Cadillac Aiming For RWD Flagship, New SRX In 2015

Carguy, If you are truly a carguy, then you know that the targets are BMW, Mercedes and Lexus. Not Audi. Call me when the ATS outsells the 3/4 and C-class. Or when the CTS outsells the 5 or E-class.

That Audi doesn't put cash on the hood?

Agreed, have read elsewhere that Buick and Cadillac have amongs the industry's leading indexes in conquest sales and decrease of buyers' age. Those two show that GM is doing it exactly as they should. On the other hand, the relative high ages of Toyota and Mercedes buyers is what has turned on the yellow light in those companies

@VoGo Audi is constantlly growing só they are yes a target. Lexus and Mercedes buyers are quite older than Audi or Cadillac buyers, which does not bode well for them.

VoGo, the ancestry of the 3-series goes right back to the mid-'60s 2002, and the C-class can be traced directly back to the mid-'80s. That's something like 75 years COMBINED that both lines have been on the market, versus a few months for the ATS (or 10 years or so, if you want to include the CTS). Even Lexus has taken a good 10 years or so to make the inroads it has on these nameplates with the IS and GS lines, and they're not even in the same galaxy as the 3 or C-class sales-wise...and they don't have the negative baggage Cadillac carries. I think Cadillac will eventually pose a greater threat to Mercedes and BMW, and the fact that they're trying to go after them with cars that are genuinely driver-oriented (versus the old approach, which was "Euro" styling touches and maybe a bit stiffer suspension), tells me they have the right idea.

@VoGo Not so VoGo. Audi is the emerging luxury maker that has been on an upward trajectory for the past 25 years. The Cadillac turnaround is in its infancy but they are making good progress in a notoriously difficult segment. The point of the post was to interrupt the group-think that was taking hold on these pages with some perspective.

@FreedMike Mike, Today's 428 has as much in common with a 2002 as today's ATS does with a Cimmaron. I hold Cadillac to a higher standard in the US than beating Audi, which is growing quickly, but off a tiny base. If Cadillac isn't going to even try to compete with the 3 leaders, then why bother? Just stay content to compare yourself to Volvo and Acura. Like Lincoln does. And then sit back and enjoy all the success that goes to a player that strives to be mediocre. But don't ever use the phrase "Standard of the World" again.

The fact that Cadillac is the 4th best selling luxury car brand in the USA is a very sad commentary on the state of the brand - 40 years ago they were selling more than all the luxury imports combined. Yet Cadillac's problem in competing with BMW, Mercedes, and Audi is not in the USA, but in the rest of the world. They sell virtually nothing in Europe, while the Germans sell hundreds of thousands of units. The Germans also sell very well in major car markets all over the world, which gives them economies of scale and profits that Cadillac (and Lincoln, Acura, Lexus, Volvo, Jaguar) can only dream about. This is also what funds the German technology and proliferation of new models, which no other luxury brands are capable of following because they lack the global sales. And if the market preferences shift to hybrids or electric, or hydrogen, the Germans are well positioned to do well there as well. I hate to say this, but I do not see how Cadillac has any chance to be a global luxury leader in the short or long term - GM just does not have the management talent or resources to compete.

Carguy, How is Cadillac in a turnaround in its infancy? They have been making luxury cars in the US for a century, and are in the midst of turmoil for 40 years. Sometimes this business is very simple. Define your brand strategy. Align products around it. Sell them. Cadillac has failed on all counts for decades. There is no turnaround, because there is no brand strategy. If you want canyon carvers, great, then drop the Escalade. If you want to go bling, then stop wasting $Billions on the ATS/CTS. If you want to be a big bruiser/cruiser, then why the ELR? Until Cadillac figures out what it wants to be when it grows up, you'll move from comparing them to Audi, then Volvo, then Lincoln, then SAAB. This is a dead brand.

@VoGo The Escalade makes too much money for GM to kill it. Even if it doesn't fit the brand's current values, it pays for the brand to exist.

And how many of those buyers are actually out there? It sounds like the people who'd want a true mini-pickup or an AWD brown manual diesel station wagon.