[coolcaddy]

Another great article heralding Cadillac's comeback, (scroll down for article).

If there's anyone out there who still doubts that Cadillac is shooting for Standard of the World, well, I should bring you up to date on a few other facts you may be a bit unsure of: the world is round as it turns out, we really did go to the moon, and that shiny thing at Roswell was just a weather balloon.

Interesting quotes from this article:

We don't want to make it into something that it is not. But I'd say it's akin to what the 7 Series might be to BMW. The new DTS (the successor to the DeVille) will play that role. It isn't a high performance car because it is a large vehicle -- but it will have luxury, style and attitude.

What's interesting about this isn't so much that the DeVille's successor is aimed at the BMW 7-series, but that Cadillac is, thankfully, not looking to a 7-series counterpart as its uppermost end, based on this quote:

We have to put an entry in there at some point and we're still continuing to evaluate that. The Sixteen was as much about showing where our future designs might go as it was hinting at an ultra-luxurious model.

This is important because it reaffirms that the folks at Cadillac understand that "supercar" doesn't mean 7-series or S-class, and that Cadillac is shooting for Rolls-Royce or Maybach for its uppermost end. Who'd-a thunk it a few years ago?

Of course, Cadillac will not need to market such a supercar under some other name as MB has had to do with its Maybach brand, (i.e. because DC has so cheapened MB that the name alone can no longer be regarded as an ultimate measure of automotive excellence).

Article follows...

A new Caddy-tude
Return to trend-setting roots reinvigorate Cadillac

Friday, January 02, 2004
By Don Hammonds, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cadillac, once America's "Standard of the World" in luxury motoring before sputtering into a prolonged period of mediocrity and so-so styling, is making a strong bid to regain its title.

The company that gave Americans tail fins, the Eldorado and powerful 16-cylinder engines is on a comeback trail, winning plaudit after plaudit for its model lineup.

more...

 

[coolcaddy]

I had an enlightening discussion with my favorite Cadillac salesman about the SRX about a month ago, and it seems that it may have suffered the same initial packaging problem as the Lincoln Aviator did when it was introduced. Specifically, folks would walk into the showroom, look at a $50K SRX, then walk over and look at a similarly priced $50K Escalade, scratch their heads, then plop down money for the Escalade.

Lincoln had the same problem with the Aviator/Navigator. That problem was solved by offering special packages of more "interesting" Aviator options and pricing those packages well south of Navigator territory. Apparently, that worked very nicely, as Aviators are flying out of Lincoln showrooms (ha, "flying", "Aviator", get it?), at least here in SoCal.

Cadillac apparently followed suit by offering more packaged options that result in a more affordable vehicle with a desirable feature set, and I'd venture to say that it's paying off, (we'll know for sure when we see December sales figures). I'm starting to see them on the road either daily or every other day, so anecdotally, it looks like the SRX is doing well.

As far as CTS's are concerned, I see a gazillion of 'em. Easily 5 or more a day on my long commute to work, each way.