Cadillac Won't Attempt to Fix the One Model That Isn't Broken

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

Cadillac has one exceptionally good, class-leading model in its range. That model doesn’t have a V badge. It isn’t even a car. And almost nothing about it is unique. It’s the Escalade. And people can’t get enough of its luxury whipped cream dolloped atop its American apple pie.

Contrary to recent reports that the Escalade will abandon its body-on-frame roots, it looks like the Escalade will continue as a luxury offshoot of its full-size SUV cousins — the Yukon and Tahoe/Suburban — reports the Detroit Free Press based on an interview with Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen:

“The Escalade must become more sophisticated and technically advanced, more detail oriented” in its interior design and materials, [Johan de Nysschen] said. “We can do all that with a body-on-frame architecture.”

Though, if we’re to dig into this no-change-is-good story a bit more, maybe Cadillac couldn’t change the Escalade even if it wanted to.

In the small luxury car segment, the Cadillac ATS ranked 10th out of 23 models on sale in 2015, according to GoodCarBadCar. The Cadillac XTS and CTS placed 6th and 8th respectively in the midsize luxury segment. The only other bright spot in the Cadillac lineup is the SRX, which played runner-up to the Lexus RX in the midsize luxury SUV segment and may lose some places when replaced it’s by the XT5.

With all these segment fires raging around Cadillac’s coupes and sedans, the decision not to change the Escalade might not be a decision at all, but an inevitability. The Escalade is the one model giving GM’s luxury brand a roof over its head. And when you’re surrounded by wildfire, the last thing you do is set light to your own home.

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

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  • BklynPete BklynPete on Feb 09, 2016

    To me, most buyers of Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Denali/Escalade SUVs are seeking traditional big cars, not trucks. These vehicles generate almost all of GM's profits, in exactly the same way as the full-size B-body cars did in the glory days of the Sixties/Seventies. The same is true for Silverado/Sierra when you look beyond commercial use. They are even the same size as those land yachts were before the 1977 downsizing. The tooling, development and design was essentially paid for generations ago. Obviously the brand distinctions such as they were are meaningless today, but to me it looks like this: Chevrolet Silverado/Tahoe/Suburban - Biscayne/Belair/Impala/Caprice Classic GMC Sierra/Yukon - Pontiac Catalina/Bonneville/Grand Ville GMC Denali (Sierra/Yukon) - Buick LeSabre/lower-trim Electra 225/Olds 88/lower-trim 98/Cadillac Calais Cadillac Escalade - Buick Park Avenue/Olds 98 Regency Brougham/DeVille/Fleetwood One could also say that the pickups and CUVs replace what was GM's other expertise and profit center of its glory years, mid-sized cars. I am sure the SoHo Cadillac team recoils at this reality, but this is really how the money is made. Even as someone with a PR background, I say they would do well to acknowledge it rather than wow the auto and lifestyle press with wares that won't sell.

  • Akear Akear on Feb 09, 2016

    I put over 170,000 trouble-free miles on a Northstar V6. I can name at least 5 other people I know that can claim the same experience. The current Cadillac V6 has some NVH issues.

    • See 5 previous
    • DeadWeight DeadWeight on Feb 09, 2016

      @28-Cars-Later He's 7 to 8 years younger. My back...

  • Nick Nick on Feb 10, 2016

    Curious if there are any Toronto residents here. There's a regular at Bayview Village (where the pompous go to shop (good liqour store though)) who bought one of these in silver. The proverbial little old lady. It's clear she has no idea where the perimeter of the vehicle is. She hoists herself up on the steering wheel, trying to find a berth to park it in. It's quite a performance, even if she's a menace to everthing and everyone in the parking lot.

    • PRNDLOL PRNDLOL on Feb 11, 2016

      Toronto here. I would like to see a quick clip of this 'Bayview Battleaxe' in action LOL

  • Akear Akear on Feb 10, 2016

    I know it was called the short star, but it was part of the Northstar family. It was also in the aurora. I was pissed off when GM announced they were phasing out Oldsmobile just months after my purchase. i know for a fact the Deville/DTS was once the best selling luxury car in the land. I still see a lot of them on the road.

    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Feb 11, 2016

      No. You do not understand sales data. Anecdotes about noticing cars are irrelevant.

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