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But a CTS with a longer wheel base, RWD, a light weight chassis and Magnaride will ride and handle better than the XTS. I'd like to see them upstage the XTS interior in the new CTS as well. It is very possible that the 2014 CTS is lighter, quicker, better handling, better riding, more fuel efficient, roomier and with a more luxurious interior than the XTS. And that will be a win for CTS and for Cadillac because they will finally have the car they need to challenge the Germans.

Unless they build this car out of carbon fiber it is going to be obese, and no one wants a 4,200 lb Delta platform car for $60,000. That makes a Cimarron look good. I think GM is making an error here, unless they can find away to deliver electric drive at ATS level performance. If they can make a performance electric car I am all for it, if this is a Cadillac that drags to 60 in 10 seconds and drains the battery in 30 miles, then no thank you.

Bingo, and the XTS embraces the old image of Cadillac, it doesn't help to change it. That is my #1 problem with the car. The people that don't give Cadillac a chance now, aren't going to have their mind changed by the XTS.

They spent $4.7 billion on Mercedes Benz Car line (SUV included), the commercial trucks and Freightliner and Western Star, etc have a different budget.

$7.6 billion in 2011, which is the same number Daimler-Benz posted. But GM is off to a slow start this year, $1 billion first quarter. GM had one big year, but Opel is bleeding money, and I still wonder if they will really invest in Cadillac or if they will keep diverting it to trucks or dividends to try to keep the stock price up. The government still owns a lot of that stock so who knows where the real priorities lie this close to coming out of bankruptcy. Interesting though is Daimler spent $4.7 billion on R&D for Mercedes-Benz Cars in 2011. I don't think GM spend $4 billion in one year on Cadillac. Cadillac v. Mercedes is a bit Pittsburgh Pirates v. New York Yankees, the deck is heavily stacked in one team's favor.

How do we know that things are any better now. Opel is losing nearly $1 billion a year, GM turns out less net profit now than they did in the 1990s when they couldn't afford to do things right. I still don't think GM has the money to fund Cadillac.

Cadillac has had years (and in reality decades) to get it right. In 2002 when they started with the CTS, STS, XLR and SRX that was supposed to be the product wave and that flopped. There is nothing to indicate that the ATS and next gen CTS won't just be more of the same. When they redid the Deville and decided to call it DTS in 2006, that was supposed to be a stop gap and 6 years later, yet another. Who's to say that in 2018 there isn't a new version of the XTS and the CTS failed to go up market, so it has to go back down to where it is now, and the ATS is striped down to fight the Acura TSX and Audi A3. Not saying that that will happen, but I think it is just as possible as Cadillac moving up to take on BMW and Mercedes.

So basically (to steal a line from The Dark Knight), the XTS isn't the flagship they deserved, but the flagship they needed right now.

Although Cadillac is charging $10,000 more for an XTS than a CTS. And if they increase the CTS $10,000 in price, what does that do to CTS sales, and what happens when 2 cars with the same price are on the same showroom floor. That strategy didn't bode well for the DTS and STS.

I don't think the ES is really a LaCrosse competitor. The LaCrosse is $30,000, the 2013 ES350 is $38,000 (estimated), and the XTS is $45,000. The LaCrosse isn't up-market enough, nor does it have a true luxury badge to really compete with the ES head on. Likewise the ES is a bit smaller and cheaper than the XTS. I can however see people cross shopping the ES350 against a high end LaCrosse or base XTS. It is like shopping vanilla ice cream from Breyers, Haggan Daas and Ben and Jerry's, it is basically all the same, just different package and price. The Toyota Avalon actually carries a higher price tag than the LaCrosse, I see that as Buick's competition. Of Lexus models, the ES350 is closest to the XTS, and I don't really see the XTS competing too directly with any German sedan. MKS is very similar in size and pricing.

This is like some unholy alliance. This could either end up terrible, but sadly I fear it could work. Engine sharing for Mini and Toyota is a no brainer, especially for diesels, BMW with their turbo 4 or turbo six bolted to the Toyota hybrid drive could be interesting. Toyota has zero sports car ability right now, with some BMW knowledge and Toyota's deep pockets they could come up with something.

It is good that they highlight CUE, it is all this car has to highlight, but I don't think the typical Cadillac buyer is of the iPad generation. And I know Cadillac wants to get the iPad generation into their showrooms, but I don't think these ads will do it. So they still need to draw in the loyalists, which these ads don't do as much. Interesting how they mention the E-class in the first ad, is that the XTS's main competition? And the E-class has a laundry list of things the XTS doesn't.

2nd gen Lexus SC went there then went away. Yes, but poor execution, and much cheaper than an SL. It was almost more placed against the CLK500 of the day. The big sedan market is loaded, not with just the traditional Germans and the XJ, but Maserati, Porsche and even Aston Martin now (albeit a higher price). If Infiniti wants a halo they probably do need to go the sports car route, and hope they don't end up with an SC430 or XLR.

Well, you've got a few things wrong here. The 172 ft-lb is from the gas engine alone, the electric part rounds it up to 200 ft-lb total and it isn't a standard automatic. Toyota hybrid drive is a CVT, so no hunting at all. I meant in the LaCrosse eAssist. That has less power than the Avalon and even more weight. Both are snooze mobiles to me.

They, like Cadillac, realize that having small and mid-size luxury sedans, a small crossover and a luxury SUV based off a pickup isn't enough. The G37 and M37/M56 are good products, but Infiniti just doesn't have a full enough line, or the halo vehicle at the top. Normally I'd say they need a big sedan, but they tried that and failed. Since they are more of a performance brand, I could see a halo sports car, why there isn't some form of a GT-R, even if tuned down to 450 hp and suspension set a little softer, they could have a grand touring coupe like a Jag XK or Maserati Gran Turismo.

Can't be any worse than 172 lb-ft pulling a 3800+ lb car with a 6-speed that wants to hunt for 6th gear. Bottom line is most of these LaCrosse or Avalon hybrid buyers like a numb car. The Avalon hybrid does have that 40/39 mpg rating going for it, they will get sales just on that. The MKZ is a good example, they sell almost half hybrid, Lincoln buyers don't care about speed either. The Taurus ecoboost gets 32 mpg so that is pretty good, and the V6 Taurus has 288 hp and 29 mpg but that is still a heavy car. Not that I'd ever even bother with test driving an Avalon, I will say it is a very mass efficient car. The domestic full sizers have a lot of weight in them, maybe you can give Chrysler a pass on the 300 since it is wider and rear drive, but the Taurus is practically SUV weight.

The V6 may not be the most powerful but 31 mpg is a solid number. That is 2 better than the Azera and 4 better than the LaCrosse. The 40 mpg hybrid is going to stand out because only the LaCrosse has an electric assist in some way, and that gives up about 15 mpg on the city rating. And the Maxima and Taurus don't offer anything. One thing that is impressive is the Avalon V6 is only 36 lbs more than an ATS V6. They kept that car under 3500 lbs while a V6 LaCrosse is over 4,000.

The Regal could sell better with no Verano there, but I for years have thought Buick needs a small car because no one makes a small luxury car. All the small premiums are like the Golf GTI, Mini Cooper, Volvo C30, etc that place the emphasis on sporty driving. I actually wish the Verano had less Cruze to the interior and were a bit nicer. The exposed cup holders, short armrest and shifter are more economy car than luxury car. I wonder how much staying power the Regal has, the interior isn't that impressive to me, the seats and everything you touch is hard. It is pretty well made, so I don't think it is a bad interior, it just doesn't wow me in any way. The Regal has weak engines also, it is outpowered by the Sonatas and Camrys of the world so I don't see how they are making the sport sedan claim. The Regal just seems like a car that can quickly get dated and forgotten once the newness wears off.

Costs too much, that is basically SRX money. And the problem with Denali vehicles is the interiors aren't all that different than the base model. They add some wood trim and stitching on the leather. To me the Terrain Denali interior is no better than a Verano or Malibu LTZ which are nearly $10k less.

I'm sure it is taking Regal sales, but I don't think Regal sales were going to be great anyway. The Regal is supposed to be a sporty Buick and have a firm German ride, something Buick owners don't want. The Verano, LaCrosse and Enclave fit the Buick image and are more for quiet and comfort with burled wood trim and soft seats.

I had a G37 rental for several days last year, and I've driven the CTS 3.6. The G37 is much quicker and it corners better too, but the transmission is really jerky and either wants to be in 1st, 2nd or 7th (conversely the Mercedes I drove with a 7-speed is the best transmission i ever experienced). The G37's ride is okay, CTS is a bit softer and smoother, and the CTS has more features. I would take a CTS over a G37, the G37 is too rough around the edges and a terrible transmission, and that is what makes BMW so good, they give you the performance without the roughness. Cadillac's average buyer is 57, BMW and Audi are around 48. To me, Cadillac still has an old person image that they need to shake, and they need to get younger people in the door, the ATS hopefully can. They need a flagship sedan also to trickle down technology to cars like the CTS. Because the stuff these $100,000 have that 5 years later ends up on $40-50,000 cars can't be introduced on a car like the CTS.

Well the C-class, A4 and 3-series could be thrown into that entry lux mix, but the 3-series is not being cross shopped with a Lexus ES or Lincoln. The CTS being a Cadillac does attract some old buyers that are looking for soft ride and not performance or that like domestics and would consider a Lincoln. In that regard the G37 is probably a bit too sporty for most CTS buyers, the Genesis is actually closer to the CTS than the G37 is in terms of ride/handling balance. Audi sales are okay, they beat Acura, Lincoln and Infiniti and are pretty close with Cadillac. Audi just can't match BMW or Mercedes. The base A6 gets 25/33 mpg, so I can see why they offer that engine. VW has to play the CAFE game too, and some buyers rate fuel economy very high. They do offer a V6 and a V8, so they cover all bases. Audi gets a lot of good press from the car magazines and Audi cleans up in China also, their Chinese sales alone are about Cadillac's total global output. So they're doing fine, although I don't really care for them and wouldn't buy one.

The CTS (1st and 2nd generation) was sized and priced to compete with Infiniti G, Lexus ES, Lincoln MKZ, and Acura TL. And I agree it is a very solid contender against those cars, better than all but the G37, and the G37 is a bit rough around the edges, the CTS is better than that car in many ways also. CTS isn't competing against an E-class no matter how much Cadillac wishes it was, E-class costs more than the STS did. And an Audi S6 does 0-60 in 3.7 seconds, and gets 17/26 mpg. That is quicker than a CTS-V and only 1 mpg less than a V6 CTS. If the CTS wants to really play with the German trio, and I hope it does, Cadillac needs to step it up.

Sonata/Optima turbo is better than this.

You guys want to knock BMW and Mercedes, yet Cadillac is powerless to compete with them head on. And without a flagship sedan, what is Cadillac doing to try to catch up. The CTS has been here 10 years and with no impact. Cadillac sales are lower now than 10 years ago. Meanwhile the past couple years BMW and Mercedes have had their best years ever. Mercedes has been around 125 years (they invented the car after all), and 2011 was their best year. Cadillac's best days were 55 years ago.