New Caddy Flagship Will Be a "World Car"
OK, this one can cut both ways. If you're a GM jump-down-turnaround-pick-a-bale-of-cotton kinda guy, Cadillac's determination to consult the rest of the world before building their luxury car flagship is a smooth move. You will be glad to hear Automotive News [sub] announce that "In yet another attempt to turn Cadillac into a successful global brand, General Motors this year will take a group of designers to China, Russia and other countries to learn what it might take to get BMW and Mercedes-Benz buyers behind the wheel of a Cadillac." If you're a look-what-they-done-to-my-brand, Ma kinda guy, you're notice the words "In yet another attempt." Even the Generally enthusiastic scribe Rick Kranz has to admit that "trying to sell U.S.-oriented vehicles globally has been a dismal failure for Cadillac." Ah, but if you're a booster, you'll clock the "U.S.-oriented" part of that sentence, and say, "See? Caddy needs a world potentate-friendly luxury car like BMW and Mercedes!" But if you're an adherent to the "GM is the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight" school of thought, you'll remember that the European-spec BLS is a, well, what's beyond dismal in terms of automotive failure? Anyway, the new sedan will replace the ancient STS and DTS by "around 2011 or 2012." If GM's still in biz, we can discuss it then.
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Although no one views Lexus as a Japanese Mercedes or BMW, Toyota certainly put some cred into their ability to build luxury automobiles. They poured a ton of money into it with the intention that they were going to build one of the highest quality cars built. They may not be for everyone, but even M-B and BMW execs will agree that they changed the game for the betterment of the consumer. Toyota's entry was viewed as a joke in the beginning, but they are now firmly ensconced in their own variety of luxury car. With the will to do so, the General could do the same thing; American flavor may not satisfy hardcore German-o-philes, but a truly high quality car would gain a following, just as the stunning performance of the Corvette has now given GM credit in the high performance car leagues. And GM certainly needs the halo of building a car which is truly competitive with the best in the world. I think the Corvette and CTS prove that they have the engineering talent, but we haven't yet seen the corporate will from the General to dig in and rebuild Cadillac to "The standard of the world". Unfortunately, their past performance suggests that they think they can get there through successful "branding" and "marketing" - it's still about the product, stupid...
"umm when does anyone drive from New York to LA?" I've done it multiple times. I drive from Silicon Valley, CA to Seattle once or twice a year. California to Colorado about once every other year. Just got back from driving 8 hours to Vegas. There are in fact many people who drive very long distances in their vehicles.