smk4565

Cadillac doesn't make a sports car, doesn't have a convertible, doesn't have a performance crossover, only has 1 crossover in the line. There are product holes all over the place. Cadillac has lagged behind others on diesels or electrics, until they put the ELR out which was a total bust. Cadillac for the past 10 years has put everything on the CTS-V and the Escalade. They should have 8 products at that level.

A Lexus NX or Lincoln MKC is cheaper and a much better deal than the Envision. And the Lexus NX is a Lexus, it has a real luxury badge on it. And if people are shopping reliability, sadly Lexus is the best in that regard. $45k for an Envision Premium 2? You can get a Lexus RX for that money, and have a larger, roomier vehicle, with a V6, etc.

Yes, Cadillac will probably surpass BMW and Mercedes any day now. They have only been trying to accomplish that goal since 1985 with no avail.

Mercedes has 4 divisions of vehicles. Mercedes-Benz cars, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler buses and Daimler Trucks. All have the 3 point star on the front, all one brand, but diffent business units within it. Not every dealer has the Vans license to sell Sprinter.

Well then this isn't good news, the 2015 China sales volume. Audi: 509,998 BMW: 287,000 Mercedes: 255,270 Cadillac: 53,086 Nothing is more important to Cadillac than the American market. If they forget that and build cars for China, hoping Americans will buy them, they are in trouble.

And you are missing the point of the entire conversation. SMK seems to find perfectly acceptable to criticize GM for putting out Cadillacs as nothing more than "fancy Chevys" while his own favorite is going to do the EXACT same damn thing with Nissan. Just look at the ton of excuses he has given for that being okay while GMs is not and you will where the last two pages here have gone horribly and laughably wrong. Oh and after having sat in a CLA a couple of weeks ago, I can fully understand the level of criticism heaved its way by just about every major publication out there. Why have that mess when I could a RWD, and much more composed, C-Class for just a little bit more cash? Daimler and Nissan-Renault are joint developing the 2017 Frontier chassis, so yes it is corporate platform share product, but the Mercedes will get a Mercedes engine and transmission and interior. This is also developed for Europe, Middle East and South America, if sold in the USA it will be sold by the Vans division and marketed as a commercial vehicle. For a work truck I am sure the Frontier chassis will be serviceable. They aren't selling the Mercedes pickup as a luxury or performance product, it is the pick up equivalent of the Metris, a work vehicle. Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura, and Lexus, build luxury cars/crossovers of front drive platforms that are inferior to rear drive platforms that you can put more power into, longer wheelbases with better ride, better interior room, etc. That is the difference. These front drive products hit a performance ceiling that the rear drive product can far exceed. And many people would rather have a C-class, it outsold the CLA 86,000 to 29,000 in the USA last year. C-class racked up over 443,000 sales last year world wide.

Audi is weaker in the USA, probably because VW is so weak. Audi has had slow, steady growth though over 50 consecutive months of sales gains. 15 years ago Audi was like Jaguar level volume, but not they are a player, so I think that is why they get less criticism. Cadillac was on top of the mountain and now a 5th or 6th place brand, thus they get criticized. Audi sold 1,803,250 cars last year world wide. Hard to say they don't know how to convince people to buy them, the American market is only 10% of their total sales though. Cadillac needs the American market, it is their #1 market.

2015 sales and rate of change: 3/4-series: 140,609 down 1.2% C-class: 86,080 up 14.7% IS: 46,430 down 9.9% A4: 29,013 down 14.7% ATS: 26,873 down 10.1% This tells us 2 things. First off the sales/marketing and branding people are not doing a very good job. If the ATS is as good as a 3-series, they should be able to convince more people to buy it. The second thing is that these car segments are shrinking and shrinking fast as crossovers rise. So you better be on your A game in any of these sedan segments, and you also better have a slew of crossovers to sell, because those segments are growing.

CLA outsold Regal and Volkswagen CC combined in 2015! I never drove a CLA, I have only sat in them, as I posted I don't care for the interior. I have read the ride is hard and rough, that doesn't fit the rest of the Mercedes line. It gets good gas mileage, so that is a plus for the CLA. But despite the flaws, the people like the look or they like the badge so much they will buy it anyway. That is how strong the Mercedes brand image is. Cadillac needs image work, they have needed image work for decades. When I suggest they make a 500 hp V8 crossover, or a sports car above Corvette, or that they should have a DOHC V8 for larger vehicles or V-series, people think I am nuts. Then the CAFE excuse or budget dollars excuse comes up as to why they can't develop a DOHC V8. When Cadillac should have the money to build what they need, and let Chevy worry about CAFE, take the V8 out of the Silverado and Express van and put in 2.7 liter turbo V6s like Ford did on the F150, there is your CAFE gain.

And you sure as hell can't use the sales argument here as an indicator of a car being better than it's competition because then you are just straight talking out of your ass. The CLA has been ridiculed in may reviews since it came out for it's lackluster characteristics. The ATS has had far more positive reviews than the CLA by a country mile so that kills your asinine argument yet again. To further trash your sales argument, I submit the Escalade. It has outsold the GLS every year. Now, using your "logic", is the Escalade better since it outsells the obviously superior Mercedes? Just think about that for more than a damn minute before moving that bar again. I didn't say I think the CLA is better, I just said that more people rather buy it than an ATS. The CLA always gets crapped on for being such a horrible car, you want to say it is equal to a $20k Focus, but they sold more of them than Cadillac sold ATS. So the public must not think it is so bad. Personally, I don't like the CLA, the interior is sort of cheap, it feels sort of cramped inside too, could be the high belt line of it. Here in lies Cadillac's problem, the ATS can't even outsell a CLA. Let alone outsell a Lexus IS or A4. Even if Cadillac makes a good car, they can't convince people to buy it. The ATS got good reviews for it's driving dynamics, the magazines love the chassis, but marketing hasn't figured out how to get people to buy it. The Camaro is another good point by Oldshurst, you have a V8 and a supercharged V8 offered in the Camaro, yet no V8 in the ATS. Cadillac is better than Chevy, the Cadillac should have the better engines. If the ATS can't mop the floor with a Camaro (or Mustang), how can it beat the world's best? The Mercedes GL outsold the Escalade in 2013, by 7,000 units. And Escalade had 3 body styles to the GL's 1. The Escalade has outsold the GL in 2014 and 2015, but it hasn't outsold it "every year." This is the only segment that Cadillac and Mercedes have a good battle going, but the Escalade and Navigator founded the segment. What is interesting is how the Navigator has tanked, and the BMW X7 is about to emerge. Escalade is still tough to beat.

Mercedes already has a small RWD car, building two small rwd cars wouldn't make sense. I always love the anti-Mercedes argument of "but they make the CLA" "it is cheap, it degrades the brand" Yet the the brand keeps rolling along, and the followers can't catch them. The CLA outsold the ATS last year. True story, it happened. If the ATS was so good, and the Cadillac brand so appealing, the bottom feeder of the Mercedes brand wouldn't be beating them. You can get a CLA and an ATS for the same money, more people would rather have that CLA, and CLA has 1 body style, ATS has 2!

And that "logic" right there is why you're not in charge of product planning. In one breath you say they need an XT5 with 600HP and then you say they can't because of it being FWD. Make up your mind on what you think Cadillac needs to do. I know one thing. They are better than second tier luxury and don't need to worry about second tier competition. Knowing that, why would they NOT keep aiming for the best? That is the whole problem with your "logic". XT5 should have been built on the Alpha platform. There should be a 3-row XT7 on Omega. That is what they should do, either of those products could take a 600 hp V8, a 400 hp twin turbo V6, etc. But they chose to make the XT5 a front driver so they could platform share with an Acadia, and that platform has a long wheel base option so there is your XT7. This is how to build a crossover on the cheap, not aiming for what is best. Lincoln and Acura build crossovers on the cheap, it got them no where. If the XT5 and XT7 were rear drive on alpha and Omega, I wouldn't be opposed to an XT4 mid-size front drive crossover at $40k to compete with the Lexus RX. There should be an XT3, Alpha would be better, but the people buying a $35k base price crossover are clueless to drivetrain, so they could do anything. The ideal would be an Alpha XT3 and a D2XX XT2.

Cadillac needs product, obviously crossovers and V-series are the highest margin products, so I say introduce more of both. All the other luxury players have performance crossovers, Cadillac has squat. There was a time when the M5 and E55 were the only sport sedans, and then all of a sudden everyone had one. Same thing is happening with crossovers. Cadillac can't do performance crossovers because they have front drive underpinnings on XT5 and probably XT3 and XT7 as well. This makes me think Cadillac should forget about trying to battle the Germans, and just focus on dominating the 2nd their luxury brands. The other option is make 3 front drive crossovers, and 2 rear drive crossovers, build a 5 crossover line up plus Escalade for a total of 6 utilities. Then they'd have blanket coverage of the crossover market, and GM has the size and scale to pump them full of products faster than someone like Jaguar could move into those segments.

Sold next to Corvettes, and it isn't even "Fancy"

Glad to see you rooting for them to steal sales away from the Colorado and Canyon. I expect them to just make a work truck with a turbo 4 engine, lower volume. But if they wanted to make a luxury truck or a performance version, they could easily take over this segment.Fancy Nissan. Thanks for playing. Also thanks for the laugh when you said that it will steal sales from the GM twins. Nissan sure hasn't done it but hey, a troll can dream right?Again, fancy Nissan. Oh and I don't know where you live but the biggest Mercedes dealership here in Phoenix sells their cars and vans on the same lot. That new Nissan will look great sitting near a $100k S Class </sarcasm> I live in Pittsburgh, and the Chevy Dealerships have Corvette Z06's on the same lot as a Chevy City Express, which is a Nissan too. I am guessing not many Corvette buyers leave the lot when they see a compact class commercial van on the lot. The Mercedes truck won't have a Nissan engine or transmission, it will have Mercedes powertrain, but they haven't even said if they are selling it in the USA yet. I still have a wait and see approach on that, they haven't even shown a concept vehicle of it yet. And yes Mercedes is in business to make money, they aren't a non-profit. GM is also in business to make money. People here act like it is a good thing if Cadillac sells 200,000 cars a year globally at $50k per vehicle with slim margins because they lack the high profit crossovers and V-series products they need.

Glad to see you rooting for them to steal sales away from the Colorado and Canyon. I expect them to just make a work truck with a turbo 4 engine, lower volume. But if they wanted to make a luxury truck or a performance version, they could easily take over this segment.

You are STILL stuck on 'SALES = EVERYTHING', despite being told a thousand times that's not Cadillac's goal. Who cares how many of what sold, and vs. others sold? You just don't get it. Sure; an XT5 V-Sport would be neat, it may happen, but it's no 'make or break' model. Crossovers (in general) have a higher profit margin than sedans too. Crossovers equal profit. V-series models also create more profit margin also.

What does the CTS-V coming out in 2004 and the standard CTS coming out in 2003 have to do with Cadillac building a V-series CUV/SUV? I am still missing why having a V-series CUV is a bad idea.

So why do they make a 640 hp CTS-V? That sells to a very small segment of buyers also. When you think about it, crossovers outsell sedans. The SRX outsold ATS and CTS combined. A performance crossover could outsells a CTS-V. Granted a sedan buyer is more likely to opt for the V8 than a crossover buyer. Cadillac fans will say they don't need a high performance SUV/crossoever because they don't have one. But Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Land Rover and Jaguar do. Where would Cadillac be with no ATS-V and CTS-V? Everyone here says the CTS-V is the best Cadillac ever, why wouldn't you want a crossover based on it? You'd still have turbo 4 and V6 models for the masses. We'll see what the Mercedes pick up is, my guess is a dash from the Metris and the same powertrain, and M-B Vans will sell it. And regardless of what it is, Mercedes will still have over twenty models with 500+ hp. 3 years ago people said the CLA will be the end of Mercedes, it will cause the fall, it is doom and gloom, etc, etc. Yet sales and profits keep rising to record levels, the C-class sales went up since the CLA came out. I hope you all aren't waiting for Mercedes and BMW to fall for Cadillac to get back on top, it is going to be a long wait.

I don't think every brand has to have a start and stop point without touching each other, but there should be some defined areas. Chevy should be about value, you don't need to make them more expensive or fancy, because you have Buick. Buick should be the soft luxury, essentially Chevy level performance/ride/handling, but nicer interior, more sound deadening. I actually think GMC should be commercial grade and work trucks, and not the Chevy clone or luxury SUV brand. The 2017 Acadia would make a nice Chevy Trailblazer, allowing the Equinox to shrink about 6 inches in length to better align with a CR-V and Escape. Then Chevy has Trax, Equinox, Trailblazer, Traverse nicely spaced apart. I'd push the Denali SUV buyers into Cadillac, which should be an even better profit margin than a GMC. But I know they won't do that with GMC. The problem I have is when a Buick Envision and a Buick Enclave are more expensive than a Cadillac XT5. If Cadillac is the top, why is it cheaper than a Buick? And we aren't talking a full size loaded up Buick costing more than a base model small size Cadillac, that happens with all brands. If GM is so hell bent on making Buick a rival to Acura and Lincoln and a $30-50k brand, then they need to do a lot better job making Cadillac a $50-100k brand.

There was a report that 630,000 cars will be recalled in Germany for fixes to the emissions control system. These from Porsche, VW, Opel, and Mercedes. It says only VW has the cheat device, but the other cars pass the test, but don't pass real world driving emissions standards. The report from the German government also mentioned Chevrolet, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Jaguar, Land Rover, Jeep, and Renault as not meeting emissions standards. So it is the whole industry, the diesel engine is going to die in cars. They'll all phase them out, go to the 1.5 liter turbos, hybrids, etc.

Cadillac makes the Escalade, a fancy Tahoe, they also make the XT5 which is a fancy V6 Equinox. The Escalade and XT5 are direct competitors to the Lincoln MKX and Navigator, Cadillac is getting an XT3 to compete with the Lincoln MKC. Cadillac is getting an XT7, Lincoln likely getting a 3-row Explorer based SUV, so the two brands would have really similar SUV lineups full of vehicles based on Chevy/Ford product. The difference is Lincolns cars are Ford Fusions, while Cadillac has true rear drive performance sedans. So Cadillac and Lincoln will compete on the SUV side, but not on the sedan side. If Lincoln can't compete with Cadillac since they don't have performance sedans, I guess Cadillac doesn't compete with the Germans then, because Cadillac has no performance SUVs. They don't have a GLE63 or GLS63, X5 M, X6 M, Cayenne Turbo, Macan Turbo, SQ5, SQ7 competitor. Cadillac in the crossover market is in the same position Lincoln is in with their sedans.

He is an idiot who has no clue. There is no possible way they could copy any car and get it to market in 12 months. Let alone something like an electric that takes more development. When is the last time FCA developed a good car? The last good car was the 2005 Chrysler 300 and that was in the Daimler era. The Fiat 500 had Italian flare, that failed, the 500x was a crossover with Italian flare, it probably the only crossover ever to fail, the Alfa 4C has no sales, the Guilia has long over due and likely over budget and likely won't sell. Maserati Ghibli was a bust, Fiat 500L a total disaster. The only hits they have had were the Jeep Cherokee revival and Renegade. The Grand Cherokee is a success, but was already in place long before Sergio took over. Dodge Dart is biblically terrible, Avenger dead, no mid-size car at all, Chrysler 200 is sold to rental agencies, and was put on death row 2 years after going on sale.

I love how FCA's solution to their woes is put a Hellcat V8 in everything. I mean sure that will be a unique vehicle to have a 700 hp Grand Cherokee or Durango, so kudos to them for doing it. But at the same time, I feel like they spend no money on things like small or mid-size sedans, or crossovers for Dodge or Chrysler. I don't how you run a company basically ignoring the largest segments of vehicles and relying only on Jeep, Ram pickups and Hellcat V8s. If gas ever goes back over $4 a gallon they are bankrupt.

You are dodging the "issue" here. If you are going to criticize Cadillac for their dimensions in one segment then you have to do the same with MB. How do you have two CUVs that are ten inches apart in length yet they are both called "compacts", using your "logic"? Do you see it yet or do you want to continue with the phantom issue? I am not criticizing Cadillac's dimensions at all. The XT5 is mid-size as you would expect "5" to be in the middle. The size for the name is spot on. My criticism was the Buick Envision costs more than the Cadillac XT5. Cadillac is supposed to be the luxury brand, Buick is supposed to be a step above Chevy and Entry-lux at best. A small Buick should not cost more than a mid-size Cadillac. That makes no sense. The Envision is the same size as a Verano, imagine a Verano priced more than the CTS. If Cadillac is going to use entry-lix pricing, then we don't really need Buick or GMC, just expand the heck out of Cadillac and let Cadillac sell 15 models and rack up sales in the $30-60k range. If they want to do that and make Cadillac a Lincoln, Acura, Jeep, Chrysler, Infiniti competitor, then I am fine with that. They could mop the floor with all those brands if they focused on doing it. But if Cadillac is going to be tier one luxury, a vehicle like XT5 should base around $50k and have a 640 hp V8 XT5-V for about $100k. They want to be top their, but we still haven't seen the product or the move toward that. Cadillac is still caught in building a fancy Chevy to battle the Fancy Fords that Lincoln is building, while claiming they are targeting the Germans. They have to decide a direction and stick with it.