smk4565

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.

Diesel cars could end up dead in the next 5-10 years. Hybrid and plug in is getting better and better. Once electrification gets more wide spread in the 2020s, the diesel car will be going away. So then you wonder about diesel SUVs and pick ups like the Ram or Colorado. I would guess they would move to a plug-in hybrid set up too.

All I said was the Envision is in the small segment, yet priced on top of the XT5, which is mid-size and a Cadillac. How is saying the Envision is in the small segment, but priced similar to the XT5 trolling? It is the size of the vehicle and the price of the vehicle. But as we talk about Cadillac and we know an XT3 is coming, which will be cheaper than XT5, if you take $5k off the XT5 you have a $33,995 X3, that is cheaper than an Envision. Sure the XT5 price could rise, and XT3 priced at $38k, but it seems odd that Buick and Cadillac are so on top of each other. And the Mercedes GLC is 183.3 inches long, it is also in the small SUV segment. Same size vehicle as the Envision. How can the Envision be mid-size and the GLC be compact, when they are the same size? In what world can you claim the Buick Envision is a mid-size SUV? It doesn't make sense.

I tend to think it is a step above a LaCrosse or like a longer, bigger version of an ES350. It has fwd and 300ish hp like those other 2. But the Continental doesn't have a price point like those two. It will be interesting to see the advertising and how many people buy it.

Gas is cheap, crossover sales are up, crossovers = profits. Good job on capitalizing on that by GM. Although I think they could have another crossover at Chevy and they haven't got the Envision on sale yet, and Cadillac needs a couple more. So if they can fill out the crossover line, they should be able to keep this up.

You do NOT agree. Tiny crossovers is NOT where Cadillac should be going, at the very least because and Cadillac isn't AND because everyone wants them to stop saying See what you did there?? The market buys crossovers. Problem is Cadillac's SUV/CUV/whatever aren't based on the Alpha and Omega platforms where they put all their engineering dollars. And they only have 2 of them. I agree there is no business case for a smaller than ATS sedan, the ATS sedan isn't really lighting up the sales chart to think people want a smaller, cheaper ATS. But Cadillac without crossovers will be out of business. It has become the #1 selling body style.

The Buick is midsize. Nice trolling though. It is????? Buick Envision length 183.7 inches long Chevrolet Cruze 183.7 in Cadillac ATS 183.6 in BMW X3 183.8 in I always thought those were in the small segment.

Thunderbird all day long. That was a good looking car. And it has the 3.9 liter V8 from the Lincoln, so it has some power to it. Only 250 hp, but enough for cruising.

Anyone notice that a 2016 Buick Envision (which is in the small segment and made in China) is $42,995, and the 2017 will have a $34,990 base model. The Cadillac XT5 is $38,995, which is a mid-size crossover. A small Buick crossover is priced like a mid-size Cadillac. It doesn't make sense.

To me Cadillac is a challenger brand that isn't sure what direction it wants to go. It lacks focus. 10-15 years ago, they saw the 3-series and 5-series were successful and said let's copy that. For the 2010 SRX they saw the Lexus RX selling like crazy, so they made the SRX the same size with fwd to copy. There isn't really a true strategy of what they stand for. They want to have low weight, cut every gram possible sports sedans, but then their halo product is a 6,000 lb SUV in which they never bothered to cut any weight from. Now it seems like they will design cars to suit China, even though they still sell more Cadillacs here than they do in China. I do think there are some at Cadillac that want to make stylish, great American cars, play on the heritage, while offering the technology of today. However there are too many bean counters that will interfere, or those that will argue if we turn an Enclave into a Cadillac that is cheaper than making a CT6 based crossover, so let's just do the quick an easy route, offer discounts later to move metal. So you get what you what we have now. Concept cars and ideas that seam great, but get heavily watered down in the process. I don't care for BMWs all that much, but if everything they do is so wrong, or if the cars are bland, or no longer sporty the i3 is ugly and stupid, etc, then why do they whip Cadillac so bad? The BMW haters want to hate on them, but they are selling close to 2 million cars a year now. I think BMW makes their fair share of mistakes, but the people keep buying them.

Who is this demographic that is looking for a slightly smaller, slightly cheaper ATS @ Cadillac, exactly? A billion dollars spent to develop this model that's a shave & a haircut smaller- there's simply no point to it. Same demographic that buys the CLA... but later finds out its a POS.. Same buyer who will buy a 1 series or 2 series. And I doubt big time that it costs a billion$$ to develop the model.. Again.. when the newer ATS (CT3) will be a tad larger on the inside. I would also point out that while my preference is the Alpha platform be used.. I would have zero objection to a Dx vehicle that was a hatch or hybrid OK… that's your take. Mine is, there's no business case to bring out another sedan on the SAME PLATFORM as the ATS. I mean, hello? And this is coming from someone who doesn't place all that much significance in what platform is under a vehicle. CLA is moving copies (based on whoring out the badge), but the 1-2 series @ BMW is struggling. But a FWD hatchback Cadillac??????????????????? What sort of sales analysis threads am I going to be reading there?? It's not where Cadillac came from, it's not where they need to go. The whole 'must match the German's catalogs' mindset has to die but some folks just won't let it go. I agree. The sub ATS product they need is a crossover. They is always a business case for crossovers it now seems. The XT5 is basically a midsize vehicle, they can get 2 crossovers smaller than it in the line up easily. People don't want small sedans, look at the drop in Fiesta, Focus type cars, the Honda Fit basically dead, but the Trax, HR-V, and Mazda CX-3 are on the rise. You can sell a compact crossover, hard to sell a compact sedan if you aren't already established in that segment.