Daily Podcast: The Cadillac of Podcasts?
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.
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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!