PHOTOS UPDATED
Cadillac is already on the upswing here in the US, and has been for some time. The image repair that GM has been able to carry out is impressive, and the rebirth is poised to enter phase two. GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz and Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor both commented at the Geneva Motor Show that Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are in their gunsights, and that a 3-series-esque family of models could emerge from the CTS. A wagon version of the CTS is getting serious consideration as Cadillac looks at taking the fight to European turf.
[Source: Automotive News – sub. req'd]
While there's a wagon variant of the BLS model, based off the SAAB 9-3, the CTS wagon is on track to be a RWD affair. An estate version of the CTS would give European buyers, who are more fond of wagons than we are here in the US, a further reason to consider the Cadillac brand when car shopping. The RWD layout would also help the vehicle be in the same league dynamically as the brands they have targeted. While we're sure the BLS is a nice vehicle, FWD is not the way of the future for Cadillac, according to Lutz. The DTS could make a move to GMs Zeta platform that will be coming to the US as the Pontiac G8 – or it could stay on its current platform. Lutz is no fan of sitting tight, however, and has voiced the opinion that the next DTS should be a RWD car.
There has also been talk of an entry-level Cadillac, slotted below the CTS and priced in the mid $20-30,000 range. Lutz and Taylor aren't in total agreement over the plan to step into that crowded segment. We remember the Cimarron, and hope that Cadillac does, too. The CTS makes a fine entry point to the Cadillac brand, and selling a Cadillac for Chevy money is fraught with danger and could cheapen Cadillac's newly revived image. Another potential land mine is a high-end model that plays in the $100,000 plus realm. As with an entry-level model, a halo model should be analyzed very carefully, lest it pull a Phaeton. The Ultra-Lux Caddy is probably far less a priority than fleshing out the CTS offerings, so we may not have to worry too much about an amazingly turned out but languid-selling Cien or Sixteen production model killing Cadillac's recent forward momentum.
Cadillac is already on the upswing here in the US, and has been for some time. The image repair that GM has been able to carry out is impressive, and the rebirth is poised to enter phase two. GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz and Cadillac General Manager Jim Taylor both commented at the Geneva Motor Show that Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are in their gunsights, and that a 3-series-esque family of models could emerge from the CTS. A wagon version of the CTS is getting serious consideration as Cadillac looks at taking the fight to European turf.
[Source: Automotive News – sub. req'd]
There has also been talk of an entry-level Cadillac, slotted below the CTS and priced in the mid $20-30,000 range. Lutz and Taylor aren't in total agreement over the plan to step into that crowded segment. We remember the Cimarron, and hope that Cadillac does, too. The CTS makes a fine entry point to the Cadillac brand, and selling a Cadillac for Chevy money is fraught with danger and could cheapen Cadillac's newly revived image. Another potential land mine is a high-end model that plays in the $100,000 plus realm. As with an entry-level model, a halo model should be analyzed very carefully, lest it pull a Phaeton. The Ultra-Lux Caddy is probably far less a priority than fleshing out the CTS offerings, so we may not have to worry too much about an amazingly turned out but languid-selling Cien or Sixteen production model killing Cadillac's recent forward momentum.
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