Spying: 2018 Cadillac XT3 Comes Fully Camouflaged

Hmmm... OK, well thanks for the article and link.  Hilarious part of the C&D article is the trashing of the new Terrain's shifter setup.

Cool, to be expected, Interesting read was in the comment section on how many people recognize their performance credentials and feel Cadillac is ready for this to build sales.

I knu thet were working on it and it looks to be ready for prime-time already. Rendering over at GMAuthority suggests that it will look like the Escala Concept. Anyway.. a much needed addition to the brand that really only houses one CUV + one SUV while Benz has 7. Perhaps once JDN and co release this one... ONE.. CUV.. they will see that their sales woes of the past were directly related to the simple glaring fact.. the one that every other make knows.. even their sister car brands Chevy and Buick...  that they need more entries in the fastest growing segment in the universe 

Imagine... the stupidity of people saying that people don't want Cadillacs by sighting their sales.. but completely ignoring the fact that they are sporting one CUV and have no convertibles, and one damn coupe. 

They need more crossovers in a bad way, the sooner they can get this the better.

I do remember when Johan took over, he said the future of Cadillac was rear wheel drive, yet we've have the ELR, XT5, and now XT3 since then, and the XTS is sticking around for who knows how long.  And you have to figure front drive XT7 and XT1 are coming down the road.  

I don't get the sense that anything stunning is under the camo.

Caddy has not much clue lately about breaking any new design ground.

1 hour ago, regfootball said:

I don't get the sense that anything stunning is under the camo.

Caddy has not much clue lately about breaking any new design ground.

More interested to see how it handles....this little guy does not need to be ground breaking design by any means....

Hope to hell anything in the sub-compact 'XT1' category is wisely canceled.
What is the breakout of last gen SRX FWD vs. AWD, and same question for the XT5. I would think the majority of both were AWD (and growing).

In the CUV segment, drive wheels don't seem to make an impact one way or another.
 

33 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

More interested to see how it handles....this little guy does not need to be ground breaking design by any means....

Probably handles a lot like an Equinox or Envision.  Because it is.

Where is my V edition Escalade ESV? 

I am Waiting! 

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Probably handles a lot like an Equinox or Envision.  Because it is.

Hoping it might be a little more fun than that....

8 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Probably handles a lot like an Equinox or Envision.  Because it is.

You are smart enough to know while the basic bones are similar that 80% plus of the car will be different. 

Just look to the Camaro and CTS. Same bones but two very different cars that both handle at the top of their class. 

In the last decade..   Someone please let me kno what GM vehicle,  fwd,  rwd,  or,  awd... has been a dog in handling? Cause seem to think even my brontasaur sized Yukon was dialed in on the Nur. Ring the way it handles.  The XT3 needs to be fwd/awd if it means its gonna get here faster.  If it's rwd/awd then that's a bonus for the bunch out there who like to Marvel at wheel position and still sit on the side lines instead of show up to buy. And  seriously..   Show me one real advantage of Rwd CUVs in a time of advanced wheel vectoring awd.  Cadillac is right to cater to the masses in this area instead of enthusiasts.  Y'all are a bunch of talkers who fail to show up when they  produce what U asked for with every excuse in the book. The ATS,  for instance, at the end of its life cycle is still called the best handling and performing small lux in the world,  but the kill of its sales are a mainstream want..   More backseat room .   Bottom line is that as long as Cadillac comes to the market with the same new line of awd that is being touted in its lower rung sisters,  the XT3 will be primo to drive and the target buyer will love it to death while Cadillac adds another instant 60k sales 

5 hours ago, hyperv6 said:

You are smart enough to know while the basic bones are similar that 80% plus of the car will be different. 

Just look to the Camaro and CTS. Same bones but two very different cars that both handle at the top of their class. 

They both handle well due to the chassis.  They should build XT3 on Alpha and give it the ATS-V engine.  But they won't do that.

This is no different than Lincoln trying to say the MKZ has upgraded suspension and sound deadening and premium steering rack or whatever BS they want to say, it is still a Fusion underneath.

5 hours ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

In the last decade..   Someone please let me kno what GM vehicle,  fwd,  rwd,  or,  awd... has been a dog in handling? Cause seem to think even my brontasaur sized Yukon was dialed in on the Nur. Ring the way it handles.  The XT3 needs to be fwd/awd if it means its gonna get here faster.  If it's rwd/awd then that's a bonus for the bunch out there who like to Marvel at wheel position and still sit on the side lines instead of show up to buy. And  seriously..   Show me one real advantage of Rwd CUVs in a time of advanced wheel vectoring awd.  Cadillac is right to cater to the masses in this area instead of enthusiasts.  Y'all are a bunch of talkers who fail to show up when they  produce what U asked for with every excuse in the book. The ATS,  for instance, at the end of its life cycle is still called the best handling and performing small lux in the world,  but the kill of its sales are a mainstream want..   More backseat room .   Bottom line is that as long as Cadillac comes to the market with the same new line of awd that is being touted in its lower rung sisters,  the XT3 will be primo to drive and the target buyer will love it to death while Cadillac adds another instant 60k sales 

I agree that the masses that buy small crossovers don't care about drive train, Lexus IS proof of that.  But the masses also made the Taurus the number 1 selling car in the country, not they won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.  

Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes make better crossovers than any from America or Asia, only a matter of time.  The Jag has got great reviews this far, Alfa Romeo is  entering this segment too and they have a 505 hp Ferrari V8 based V6.  The Lexus RX and NX are yesterday's news, the Euros will take over luxury crossover just like they did luxury sedans.

12 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes make better crossovers than any from America or Asia, only a matter of time.  The Jag has got great reviews this far, Alfa Romeo is  entering this segment too and they have a 505 hp Ferrari V8 based V6.  The Lexus RX and NX are yesterday's news, the Euros will take over luxury crossover just like they did luxury sedans.

Don't count your chickens before the eggs hatch as review list after review list seems to show that the American and Asian Crossovers beat your Jag's and German versions!

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Crossover-SUVs/

Consumer Reports list has a few from BMW, but nothing from your MB.

https://www.kbb.com/top-consumer-rated-cars/crossover/2016/#survey

C&D is the one exception where you mostly only see American and German crossovers in the Luxury segment but then only Asian and American in all the other crossover segments and size.

http://www.caranddriver.com/best-suvs-crossovers

Edmunds has a couple UK / German but mostly based on sales Asian and American Crossovers own it.

https://www.edmunds.com/suv/buying-guide/

When you get Crossover sales broken down, the top 15 crossovers sales other than the lone VW model is all Asian / American according to C&D.

http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/practical-matters-every-compact-crossover-suv-ranked-from-worst-to-best

So sales based, Germany is small fry's and best for reliability, sales and luxury again Germany does not fully hit it either. I am especially suprised by the lack of MB showing up in so many ranking reports. BMW is there but MB seems to have not cracked the lists and the one thing I pick up is reliability / quality of their cutting edge tech is the main reason. This might expalin why MB does lead in one area and that is they are the most leased auto company world wide.

Guess no one wants to deal with it after the warranty runs out.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

They both handle well due to the chassis.  They should build XT3 on Alpha and give it the ATS-V engine.  But they won't do that.

This is no different than Lincoln trying to say the MKZ has upgraded suspension and sound deadening and premium steering rack or whatever BS they want to say, it is still a Fusion underneath.

First you need to let them build the vehicle and just see what you get before you dis them.

The key to this is to keep the price down to produce it and the purchase price under the XT5 so the Alpha is not going to happen. The Alpha Gen II could replace the XT5 or larger.

This is an entry level model for this segment so there are limits.

We also have GM tuned and or designated engines coming. I do not expect all the things will be in place on the first JDN models but as time goes on they will replace things with only Cadillac products.

Ford is just going though the motions as they have not fully committed the money yet for a proper rebuilding of Lincoln yet. Not sure if the good guys there that saved Lincoln will get the money or not but I hope they get a  chance. Till then they will have models that will still be too close to the Fords and just no moving away from it like Cadillac is doing and working to.

I bet unlike Cadillac who now has their own staff of engineers and designers that there are still Ford engineers designing Fusions on Monday and Lincolns on Friday. This has changed at Cadillac and JDN has made a big point that they get their own people making their cars. The money did not just go to product but also to how they make cars for the future. We should see this evolve with each new model moving forward.

To dfelt's point, I meant the Euro SUVs/crossovers have better handling dynamics, better performance, more luxury, etc.  The same traits that allowed BMW, Mercedes and Audi to take over luxury sedans will allow them, and Jaguar/Land Rover to gain advantage in luxury SUVs.  All those front drive crossovers max out at like 300 hp, the European crossovers can offer are 500 hp and more.  This is no different than when Cadillac, Lincoln and Lexus tried to push front drive sedans, the 3-series, M5's and E-classes of the world ate them up.

I did pull luxury crossover/SUV sales from last month, 

Europe with 35,062 (BMW 9,421, Mercedes 8,940, Audi 7,228, Land Rover 6,163, Porsche 3,310) plus whatever Jaguar did

Japan clocked in at 24,056 (Lexus 10,436, Infiniti 7144, Acura 6,476)

USA with 11,557 (Cadillac 6,049, Lincoln 5,508)

25 minutes ago, hyperv6 said:

First you need to let them build the vehicle and just see what you get before you dis them.

The key to this is to keep the price down to produce it and the purchase price under the XT5 so the Alpha is not going to happen. The Alpha Gen II could replace the XT5 or larger.

This is an entry level model for this segment so there are limits.

We also have GM tuned and or designated engines coming. I do not expect all the things will be in place on the first JDN models but as time goes on they will replace things with only Cadillac products.

Ford is just going though the motions as they have not fully committed the money yet for a proper rebuilding of Lincoln yet. Not sure if the good guys there that saved Lincoln will get the money or not but I hope they get a  chance. Till then they will have models that will still be too close to the Fords and just no moving away from it like Cadillac is doing and working to.

I bet unlike Cadillac who now has their own staff of engineers and designers that there are still Ford engineers designing Fusions on Monday and Lincolns on Friday. This has changed at Cadillac and JDN has made a big point that they get their own people making their cars. The money did not just go to product but also to how they make cars for the future. We should see this evolve with each new model moving forward.

Problem is Cadillac doesn't have the money either, maybe not as bad as Lincoln, but not what they need.  Mercedes R&D spend is more than all of GM, so unless GM wants to divert 100% of their R&D to just Cadillac, they will never catch up.  At least Cadillac tries with the resources they do have, Lincoln and Acura are basically just doing badge jobs of Fords and Hondas.

57 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

To dfelt's point, I meant the Euro SUVs/crossovers have better handling dynamics, better performance, more luxury, etc.  The same traits that allowed BMW, Mercedes and Audi to take over luxury sedans will allow them, and Jaguar/Land Rover to gain advantage in luxury SUVs.  All those front drive crossovers max out at like 300 hp, the European crossovers can offer are 500 hp and more.  This is no different than when Cadillac, Lincoln and Lexus tried to push front drive sedans, the 3-series, M5's and E-classes of the world ate them up.

I did pull luxury crossover/SUV sales from last month, 

Europe with 35,062 (BMW 9,421, Mercedes 8,940, Audi 7,228, Land Rover 6,163, Porsche 3,310) plus whatever Jaguar did

Japan clocked in at 24,056 (Lexus 10,436, Infiniti 7144, Acura 6,476)

USA with 11,557 (Cadillac 6,049, Lincoln 5,508)

Problem is Cadillac doesn't have the money either, maybe not as bad as Lincoln, but not what they need.  Mercedes R&D spend is more than all of GM, so unless GM wants to divert 100% of their R&D to just Cadillac, they will never catch up.  At least Cadillac tries with the resources they do have, Lincoln and Acura are basically just doing badge jobs of Fords and Hondas.

Dude this is a transition over time. GM, Cadillac and JDN has made it clear from the start. Even BMW and Benz do not have the money or man power to revamp entire portfolios of product all at once. To be honest the work at Cadillac over the next 5 years is pretty ambitious in this day and age.

As for how good or bad the XT3 is. Well you should tell us since you appear to know how it will handle and run. I assume you drove one. Maybe it was you in the Camo driving for the Camera's?

Lets just see what we get before we praise or condemn this. I expect it will be not the full product we want but it will be one giant step in the right direction. The key is price point and volume with this model.

Right now selling a cross over is like running a whore house on an aircraft carrier only FCA could F it up.

Do the right thing and just new product for what it  is not what your predigest is. We even give you the benefit even with your comments.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

 

I did pull luxury crossover/SUV sales from last month, 

Europe with 35,062 (BMW 9,421, Mercedes 8,940, Audi 7,228, Land Rover 6,163, Porsche 3,310) plus whatever Jaguar did

Japan clocked in at 24,056 (Lexus 10,436, Infiniti 7144, Acura 6,476)

USA with 11,557 (Cadillac 6,049, Lincoln 5,508)

 

Interesting.. it is, at this point, evident and decided by most that Buick is on level with both Acura and Lincoln.. and to a degree Lexus.. especially within certain niches. CUVs being the one. That being the case... was it just because it fucks up your theory or U just forgot,.. to add their almost 10K sales of CUVs last month to your list? I didn't even add the 20,298 GMC CUV/SUV customer... or even just the 5K that were Denali buyers of those vehicles. If I did.. that would mean that Cadillac/Lincoln/Buick/GMC sold 42K CUV/SUVs in the Luxo-Premium segment.

I kno.. I kno.. it makes America.. the country U hate and hope explodes in Atomic fashion.. look too good. OH.. and FUCK Germany.. FUCK Europe.. and Urethra FUCK ...with a rusty nail.. Mercedes

1 hour ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Interesting.. it is, at this point, evident and decided by most that Buick is on level with both Acura and Lincoln.. and to a degree Lexus.. especially within certain niches. CUVs being the one. That being the case... was it just because it f@#ks up your theory or U just forgot,.. to add their almost 10K sales of CUVs last month to your list? I didn't even add the 20,298 GMC CUV/SUV customer... or even just the 5K that were Denali buyers of those vehicles. If I did.. that would mean that Cadillac/Lincoln/Buick/GMC sold 42K CUV/SUVs in the Luxo-Premium segment.

I kno.. I kno.. it makes America.. the country U hate and hope explodes in Atomic fashion.. look too good. OH.. and f@#k Germany.. f@#k Europe.. and Urethra f@#k ...with a rusty nail.. Mercedes

It is easy to provide number that only work for you vs. all the numbers. 

While we have less options at the now emerging CUV line at Cadillac we have many other options in America that while a little less expensive are also still in the Luxury class. 

Also in a way you could include the Luxury crew cab trucks as they are really a hybrid and something Germany does not offer. That one sucks the oxyrgen right out of the room with Denali, High Country, King Ranch and what ever Ram has. 

2 hours ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Interesting.. it is, at this point, evident and decided by most that Buick is on level with both Acura and Lincoln.. and to a degree Lexus.. especially within certain niches. CUVs being the one. That being the case... was it just because it f@#ks up your theory or U just forgot,.. to add their almost 10K sales of CUVs last month to your list? I didn't even add the 20,298 GMC CUV/SUV customer... or even just the 5K that were Denali buyers of those vehicles. If I did.. that would mean that Cadillac/Lincoln/Buick/GMC sold 42K CUV/SUVs in the Luxo-Premium segment.

I kno.. I kno.. it makes America.. the country U hate and hope explodes in Atomic fashion.. look too good. OH.. and f@#k Germany.. f@#k Europe.. and Urethra f@#k ...with a rusty nail.. Mercedes

I actually didn't even think of Buick or GMC, as I don't see either as a luxury brand.   When the Lacrosse and Enclave are $70,000 like a full size Lexus is, then Buick is a luxury brand.  

3 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

I actually didn't even think of Buick or GMC, as I don't see either as a luxury brand.   When the Lacrosse and Enclave are $70,000 like a full size Lexus is, then Buick is a luxury brand.  

Buick and GMC give Cadillac dealers volume to try and compete w/ Chevy dealers across the street...

3 hours ago, hyperv6 said:

just see what we get before we praise or condemn this. I expect it will be not the full product we want but it will be one giant step in the right direction. The key is price point and volume with this model.

Any crossovers are a step in the right direction for Cadillac who has been crossover starved for years now.  However, Johan was supposed to right the ship and make them competitive, and you "expect it will not be the full product"  I mean how many generations of vehicles will it take?  Cadillac will never break the "good enough" philosophy that they have had since the 80s.    And as sedan continue sales drop, CTS and ATS will probably get merged to one product, CT6 and XTS eventually merged, so you have 2 sedans like Buick has and 3 front drive crossovers and the Escalade, and that will be your post 2020 Cadillac brand line up.

Here is some bad news for Cadillac from a Bloomberg article:

"After overhauling Mercedes’s lineup in recent years, which revitalized the brand’s stodgy image and lifted its sales to the top of the luxury-car segment last year, Daimler is planning to push even harder. Research and development spending will rise to 8.1 billion euros ($8.8 billion) on average this year and next. That’s 22 percent more than the level in 2015, which the company said was already “very high.”"

No way will Cadillac spend $8.8 billion a year on R&D.  GM's total R&D budget in 2015 was $7.4 billion.  Volkswagen's was $15.3 billion.  Johan is fighting a battle he can't win.

6 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Here is some bad news for Cadillac from a Bloomberg article:

"After overhauling Mercedes’s lineup in recent years, which revitalized the brand’s stodgy image and lifted its sales to the top of the luxury-car segment last year, Daimler is planning to push even harder. Research and development spending will rise to 8.1 billion euros ($8.8 billion) on average this year and next. That’s 22 percent more than the level in 2015, which the company said was already “very high.”"

 

No way will Cadillac spend $8.8 billion a year on R&D.  GM's total R&D budget in 2015 was $7.4 billion.  Volkswagen's was $15.3 billion.  Johan is fighting a battle he can't win.

Keep in mind, though, Mercedes and VW are international companies (with many brands in VW's case)..Cadillac has very limited sales outside NA, so they don't need as big of a budget...

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

I actually didn't even think of Buick or GMC, as I don't see either as a luxury brand.   When the Lacrosse and Enclave are $70,000 like a full size Lexus is, then Buick is a luxury brand.  

U kno what.. U're a Shill. The comparable Lexus to Buick's LaX is the Lacrosse. Anyone looking at a Lax and an ES and coming away buying the Lexus for $5K more is either a U.. "Shill" or an effin idiot. 

vs 

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Here is some bad news for Cadillac from a Bloomberg article:

"After overhauling Mercedes’s lineup in recent years, which revitalized the brand’s stodgy image and lifted its sales to the top of the luxury-car segment last year, Daimler is planning to push even harder. Research and development spending will rise to 8.1 billion euros ($8.8 billion) on average this year and next. That’s 22 percent more than the level in 2015, which the company said was already “very high.”"

 

No way will Cadillac spend $8.8 billion a year on R&D.  GM's total R&D budget in 2015 was $7.4 billion.  Volkswagen's was $15.3 billion.  Johan is fighting a battle he can't win.

Yet.. outside of slightly better leather in some cars.. on the top end.. literally.. what the hell has that money yielded in better technology overall with Benz versus GM or Cadillac??? Not a God damn thing.. but idiot clowns who buy their used cars and post as if they bought something new on car forums. 

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Here is some bad news for Cadillac from a Bloomberg article:

"After overhauling Mercedes’s lineup in recent years, which revitalized the brand’s stodgy image and lifted its sales to the top of the luxury-car segment last year, Daimler is planning to push even harder. Research and development spending will rise to 8.1 billion euros ($8.8 billion) on average this year and next. That’s 22 percent more than the level in 2015, which the company said was already “very high.”"

 

No way will Cadillac spend $8.8 billion a year on R&D.  GM's total R&D budget in 2015 was $7.4 billion.  Volkswagen's was $15.3 billion.  Johan is fighting a battle he can't win.

Yet.. outside of slightly better leather in some cars.. on the top end.. literally.. what the hell has that money yielded in better technology overall with Benz versus GM or Cadillac??? Not a God damn thing.. but idiot clowns who buy their used cars and post as if they bought something new on car forums. 

1 hour ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Keep in mind, though, Mercedes and VW are international companies (with many brands in VW's case)..Cadillac has very limited sales outside NA, so they don't need as big of a budget...

GM is an international company that sells roughly the same number of cars as VW.   GM's entire R&D spend is half of VW's.  

2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Any crossovers are a step in the right direction for Cadillac who has been crossover starved for years now.  However, Johan was supposed to right the ship and make them competitive, and you "expect it will not be the full product"  I mean how many generations of vehicles will it take?  Cadillac will never break the "good enough" philosophy that they have had since the 80s.    And as sedan continue sales drop, CTS and ATS will probably get merged to one product, CT6 and XTS eventually merged, so you have 2 sedans like Buick has and 3 front drive crossovers and the Escalade, and that will be your post 2020 Cadillac brand line up.

Come on you have been here long enough to know the development times of new product of 5 years and mild refresh of 2 years. Also you know engines tale 5-7 years to develop. 

Then finacially you know damn well it takes billions to do each product. So you have to pick a couple get them out and then leverage their profits to pay for the rest.

$12 billion was seed money to turn the ship. The profits from the models we get from that investment will pay for more. 

Same with man power as they can only only have so many engineers on a project at a time.

Budgeting money and manpower is key.

There is no mfg that can do it all at once any more.

Time is not so much a factor here as Cadillac has the luxury of price and high atp so no needs to pull large volumes to remain profitable. 

You do not mfg and sell Cadillacs like Chevys.

Everyone else here understands this why did it miss you?

21 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

U kno what.. U're a Shill. The comparable Lexus to Buick's LaX is the Lacrosse. Anyone looking at a Lax and an ES and coming away buying the Lexus for $5K more is either a U.. "Shill" or an effin idiot. 

vs 

Yet.. outside of slightly better leather in some cars.. on the top end.. literally.. what the hell has that money yielded in better technology overall with Benz versus GM or Cadillac??? Not a God damn thing.. but idiot clowns who buy their used cars and post as if they bought something new on car forums. 

 

But you are comparing the top end Buick to the bottom end Lexus.  That is pretty much like saying Chevy competes head on with Cadillac because the Impala LTZ is as expensive as an ATS.  Also comparing a full size Buick to a mid-size Lexus.

There is a laundry list of things Mercedes has done, whether it be semi-autonomous driving tech, luxury features, 9-speed, plug-in hybrid, coming soon 48 volt inline six, 7 SUVs, 5 convertibles, 5 coupes, over 30 AMG performance models, a coming soon Formula 1 car for the road, etc, etc.  How may V-series cars are there, like 3?  The money goes into giving the consumer choices and giving them what they want.

7 minutes ago, hyperv6 said:

Come on you have been here long enough to know the development times of new product of 5 years and mild refresh of 2 years. Also you know engines tale 5-7 years to develop. 

Then finacially you know damn well it takes billions to do each product. So you have to pick a couple get them out and then leverage their profits to pay for the rest.

$12 billion was seed money to turn the ship. The profits from the models we get from that investment will pay for more. 

Same with man power as they can only only have so many engineers on a project at a time.

Budgeting money and manpower is key.

There is no mfg that can do it all at once any more.

Time is not so much a factor here as Cadillac has the luxury of price and high atp so no needs to pull large volumes to remain profitable. 

You do not mfg and sell Cadillacs like Chevys.

Everyone else here understands this why did it miss you?

$12 billion will only make a dent, that is over 5 years or something that they get that, they need more like $25 billion not 12.

The ATS and CTS are dying on the vine right now, and the Escalade is the only reason Cadillac has high ATP.  Cadillac should have a Porsche Cayenne competitor mid-size SUV with a CTS-V engine, they need a sedan above CT6 with a twin turbo V8, they need a Tesla Model S fighter, they need 2 convertibles, one could even be an ATS convertible, the other needs to be $75k car, and they need a super car in the $150-200,000 range to compete with Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8.  Where is all that?  Where is the high end stuff? 

And I know the argument will be that they need to fill out the bottom end of the line, but the bottom end of the Cadillac line is just overlap with Buick.  That doesn't help build the brand, it just makes them like Lincoln.

8 hours ago, smk4565 said:

$12 billion will only make a dent, that is over 5 years or something that they get that, they need more like $25 billion not 12.

The ATS and CTS are dying on the vine right now, and the Escalade is the only reason Cadillac has high ATP.  Cadillac should have a Porsche Cayenne competitor mid-size SUV with a CTS-V engine, they need a sedan above CT6 with a twin turbo V8, they need a Tesla Model S fighter, they need 2 convertibles, one could even be an ATS convertible, the other needs to be $75k car, and they need a super car in the $150-200,000 range to compete with Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8.  Where is all that?  Where is the high end stuff? 

And I know the argument will be that they need to fill out the bottom end of the line, but the bottom end of the Cadillac line is just overlap with Buick.  That doesn't help build the brand, it just makes them like Lincoln.

I can give you a map to lead you home but unless you gain the understanding  how to read it you will remain lost in that wilderness.

In a perfect world things would happen as you see but guess what? . 

10 hours ago, smk4565 said:

$12 billion will only make a dent, that is over 5 years or something that they get that, they need more like $25 billion not 12.

The ATS and CTS are dying on the vine right now, and the Escalade is the only reason Cadillac has high ATP.  Cadillac should have a Porsche Cayenne competitor mid-size SUV with a CTS-V engine, they need a sedan above CT6 with a twin turbo V8, they need a Tesla Model S fighter, they need 2 convertibles, one could even be an ATS convertible, the other needs to be $75k car, and they need a super car in the $150-200,000 range to compete with Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8.  Where is all that?  Where is the high end stuff? 

And I know the argument will be that they need to fill out the bottom end of the line, but the bottom end of the Cadillac line is just overlap with Buick.  That doesn't help build the brand, it just makes them like Lincoln.

SMK, Without the whoring out of the E-Class as the Taxi of Europe and all the Chevy Low end stuff that they sell in droves, all your high end stuff would not exist!

That so called high end stuff does not bring in the profits or keep all the lights on. Many have tried to explain in multiple ways and very clearly how and what is needed first and yet when an Auto beats your MB equal, you move the field goal post to meet your needs. An auto company does something different than what MB does and you state it as a failure. MB has a failure like their PULLMAN series auto and you give some another excuse. If it is not done the MB way, it is clearly a failure, not right, wasted $, etc.etc.etc.

You're so high on MB that nothing else will ever equal them and in fact if you ever do detox, you might just realize MB is not that much different than the other big boys that have been around just as long. 

25 minutes ago, dfelt said:

SMK, Without the whoring out of the E-Class as the Taxi of Europe and all the Chevy Low end stuff that they sell in droves, all your high end stuff would not exist!

That so called high end stuff does not bring in the profits or keep all the lights on. Many have tried to explain in multiple ways and very clearly how and what is needed first and yet when an Auto beats your MB equal, you move the field goal post to meet your needs. An auto company does something different than what MB does and you state it as a failure. MB has a failure like their PULLMAN series auto and you give some another excuse. If it is not done the MB way, it is clearly a failure, not right, wasted $, etc.etc.etc.

You're so high on MB that nothing else will ever equal them and in fact if you ever do detox, you might just realize MB is not that much different than the other big boys that have been around just as long. 

Exactly. He talks about the price of luxury being $70k while MBs best sellers are a FWD crossover that's no better than your average Buick and a pseudo luxury C Class and yet another FWD CLA that is damn sure not luxury when it starts at $32K. It's that bar moving that he likes to do that ends up trapping him in almost every conversation. 

10 hours ago, smk4565 said:

$12 billion will only make a dent, that is over 5 years or something that they get that, they need more like $25 billion not 12.

The ATS and CTS are dying on the vine right now, and the Escalade is the only reason Cadillac has high ATP.  Cadillac should have a Porsche Cayenne competitor mid-size SUV with a CTS-V engine, they need a sedan above CT6 with a twin turbo V8, they need a Tesla Model S fighter, they need 2 convertibles, one could even be an ATS convertible, the other needs to be $75k car, and they need a super car in the $150-200,000 range to compete with Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8.  Where is all that?  Where is the high end stuff? 

And I know the argument will be that they need to fill out the bottom end of the line, but the bottom end of the Cadillac line is just overlap with Buick.  That doesn't help build the brand, it just makes them like Lincoln.

So what it is when Benz fills their lineup with $30K bottom feeders like the CLA and $25K vans? You have plenty of excuses but no real rationale. 

18 hours ago, smk4565 said:

To dfelt's point, I meant the Euro SUVs/crossovers have better handling dynamics, better performance, more luxury, etc.  The same traits that allowed BMW, Mercedes and Audi to take over luxury sedans will allow them, and Jaguar/Land Rover to gain advantage in luxury SUVs.  All those front drive crossovers max out at like 300 hp, the European crossovers can offer are 500 hp and more.  This is no different than when Cadillac, Lincoln and Lexus tried to push front drive sedans, the 3-series, M5's and E-classes of the world ate them up.

I did pull luxury crossover/SUV sales from last month, 

Europe with 35,062 (BMW 9,421, Mercedes 8,940, Audi 7,228, Land Rover 6,163, Porsche 3,310) plus whatever Jaguar did

Japan clocked in at 24,056 (Lexus 10,436, Infiniti 7144, Acura 6,476)

USA with 11,557 (Cadillac 6,049, Lincoln 5,508)

Problem is Cadillac doesn't have the money either, maybe not as bad as Lincoln, but not what they need.  Mercedes R&D spend is more than all of GM, so unless GM wants to divert 100% of their R&D to just Cadillac, they will never catch up.  At least Cadillac tries with the resources they do have, Lincoln and Acura are basically just doing badge jobs of Fords and Hondas.

What a joke. A huge part of MBs R&D is going towards the lower end of the EV market (remember, they do own Smart). The rest? Who knows but MB is playing against GM in that regard, not just Cadillac, and GM throws just as much cash towards R&D as Benz so you can just drop that silly comparison right now.

Oh, and regarding your Buick/GMC and the $70K threshold for luxury, I have one for you. The Yukon Denali, which starts at $66K and easily crosses your magical and imaginary mark for luxury (which btw, eliminates half of Mercedes current lineup, making them not luxury either).

I specifically said Buick is not a luxury brand, because they aren't in the higher price points.  GMC only gets there with a luxury full size truck, but you can spend $60k on a Ford Super Duty, which I wouldn't call luxury, it is expensive because it is a commercial truck.

The "bottom feeder" CLA costs more than a Buick LaCrosse.

More myth busting: It was said that Mercedes relies on FWD GLA's to get sales which is false, the GLA is their worst selling crossover, the GLE is #1, GLC #2, GLS #3.

Another fallacy is that the high end cars don't make money.  Tell that to Porsche who makes $19,000 profit per car or Bentley who makes $25,000 profit per car, Lamborghini is higher still.  Audi makes over $5,000 per car profit.  The VW luxury group is the gold standard when it comes to profit margin

18 hours ago, smk4565 said:

I did pull luxury crossover/SUV sales from last month, 

Europe with 35,062 (BMW 9,421, Mercedes 8,940, Audi 7,228, Land Rover 6,163, Porsche 3,310) plus whatever Jaguar did

Japan clocked in at 24,056 (Lexus 10,436, Infiniti 7144, Acura 6,476)

USA with 11,557 (Cadillac 6,049, Lincoln 5,508)

So USA with 2 brands did a third of what Europe did with 6 brands.. the math adds up pretty even there, bud. And with Caddy and Lincoln expanding and updating their lineups I don't think they're too worried.

8 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Another fallacy is that the high end cars don't make money.  Tell that to Porsche who makes $19,000 profit per car or Bentley who makes $25,000 profit per car, Lamborghini is higher still.  Audi makes over $5,000 per car profit.  The VW luxury group is the gold standard when it comes to profit margin

Interesting how you mention the VW group and yet do not point out MB's own profit or lack of profit in that ultra category. Maybe the fact that has been pointed out so many times before, the heavy discounting, the fact that MB leads the word as the number one leased auto, etc.

Just accept that MB is a global auto company that competes from the basic Eco box auto and commercial van to ubber luxury and as such is no longer a luxury only brand. They are a global company competing against Toyota, VW, GM, Ford, etc.

19 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

I specifically said Buick is not a luxury brand, because they aren't in the higher price points.  GMC only gets there with a luxury full size truck, but you can spend $60k on a Ford Super Duty, which I wouldn't call luxury, it is expensive because it is a commercial truck.

The "bottom feeder" CLA costs more than a Buick LaCrosse.

More myth busting: It was said that Mercedes relies on FWD GLA's to get sales which is false, the GLA is their worst selling crossover, the GLE is #1, GLC #2, GLS #3.

Another fallacy is that the high end cars don't make money.  Tell that to Porsche who makes $19,000 profit per car or Bentley who makes $25,000 profit per car, Lamborghini is higher still.  Audi makes over $5,000 per car profit.  The VW luxury group is the gold standard when it comes to profit margin

No you specifically said Buick and GMC. Don't backtrack on what you literally said. You will notice that I never said Buick was luxury either. You also don't get to compare the Denali to a commercial truck since it is NOT a commercial truck. It is a luxury SUV, end of story. Good grief. Where do you come up with the pointless comparisons?

I also don't care if the CLA is more than the LaCrosse. Of course, it's only a $300 difference so to that I say "big whoop". Remember, Mercedes is luxury right? It should be more expensive. Luxury just doesn't include the CLA since it doesn't meet your imaginary $70K threshold.

And no one, and I mean no one, has ever said that high end cars don't make money. That is just another make believe scenario by your to try and change the very narrative you set up.

29 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

Oh, and regarding your Buick/GMC and the $70K threshold for luxury, I have one for you. The Yukon Denali, which starts at $66K and easily crosses your magical and imaginary mark for luxury (which btw, eliminates half of Mercedes current lineup, making them not luxury either).

70k means luxury?

CLA, C, E, CLS, GLA, GLC, GLC Coupe, GLE, GLE Coupe, C Coupe, E Coupe, E Wagon, C 'Vert, E 'Vert, SLC, GLS and B are all non-luxury vehicles because they don't start above 70k. I'm no mathematician but I think that's over half of their lineup.. It's everything but S, S Coupe, S 'Vert, G Wagen, SL and AMG GT are their only luxury cars... Damn, it appears Mercedes is just another peasant company.

Just now, ccap41 said:

70k means luxury?

CLA, C, E, CLS, GLA, GLC, GLC Coupe, GLE, GLE Coupe, C Coupe, E Coupe, E Wagon, C 'Vert, E 'Vert, SLC, GLS and B are all non-luxury vehicles because they don't start above 70k. I'm no mathematician but I think that's over half of their lineup.. It's everything but S, S Coupe, S 'Vert, G Wagen, SL and AMG GT are their only luxury cars... Damn, it appears Mercedes is just another peasant company.

Exactly my point but he insisted on creating this imaginary number so it will be used against him at every opportunity. 

11 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

So USA with 2 brands did a third of what Europe did with 6 brands.. the math adds up pretty even there, bud. And with Caddy and Lincoln expanding and updating their lineups I don't think they're too worried.

Based on his "logic", I should just pull up pick up sales comparing the U.S. (One country mind you) against all of Europe. Let's see how that stacks up shall we lol?

Couple of things with this spending commentary.  

Could it be possible that GM is simply capable of getting costs down better than Mercedes thus less of a need to spend more due to scale and being able to negotiate with suppliers  better due to that scale?  I mean GM is obviously the larger company versus Benz...  As we've argued before, they have many parts that are spread  across divisions.  I mean look at the numbers.  Last year the K2xx SUVs sold by themselves 290k units.  That's only 90k less that all of Benz last year.  They all share R&D.  That kind of scale alone would save GM a billion here..  a billion there.  Gives them a lot of negotiation leeway...  especially when one considers that they can also leverage the 950k pick-ups sharing parts and platforms they sold last year. So yeah it would stand to reason that Benz would have to spend more on everything,  including R&D.  Furthermore,  there are a lot of things that GM simply doesn't have to spend on R&D like Benz does because many things they put out are already paid for years ago.  They are quite possibly years ahead of Benz in R&D.  

56 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Interesting how you mention the VW group and yet do not point out MB's own profit or lack of profit in that ultra category. Maybe the fact that has been pointed out so many times before, the heavy discounting, the fact that MB leads the word as the number one leased auto, etc.

Just accept that MB is a global auto company that competes from the basic Eco box auto and commercial van to ubber luxury and as such is no longer a luxury only brand. They are a global company competing against Toyota, VW, GM, Ford, etc.

Yup.  In most parts of the world Mercedes is becoming the JC Penny's of Automotive.  

The truth is the Mercedes that serves the world has never been the same one serving America.

Mercedes USA was always a Luxury division and really never offered the cheaper and less expensive models they did offer else where. They did offer some low end models when Studebaker was their distributor. I remember an old 190 sedan with a 4 cylinder that kind of looked dumpy a family friend had.

The 190 sedan back then was just a cheap basic car and it made a Checker look like a Luxury car. Many forget about these as few people restore them. They were rust buckets and a good one today is only worth $10K at best and much less than the cost of a good paint job.

Mercedes has been a be all to many parts of the world for many years but they are going to have to increase that as volume becomes ever more important. In America they are trying to lower the range of their lines to meet the low end Luxury and even considered he Pick up for volume but did not follow through.

Mercedes wants to get into the market selling cheaper cars in America but just can not figure out how to do it without damaging the image or delusion that Mercedes is anything but Luxury.

Even BMW at least has Mini.

My father lived in Germany in the 50's and owned a Mercedes. I was always impressed till I got older and he showed me and explain to me it was like owning an Impala in Europe. It was not like owning a 450Sl. 

I did laugh as his buddy won a 300SL gullwing in some kind of contest. He sold it for a Corvette as he had a single garage and could not get in or out with the doors. I thought that was funny.

Interesting, MB is stressing under the weight of Union costs. This story says they are moving the building of the C-class to the Alabama plant and now the German Union is trying to unionize them in what appears to locals as an attempt to keep the jobs and production in Germany. MB is moving productions to South Africa and the asian rim reducing production in Germany and the German Union is ramping up to fight. It would seem the high cost is a factor and one has to wonder how long before someone trys to introduce a bill in their parlement to allow right to work free zones?

Right now all of Germany is a Union required job work area and that just sucks IMHO.

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/post_63.html

Interesting reading of what is going on over seas and in Alabama. 

WHY DO I BRING THIS UP?

I think Cadillac not only has quality products, but what little they make with such high ATPs is scaring the Germans and you will see more and more production move out of Germany as they have to fight at all levels from Eco box to ubber luxury on price and quality. 

The cat is out of the bag and what the Germans had in the 90's and early 2000's is over.

Welcome to a New Day Everyone! Quality exists all over and not just in Germany. 

Except for Italy, garbage still built there.

Can we at least wait for the XT3 to be released?  It is true the Cadillac looks like it is behind because of current sales trends, but budgets, time constraints and limited resources all take their toll.  Without the Escalade, Caddy would have a Lincoln-sized funding gap problem.  It wan not that long ago that Caddy was simply not competitive in the luxury space and a lot of bad decisions led to inferior product.  The Germans and Lexus have made so few mistakes in the last 25 years or so that Cadillac looked really bad.  As far as I can tell, Cadillac has largely escaped its worst days and will be fully competitive within five years or so.  The XT5 (and CT6) are proof of that.  The XT3 will be more proof once released.  You could say that the best thing about Cadillac is Chevy, since unlike Mercedes Caddy does not have to appease the non-luxury market anywhere.  Cadillac is going in the right direction and it will be just fine in 2020 or so.  No need to panic.

48 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Interesting, MB is stressing under the weight of Union costs. This story says they are moving the building of the C-class to the Alabama plant and now the German Union is trying to unionize them in what appears to locals as an attempt to keep the jobs and production in Germany. MB is moving productions to South Africa and the asian rim reducing production in Germany and the German Union is ramping up to fight. It would seem the high cost is a factor and one has to wonder how long before someone trys to introduce a bill in their parlement to allow right to work free zones?

Right now all of Germany is a Union required job work area and that just sucks IMHO.

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/post_63.html

Interesting reading of what is going on over seas and in Alabama. 

WHY DO I BRING THIS UP?

I think Cadillac not only has quality products, but what little they make with such high ATPs is scaring the Germans and you will see more and more production move out of Germany as they have to fight at all levels from Eco box to ubber luxury on price and quality. 

The cat is out of the bag and what the Germans had in the 90's and early 2000's is over.

Welcome to a New Day Everyone! Quality exists all over and not just in Germany. 

Except for Italy, garbage still built there.

The bolded part is a real possible reason why GM is choosing to get out of Opel/Vaux.. not to mention the impact that Brexit may pose and is being forecast to pose

Good points by Riviera.

i picked the $70,000 number because a full size Sedan or SUV at Lexus  starts in the 70s, at Buick a full size sedan or SUV starts in the $30s, big difference.  You can't compare Lexus  and Buick when Lexus has a $95,000 coupe, an $80k sedan,  an Escalade competitor (that doesn't sell), etc.   Cadillac is the Lexus fighter, XT3 and XT5 vs NX and RX, ATS and CTS vs IS and GS with V-series and F versions each.  LX570 vs Escalade, CT6 vs LS460 on the last 2 Lexus does the car better, Cadillac does the truck better.

As as far as MB profit margin, theirs around 9%, which is strong but Audi is 10% and Porsche and Bentley are like 20%, this why I said VW's luxury group sets the standard.

59 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Can we at least wait for the XT3 to be released?  It is true the Cadillac looks like it is behind because of current sales trends, but budgets, time constraints and limited resources all take their toll.  Without the Escalade, Caddy would have a Lincoln-sized funding gap problem.  It wan not that long ago that Caddy was simply not competitive in the luxury space and a lot of bad decisions led to inferior product.  The Germans and Lexus have made so few mistakes in the last 25 years or so that Cadillac looked really bad.  As far as I can tell, Cadillac has largely escaped its worst days and will be fully competitive within five years or so.  The XT5 (and CT6) are proof of that.  The XT3 will be more proof once released.  You could say that the best thing about Cadillac is Chevy, since unlike Mercedes Caddy does not have to appease the non-luxury market anywhere.  Cadillac is going in the right direction and it will be just fine in 2020 or so.  No need to panic.

Great post.. and many fail to realize what U say. Sales are a damned if U do, Damned if U don't position in the luxury segment. Sell to many RX350s, CLA/GLAs, SRXs, and A3s your luxo credentials are put on trial. Sell too many Escalades and U are in danger of being called a "truck brand." Its fickle.. Cadillac I once posed is perhaps the only other maker besides Benz to be able to make a real claim to heritage in luxury. Cadillac was luxury before there ever was a BMW or AUDI.. they just didn't become a LUXO/SPORT until 10 years ago... I said this a while ago as well. I don't see Cadillac in the same light as BMW. I see it more on level with Benz, but with a Jaguar-ish air about it. In fact if Cadillac were to do vehicles strictly for the sake of volume I don't kno if I would be as much if a supporter. As to Cadillac falling behind... One must remember that change did occur, and that the idea of luxury that WAS had been altered to accommodate the tastesof the "new" population. That is obvious as in 1970.. no one would have thought that the BMW experience was luxurious.

I will add that (from 2015 so sales numbers might be off)

Cadillac chief Johann is planning on a CLA rival, but on ALPHA with RWD. The idea is to still be luxury, with enthusiastic performance, and a cheaper price to compete with the Germans entry sedans that have chosen to use economy set-ups. One ride or drive in a Mercedes CLA and GLA and one should, with non-rose colored glasses come to the conclusion that the cars may be on Chevy levels when U get down to it. A Cruze LTZ comes across as a better luxury car than the CLA.. A Verano certainly. That's fact.

My view is that Cadillac needs time, without all the constant focus on their sales numbers to pull itself back to where it needs to be. GM has the sales numbers when looking at its premium operations. Between Cadillac and Buick, not even including GMC.. they sold 1.4 Million last year, Buick bringing in 1.1 million+. Cadillac should focus on its CT2 (ATS) CT4 (CTS) CT6, and CT8 and XT3(Alpha based 5door) XT4 (Alpha based 3door), XT5(SRX), XT7(Omega or Lambda based 5door) along with the Escalade and a Super car. 10 cars max. 

Johnan is succumbing to idiotic public media pressure concerning a drop in sales, . Lack of PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT is the culprit, and it seems as if no one, in the media is seeing it. 

That being said.. if GM pursued a dual-channel strategy, utilizing Buick as the go-to, would people give Cadillac a pass when it comes to their sales not being as high as a Mercedes Benz which is fluffing sales using cars that are on Buick levels???

So we get from observers who kno.. but choose to ignore:

"Cadillac sales are in the dumps. They are selling some of the best cars in the segment, but their sales are down.. Must mean they aren't prestigious enough. Of course let's gloss over and FORGET that they are only selling 6 cars versus Benz who is selling 17. Let's also forget that Benz has a whole new host of entry level luxury vehicles, FWD based, that would otherwise be Buick competitors at best. "

So again. Will Cadillac get the pass??? Or if GM combined sales of the Cadillac and Buick brands.. with Buick essentially becoming the "Lasalle" of the day.. would people who care about sales let it slide that they are selling in two different slots like Mercedes is doing, under one name, to garner more sales? I say NO. I say every chance most haters get they will mention the strategy. I say that those very same people will constantly ignore the fact that Benz is selling low end cars that have very little to do with luxury, to shore up their CAFE requirements and aspirations of luxury segment sales supremacy.

It calls up the questions: Are sales important in the luxury segment? Are sales the gauge by which success is measured in this segment?

GM could take on Benz straight up with this line-up and would pull in as many sales with Cadillac selling a version of the Cruze, a Sonic, a Equinox, etc. Or are we saying that Cadillac must make as many sales with an exclusive, RWD based line-up of over the top performance cars while Benz gets to essentially cheat, and give us warmed over economy cars? 

I believe that Cadillac should have CT2 CT4 CT6 CT8 and XT equivalents along with an Escalade and a Super car. 10 vehicles, but none of them have to be compromised in such a way as Benz has unleashed with the CLA.

I say that GM has an advantage with Buick. They could, for the sake of negative, almost exclusive to them, press releases about sales utilize Buick as their entry level brand. Between the two last year, GM garnered 400,000 sales in the U.S. That would have, under Benz rules (of putting mainstream level cars in the luxo line-up) that would have easily made them the best selling group of the year.


I agree that Cadillac still has to prove itself. The biggest problem I have with them having to prove themselves is that they seem to have to jump thru 30 hoops for those 30 years of troubles.. while brands like Audi.. which continues to have quality issues, get a pass. Ironically, in terms of sales, Audi really had a BAD year versus Caddy considering the amount of vehicles it sells. No one mentions it tho.. in fact just the opposite.
I will say that a back to back drive with "brand blinders" on would make most come away with a review that the top of the line Chevy, Ford, Honda, or Mazda as being on par or better than the $30K+ CLA.

The game has been rigged in such a way that Mercedes is essentially pulling the wool over sheepy eyes and selling them a vehicle, under the guise of luxury, that otherwise would be considered no better than a Chevy.The CLA has no place in a luxury car line-up. It is a sales and compliance vehicle that fluffed up Benzes sales. The GLA is another one. They are getting a pass simply because they are Mercedes.

Making a smaller ATS, a world class sport lux, is no different than BMW making a smaller 3series with the 2. I can get behind that, if sales supremacy is a non-issue. In order to compete with Benz tho.. Cadillac will need to do this.
Benz took an A-Class, essentially a Sonic competitor, not even a Cruze, and told U it was something else.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

Good points by Riviera.

 

i picked the $70,000 number because a full size Sedan or SUV at Lexus  starts in the 70s, at Buick a full size sedan or SUV starts in the $30s, big difference.  You can't compare Lexus  and Buick when Lexus has a $95,000 coupe, an $80k sedan,  an Escalade competitor (that doesn't sell), etc.   Cadillac is the Lexus fighter, XT3 and XT5 vs NX and RX, ATS and CTS vs IS and GS with V-series and F versions each.  LX570 vs Escalade, CT6 vs LS460 on the last 2 Lexus does the car better, Cadillac does the truck better.

 

As as far as MB profit margin, theirs around 9%, which is strong but Audi is 10% and Porsche and Bentley are like 20%, this why I said VW's luxury group sets the standard.

 

 

But Lexus has far more models under $70K than over it. Your imaginary comparison just doesn't fly. 

And Buick gets compared to Lexus all the time. The LaCross has been spanking the ES in comparors for years now. 

Caddy needs this and it is going to majorly help their bottom line.  As or the comparisons to Lexus and Mercedes, last I checked both of them are aiming pretty low, cla/gla and Lexus has tried not 1 but 2 low priced Hybrids. 

In response to Casa's post (I didn't want to quote the whole thing), I agree that Cadillac has heritage, but they fail to capitalize on it.  Mercedes talks about their history all the time, Cadillac wants people to forget theirs.  

I mostly agree with the 10 products they need, but I don't think Cadillac needs 4 sedans when sedan sales are tanking, 3 is enough.  They do need coupes, convertibles and sports cars, and I believe they need alpha and Omega crossovers with V-series versions.  They need electric cars in the 2020-2025 time frame to hit.

XT5 is priced like a GLC now, an XT3 is going to have GLA level pricing, so the haters of the GLA better get ready for that, and XT3 is front drive just like a GLA, they are going after the same market.  I'd rather see Cadillac go up market and sales volume will come later.  Cadillac lacks prestige, if they want to get it they have to go up market.  If Buick is really so strong, they should be able to take on Lincoln, the Lacrosse can go up $10k in base price and replace the XTS, Regal can go up in price and take on MKZ.  Make the ATS and XT3 $39,950 base, CTS,and XT5 $53,000base, CT6 and XT7 $84,950, Escalade $99,950 base model.

Good luck getting dealers to accept 20% price hikes to Buick and Cadillac models though.