/Opel-Saturn Astra chassis is supposed to be very closely related to the Malibu/Pontiac G6/Saturn Aura/Opel Vectra/Saab 9-3/Cadillac BLS chassis.
The Cadillac BLS really looks like a modern interpretation of the Cimarron. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see it in the U.S. I can’t imagine why anyone would buy one, but maybe Cadillac thinks it can give some competition to the Lincoln MKZ and Lexus ES and fill the hole that was created when Jaguar stopped importing the X-Type.
I will tell TexasAg03 that I doubt the CTS is selling below $30,000. Not with a base price of $33,490. That wouldn’t be healthy incentivizing. That’d be wholesaling.
I think the previous generation was, at least here in Texas (D/FW area). As for the new version, it probably won’t have incentives at first, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens soon.
The Cobalt/G5 are built off the old Ion platform. The Astra, to the best of my knowledge, is not (I could be wrong on this one).
The G6 and the old Malibu were built off the same platform (Saab). I’m not sure about the new Malibu since it is the same car as the Aura, which I believe is a rebadged Opel.
I dunno. Maybe Caddy is tired of the CTS having its butt handed to it when its compared to the [relatively] smaller G35 and the 3-series.
The idea might work if they don’t plan to have an MSRP lower than the G’s.
It will almost surely ride on the new Alpha small RWD platform being developed as we speak.
the last sentence says it all.
Katie Puckrik, I’m not sure what you’re referring to, but though you’re right about the pronunciation of Touareg (not Tuarag)–I wrote a film about the tribe, which is actually spelled Tuareg–I’ve always thought that Ferdie’s last name was pronounced Pee-YECH.
Orian: The Cobalt/G5 are built off the old Ion platform. The Astra, to the best of my knowledge, is not (I could be wrong on this one).
As I understand it the current Astra is built an updated version of the Cobalt/G5/Ion chassis. The main difference between GM’s compact chassis and mid-sized chassis has to do with the wheelbase being longer and the rear suspension being more sophisticatedfor the mid-sized models.
The G6 and the old Malibu were built off the same platform (Saab). I’m not sure about the new Malibu since it is the same car as the Aura, which I believe is a rebadged Opel.
The new Malibu is built on an updated version of the Saturn Aura chassis, which is built on an updated version of the Pontiac G6 chassis, which is built on an updated version of the old Malibu chassis. Supposedly each chassis is just different enough from each other that none of the cars can share the same assembly-line. (Which is something I would expect from GM.)
I’m not sure which exact chassis the Opel Vectra, Saab 9-3 and Cadillac BLS are built from, but it is one that is shared with the family of mid-sized American-built GM products (probably the Pontiac G6 or Saturn Aura).
The current Saturn Aura is more than just a rebadged Opel Vectra. It uses a longer wheelbase and has a longer overall length than the Vectra. Although the styling is strongly influenced by the Vectra. I’m not sure if they even share any sheet metal.
Mr Wilkinson,
That was the pronunciation I was trying to say! LOL. I just couldn’t think of the best way of writing it phonetically. Thanks for that. ;O)
With Tata motors coming out with an ultra cheap car, this is going to leave a hole in Caddy’s lineup. Caddy needs to start working on their $2,500 car. ($2,099 with incentives)
Piëch is pronounced Pi-esh. (With the i taking an ee-sound for Americans.)
An acquaintance of mine who worked for him pronounced the s very softly, though I think that’s the Austrian form. From Germans I’ve heard a more distinct s.
The problem with caddy is not that it is building pre-entry-pre-premium sedans, but by the attitude they use. I can not even count that Cadillac engineers( if such exist) would roll up sleeves and build their own car. I imagine them flipping open their razorphones and calling some saab or opel and begging to borrow some platforms and exteriors for botulline injections and nosejob. People feel cheated if Cadillac has to borrow parts from the cheapest brand in Europe- opel.( journalists are not laughing at Exhalade because it`s so big, but because it has leaf springs, OHV, chevy tin and Daewoo steering wheel.) I believe that lexus could build and sell even mini type of car , because we wouldn`t read remarks about borrowed steering wheels , borrrowed chassis or rattling interior plastics. Merc can sell a-klasse, b-klasse, yet not ruining themselves. Bimmer can sell 1-series, Audi can sell A1 etc. Volvo can sell c30. See, being about premium brand, is about BEING premium brand, not faking it. Silicone boobs won`t work! DTS, BLS, Exhalade are failures. Can you guess what do they have in common?
@jurisb
You’re quite right.
Mercedes’ problem became the taxi fleet sales. The exclusivity of owning a Mercedes got degraded when you saw them as taxis all over Europe. In other words, who they were selling to.
In Cadillac’s case, the problem is one of what they are selling. It’s just not a luxury car – the spreadsheet johnnies that have been running GM have seen to that.
Mercedes is taking measures to remove their models from taxi ranks, but the quality is still there. Meanwhile GM works on the premise that their customers are easily fooled.
Stein X Leikanger: Mercedes is taking measures to remove their models from taxi ranks, but the quality is still there.
Perhaps you mean build quality? If so, I agree. Mercedes are beautifully built.
If you mean reliability, I hope THAT level of quality still isn’t there in a Mercedes. Sorry, but Mercedes models have had subpar reliability for the past decade. And that isn’t even considering what Daimler did to Chrysler…
Disagree. As a thirty-something consumer, my perception of the Cadillac brand is that of a floating luxo-barge with trashy gold accents filled with scowling old people. However, the CTS is pretty damn hot. If I could get a piece of that hotness at a more affordable price, I’d seriously consider it.
If–and that’s a big if–Cadillac can make an exceptionally good entry-level vehicle like Audi has done with the A3 and BMW with the 1-series, they may very likely attract younger buyers. Cadillac has to tear down their old brand identity and build a new one to attract buyers under the age of eighty. That’s the only way they’ll remain viable.
Over the weekend I attended an old car event. There was a ’41 Cadillac 60 Special (with a sliding steel factory sunroof!) in close to # 1 condition. Everyone was inspecting it and commenting how Cadillac would still be the Cadillac of automobiles if GM had continued to make ’em like that. When along comes a glorious ’38 V16 Fleetwood limousine that absolutely dwarfed the 60 Special! About which, everyone repeated their previous “if only” comments.
It is probably unlikely that an American auto manufacturer will ever attain such a lofty perch again. And that makes me very sad.
Am I the only person that wants a smaller Caddy, a car to compete with the A3? I’m 27, so to me the new 2nd gen CTS is the first and only car that made me look at Caddy. If I had the $$$ and were not such a big diesel fan (waiting on the new VW TDI), the new CTS would be my fav. Sorry, BMW’s interior, while functional (drove a 3series last summer in Andorra), looks worse than my Mazda3 – ouch!