Close-up: 2021 Cadillac Escalade Teased, Short Film to Come

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

This may come as less than exciting news, given that we’ve already seen properly leaked 2021 Cadillac Escalade images already. “Properly” meaning someone sneaked their phone out and fired off a couple of bad pics in a secure area.

That said, the next-generation Escalade has shown its face in an official image ahead of next week’s big reveal. By all accounts, it will be a star-studded affair. The amount of cosmetic surgery bestowed upon the range-topping SUV will surely put attendees at ease.

Yes, General Motors has really gone Hollywood. First, the automaker secured a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the Chevrolet Suburban; now, it’s roped Spike Lee into filming a 3-minute spot titled “Anthem” to coincide with the Escalade’s February 4th launch. It will be shown ⁠— where else? ⁠— in Hollywood.

The award for most overbearing use of Tinseltown glamor for marketing purposes goes to… GM!

Pictured behind the famous director in a much wider-angle GM photo is the ferociously upright prow of the 2021 Escalade ⁠— the third and last of GM’s body-on-frame full-size SUVs to drop. Its towering front end draws the same cues from the Escala-inspired sedans and crossovers launched over the past year or so. Narrow LED headlamps sit atop towering vertical LED light bars, ensuring instant recognition at night.

Boasting a newly independent rear suspension and updated styling wrapped around a slightly bigger box, the Escalade also dons an obscenely large curved screen spanning much of the dash. The automaker claims it stretches 38 inches on the diagonal and offers resolution twice that of a 4k TV.

Perhaps more interesting to our readers is what lurks beneath the model’s hood. While a 10-speed automatic and a tried-and-true 6.2-liter V8 will undoubtedly be on the menu, the jury’s out on whether the 3.0-liter inline-six diesel offered in the 2021 Suburban/Tahoe and Yukon will wear a Caddy crest.

Any association between Cadillac and diesel propulsion will inevitably spur memories of the dismal 5.7-liter oil burner of the 1980s, one which emitted a Kenworth-worthy cloud from a de Ville tailpipe on a certain episode of MotorWeek. As it seeks to lower fleetwide emissions and offer customers lowered fuel economy, the 3.0L Duramax might be an appealing option for the brand — historical connections notwithstanding.

[Images: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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