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Mercedes has an electric car on the way also, except theirs has 526 hp and 649 lb-ft of torque. Much cooler than a 149 hp front driver.

If XLR is a rear drive convertible, why is XTS a FWD sedan and why is ELR a 2-door hard top. These names don't make any sense, but Cadillac doesn't always plan things out too well. Another slow front drive, anti-performance car for a brand that keeps saying they want to compete with BMW and Mercedes. The Volt's top speed is 100 mph, I assume this will be the same. And here is why Cadillac, Lexus, Lincoln, Acura etc all trail the Germans. Their cars for the most part are made to not go above 100 mph, they are engineered to not do anything more than run of the mill everyday driving. Mercedes engineers their cars to travel smoothly at 150 mph, thus their chassis are so solid. The American and Japanese luxury brands don't strive for that high standard, they are satisfied with mid-level, and that is why they are chasers, not leaders.

Now we're talking. The Holden Cruze diesel has 360 NM of torque which translates to 265 lb-ft of torque to us. That much torque with even 45 mpg is a pretty tasty combo.

I don't see price as being offset by gas savings when the $43k Volt offers no additional space, luxury, or performance than a $23k Cruze. Plus, the Volt costs $1.50 to charge and that gives it about the same range a Cruze has on $3.75 in gas. So the Volt costs half as much to power, but that isn't nearly enough to recoup a $20k price difference, or $13k with a tax credit, while that lasts. Problem #2 is the battery warranty. It is 8 years/100,000 miles, which to me isn't nearly enough. Whether buying the Volt new or used, I'd be scared to death that the battery will need replaced when the car is 8-10 years old which could cost over $10,000. A gasoline engine can last 20 years, 200,000 miles without worry of having to replace it. The Volt's residual values could be terrible once the car is beyond 5 years old.

Agreed on Regal over the Century. The Century has the 3.1 liter, I drove one years ago, and it was pretty poor. Plus it even look more like a car for the elderly than the Regal does. That black Regal isn't the answer though, the leather is all ripped, and the car looks beat. I'd look for another Regal. The Grand Prix or Grand Am/Alero of the same era are good options also. Depends on how big a car he wants. My guess is insurance rates are low on a Buick, so that could work in your favor.

Too expensive for a small, slow Chevy, that isn't overly luxurious. The amount of exposure hurts it, although the Volt was heavily advertised before it went on sale, and articles were written about it, so people should know what it is. The real killer is the cost, the car just isn't worth what they charge for it, even with the tax credit.

The 2 main problems with this car are that used ones, even like 2008 models with low miles, sell for less than half what it costs new and secondly, the a CTS is better. So there is no reason really to buy one new when you can get a used STS for half, or a better CTS for less. I test drove a V8, rear drive STS once, and it felt floaty and body rolled a lot. I was really disappointed with the handling, that is what turned me away from it.

Car design of the 80s (especially early on) was so boxy, long, and boring. The Town Car was the poster child of that. I agree with oncblu, I think that is the cheese they are cutting lose.

I am surprised that adding an airbag would cause such financial strain, you'd think they could source it off another automaker. But at the same time, to block a car that might sell 10 units a year, is pointless. Plus, this is basically a track car anyway, and race cars don't have airbags either, but the government lets them race every weekend.

Case in point BMW i brand. Vehicles which are going to have all the attributes mentioned above. And you love that brand, don't you? The BMW i3 is RWD and the i8 is AWD. The i3 city car does 0-60 in 8 seconds, which is better than a Smart For2 or Aveo/Fit/Yaris type car. The i8 does 0-60 in 5 seconds, thanks to the electric motor up front and the 220 hp turbo 3-cylinder in back. It also has 50/50 weigh distribution, gets 94 mpg Imperial, and top speed of 155 mph. And I don't love that brand, Jaguar is my favorite luxury brand, and I prefer Mercedes to BMW. BMWs have great driving dynamics and mechanical bits, but I never cared much for the styling (especially during the Bangle era). Although I think the new 5 and 7 series look better than the old ones.

Do people not remember what happened the last time Cadillac tried to sell a Chevrolet compact with no change to the powertrain? I think we all know what we got, let's not go down that road again. The other thing that is a bit worrying is SRX, XTS, Converj all FWD, and Escalade maybe joining them. That is a whole lot of FWD, and the big FWD luxury brands Acura and Lincoln are have one wheel in the grave. People don't want to pay $40k for a fancy Fusion or Accord, they won't want to pay $60k for a Volt. Sure a few people will buy it, but a few people bought the Allante and XLR, even the VW Phaeton. An plug-in hybrid or range extended electric or whatever you want to call it should be built on Alpha platform.

Bad move if it has the Volt powertrain. Cadillac doesn't need a slow, FWD, overweight compact that costs 60 grand. Great move if they get 0-60 times down to 7 seconds and make it handle like a CTS (read RWD). This goes to show Cadillac's poor product planning though. Why dress up a Chevy (the strategy that killed Lincoln) when you could electrify the ATS and make something fun, with performance cred and green cred.

I think it better to look toward a Grand Am or Grand Prix, although Pontiacs of 10-15 years ago tend to fall apart easily also. The Buick Regal I think is a good option because it is basically the same as the Grand Prix, but you have a better chance that it was a grandma car that was garage kept and better cared for. I think you could find an Olds Alero or 2000-2001 Chevy Monte Carlo also and it would be a bit more youthful of a car.

I think a Cadillac at 17 is a bit nuts, it may seem like a good idea at first because of features/horsepower per dollar, but it's just too tacky or flashy for a 17 year old. Plus the DTS is really big, and thirsty. The Northstar will run a long time, but on my Aurora I've replaced every engine mount, oxygen sensors (and they need replaced again), and if something breaks it is usually costly. Plus my car takes 7.5 quarts of oil and burns at least 2 between every oil change. Working part time at 17 he isn't going to like $100 oil changes and buying oil in between unless you go to a place with free top off. I do have the air suspension on my car, never a problem with that, and the original battery lasted over 9 years, so I was impressed with those aspects.

I agree with Reg on the Cien or XLR type car. Probably for Cadillac a front engine car makes more sense and make it AWD like a GT-R, so you get the performance. A mid-engine car would also be fast so either would be fine with me. This would also let Cadillac have the super car of GM, rather than the Corvette carrying that title, and the Corvette can go back to being a $45-65,000 sports car that is more attainable. I think the Corvette is a bit unfocused, it covers from $50-130,000, has an aging customer base and sinking sales. A Cadillac super car allows GM to reinvent the Corvette.

Everyone wants to copy Mercedes and Jaguar styling, or once Mercedes makes a 4-door coupe, everyone else wants one. The number of copy cats out there is sad, it would be nice if more companies had some creativity because it would challenge everyone to do better. As it is, a few companies innovate, and most just copy it or water it down, and it is boring. Toyota is so boring, from the Yaris to the Lexus LS460 and everything in between, boring, boring, boring.

I think a good thread would be the anti holy grail of cars, not counting the Cadillac Cimarron and Pontiac Aztek, because those are just too easy. No one mentioned the Aston Martin DB5 yet, that is a pretty legendary car.

Cadillac made a big error around 2005 with the STS, which then trickled on to the CTS. The STS was too large from the get go, and not athletic enough to go against the 5-series and E-class. The 2005 STS should have been aimed directly at the 5-series (thus 1st gen SRX smaller as well). Then instead of the CTS growing in size in 2008, the car could have shrunk down to 3-series size. But GM was under the impression that luxury cars (and especially Cadillacs) had to be large and they missed the market big time in 2005-2008 on the STS and SRX, and the CTS sold okay, but only about 50% of what a C-class or 3-series sold. The $4 billion Cadillac renaissance stalled at this point, then the bankruptcy hit and Cadillac today now for 2013 is trying to get to where they could have been in 2008. But better late than never.

I'd say the market is bigger than that of the CTS. Not only do small luxury cars sell well, but aside from the Germans, the Lexus IS is the only other car sized like a 3-series. There are a dozen or so mid-size luxury cars to do battle with. The small segment has fewer brands in it, thus I think opportunity exists for Cadillac to get small luxury sedan buyers who maybe don't want a BMW or Mercedes. I also don't think the ATS needs to be a sub CTS, because they can price it $33-43,000 and that is about where the first gen CTS lived as far as price point. This also allows Cadillac to push the CTS up to the $45-55,000 price point on a redesign.

Honorable mention to the Bugatti Royale and Jaguar E-type, but this is it. To think they had a 320 hp, DOHC straight 8, 75 years ago (and up to 400 hp on some models) is just staggering.

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Whoops, I did mean to look at July numbers. But In July the Genesis did even better than in June. Equus went up too, little by little, they are moving up.

Genesis rising. I think an opportunity for Hyundai exists with the Vera Cruz. It is still a vehicle from the past generation, given the new styling, new 2.0T and 333 hp V6 engines, and a Genesis-level interior, they could have a competitive luxury crossover at thousands less than Acura/Lincoln/Cadillac are offering.

The Escalade is tanking. That is a vehicle they may want to rethink on the next generation. It is too big and thirsty. Cadillac has become a 2 vehicle brand. Cruze and Equinox and Malibu are driving them, the small-mid-size vehicles with 4-cylinders are doing well.

I also first thought of Mercedes C-class when seen in profile view, however in a good way. I think the C-class (and any Benz sedan) looks quite good from side view. So far this looks promising to me. But I agree we need to see more to really judge it, teasers don't tell much.