What's Wrong With This Picture: The Cimmaron Of The Future Edition
According to a recent projection, GM will be selling over 2m vehicles on its Gamma (Aveo) platform by 2016… and thanks to Cadillac’s Urban Luxury Concept, we know what the most profitable iteration of that platform could look like. Yes, it’s the new-wave Cimarron of the future, inspired by such pedigreed city-car competitors as the Aston-Martin Cygnet and the Bugatti Petit Sport Sang de Navet. And with Lambo doors and a grille that would put a crunk rapper to shame, the littlest Caddy certainly does everything it can to distract from its humble (presumably budget Korean hatchback) roots. Because, as lead designer Frank Saucedo puts it
There is no minimum size for a Cadillac driving experience.
But there is a minimum volume per platform target… and the importance of this metric almost guarantees that, in some way or another, the Cimarron will ride again.
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Mistake, mistake, mistake. For a whole bunch of reasons other than the questionable styling, but let's start with these two: 1. The market for this sort of thing always gets overestimated. Real city dwellers, with no offstreet parking and mixing it up in cut and thrust traffic, will be happier with a Fit or a Cruze or a Fiesta. Not enough of them are going to spend Cadillac bucks for a car that's going to sit out on the street overnight, cost a bundle to insure, and doesn't do anything a Fit doesn't. And the ones who do buy it will outgrow it quickly, as soon as they have kids and/or move to the burbs. 2. Every dollar spent on developing and marketing this is a dollar diverted from doing what Cadillac needs desperately to do, which is revitalize the top end of its lineup with a RWD ultra luxury model that gives customers the best of the classiest big Caddies of yore - think '66 Fleetwood Brougham -- in a modern package. The XTS won't do that, being hemmed in by the limitations of the Epsilon platform (just like the MKS isn't doing it for Lincoln). Quick before it's too late, as everyone else is moving in on this market. Think Hyundai Equus, reviewed elsewhere on this site. Fix the front seats and it's ready to be the new DeVille. The LWB version (not coming to the US, bummer) could be the Fleetwood Brougham. I don't mean GM should sell rebadged Equuses as Caddies. I mean this is the kind of car Cadillac should be building, instead of ceding the market to Hyundai.
Too small to be a Caddy or Buick and too classy to be a Chevy. Split the grill vertically, put an Indian head on the steering wheel hub & revive Pontiac. This thing would make an awesome companion to my Aztek. And don't make versions of it for any other division.