97regalGS

I never said that the high end luxury market WAS Wal-Mart, I said that Cadillac would be the "Wal-Mart OF the luxury market". I also never said anything about going after the $80,000 market. I haven't got time to research it, but I don't think there are very many BMW, and M-B;s that sell for $80k either. There is nothing wrong with a $55-$60k DTS. But if it is comparable to offerings from MB and BMW, then why does it have to sell for less? Audi can't sell cars in volume because they do not have a strng brand in North American market. Cadillac? Well, only 100+ years of history to build on. The funny thing is that Cadillac, despite some of the crap (crap- used for empahsis as opposed to suggesting that all their cars were junk)they have built in the past, as a brand, still has the ability to transform itself to what it represented in the 1950;s, IMO. Cadillac is the ONLY American nameplate with an opportunity to be a leader in the luxury segment in NA, and globally (Europe more difficult, but China....... ). However, this is the luxury segment. 'Value' is not why people buy these cars. Excess, image, panache, style is why people buy these cars. Standard of the World should be the target, not "European quality at lower prices".

so, you want Cadillac to be the Wal-Mart of the Luxury market? Great luxury cars at everyday low prices? nothing like setting your sights at mediocre.

some good points. however, how many people actually 'move up' the car ladder with every purchase?

but wouldn't you rather those BMW's were Cadillacs?????

will it? and if so, how fast? Imagine if the SRX and STS had been successful. Imagine if the SRX 2007 interior was in there initially, and it had been priced a little more aggresively. Imagine if the STS hadn't been so watered down and plain boring. Imagine if Zeta was available earlier and the DTS had it's debut as RWD instead of a new nose and ass (& interior)on the Deville. Instead of just a slow turnaround, started by original Escalade and CTS, (followed by a long gap) to be modestly continued with the NG Escalade and NG CTS, we might actually have a revival, or re-birth. Alas, we can only hope that GM has far more in store Cadillac that what seems likely.

which leads to my 2 concerns. 1. interior - let's hope that they have a major upgrade on materials etc to rival the world's best 2. driveability - let's hope that it is improved over the Z06, not that I've driven one, but the common theme across the board is with driveability/feedback of the car as you push it at 10/10ths around a track.

that would be cool, wouldn't it!!

you need to stop by more often. alpha is small RWD platform for entry Cadillac sedan, omega is new RWD platform for Sixteen oh, and both will be displayed at NAIAS 2007 and on the street January 2008 (I wish!)

interesting conjecture. but i think we can all agree that the possibility of a turbo CTS in the short term is pretty much non-existent. if BLS comes to market on ep2 with AWD, turbo V6 seems possible given that it's already in the 9-3

Cadillac is NOT Bentley. This is not the 1950's. (unfortunatley) If that is what Cadilac want to be, then they need to have a plan to do that. I'm not sure that they do. Also, how would GM stop livery companies from buying their cars and turning them into Limos? Also, I was referring to replacing Town Cars as the Airport Limo of choice. I'm not saying I agree with that idea, but it just strikes me that that's what would happen. Again, it would be tough to get Buick into that game, without the right product and market image. Not a stretch, but it's not like they could take a Lucerne and do it.

lots of money to make all that happen. STS is a sitting duck right now, with 08 CTS around the corner. Adding length would help differentiate it from CTS, but I think that with STS/DTS/FTS you'd be competing for the same buyers. And FTS, is there really a consumer market for a stretched zeta-DTS? my gut says, not enough of a market to justify it. but, great for limos etc. if the rumored small RWD holds water, then you have 3 car platforms for 5 cars for cadillac, not including XLR. i think the volumes on the higher end would not be enough to sustain 2 platforms and 3 models. hence the talked about platform consolidation of current STS and DTS to one. (a little RWD caddy would be better than the AWD Ep2 BLS - no matter how good it is. leave Ep2 to Buick, Saturn, Chevy and SAAB. get me the BRX pronto. the sooner the better. give the SRX a new front end to go with the new interior.(Sand Mica!) (something to get people into the show room cause no one says, 'wow, what a great interior at 60 mph). get me a coupe. (don't call it CTC). then get me a NG Kappa (with a useable trunk). while we're at it, update the XLR interior. and for sixty68, how about a Sixteen. (of course it would have to be BOF )

hmmm, same time as Impala!!??!! That would be a bit of a shocker wouldn't it? Technically, what platform would that be? IMO it would need more than a 4cyl. But it would help address GM's tendency to re-badge every platform for every division. (assuming they didn't cave and give a version to Buick and another version to Saturn and another version to SAAB)

i don't know. wouldn't the STS and DTS end up similarily sized? what would differentiate them?

croc, are you suggesting a line-up like this: CTS sigma STS stretched sigma DTS zeta FTS stretched zeta

What new compact RWD car? Have I missed something? Do we have reasonable timeframes, product codes etc or is this still just an 'idea'? I think we're going to have to wait and see NG CTS execution to see whether Cadillac can successfully move it up-market to compete with 5Series. I'm not sure the market will accept it. As the CTS grows slightly and fixes the interior, someone please tell me who is going to buy a 2008 STS over a 2008 CTS.

nice generlization. i'd say 5 years ago that was closer to the truth than it is today. beside, does it really matter why people are buying hyundais? fact is they are the fastest growing car company.

cause washing cars at a dealership doesn't make you connected. either does having copies of leaked/exposed internal GM documnent. so instead of quoting for those, why not just post them for all of us to read. that way we can all post like insiders.

'from what I've seen' implies that he is connected, when in fact that is not the case. btw it's an observation I'm made recently. while not as blatant as quionM, there is certainly some swagger in his postings.

be careful how you post northie. you're beginning to sound like quion. you're not an insider but you've started to post like one.

i now understand what you were saying. but I don't think you can stack anything horizontally. just not possible. and why did u have to pick a Deville with a Landau roof???

i'm confused by your comments. current FWD DTS platform is or will be dead. doesn't mean the name is. so are you referring to the name or the platform? if grif is talking about STS-sigma going away and DTS moving to zeta....... i think the question is will Cadillac get - 2 sigma cars (STS and CTS) - 1 sigma car(CTS) and 1 zeta car(DTS) - 2 sigma cars (CTS and STS) and 1 Zeta car (DTS) - 1 sigma car (CTS) and 2 zeta cars (DTS and DTS-L) someone please confirm. would a zeta DTS equal a sigma STS in terms of 'performance'. ie. which one is a superior platform. my thought was that zeta, since it is used for chevy, pontiac etc was a less technological and less expensive platform than sigma. i think the front end suspension are different. so does it make sense for cadillac to drop the STS from sigma and then bring out an 'inferior' zeta to replace it? if that is the case, something doesn't add up for me. it might cost more than the CTS due to luxury features etc. but it still leaves a big hole in the cadillac line-up for 545i and 745i shoppers. as much as i would like to see NG-CTS take on the 5series, i don't see how it can bridge the price gap to get there. add in the BLS on ep2 and seems almost like cadillac is going backwards?????

what exactly is 'stacked horizontal'? and do you mean just the last gen Deville cause didn't the previous generation have 'side by side' horizontal headlights?

croc, I'm disappointed. you're just figuring this out now?

but it's still funny!!!!!! think I'll print these pictures and put them up on my shelf!

i'm fairly certain the warranty on is a NA warranty, valid in Cda and USA. you do have some hurdles to cross with Canada Customs, so i would research them first before you make a purchase. i was seriously looking at that route but didn't pull the trigger.