Auto Spies Exclusive: Bob Lutz tells 001 that the next Cadillac's will out do the Maybach?

During my trip to SEMA in Las Vegas I was fortunate to be able to spend a short but albeit informative time, with the 'Chairman of the board' (not the real chairman, the Sinatra kind) of the automotive industry.

He's kind of like a cross between an army general and George Clooney.

He's a straight up guy and we LIKE that!

My time was short with him so I had to move fast...

I asked him flat out... Will Cadillac ever bring up their interior quality into the realm of Audi, MB or BMW?

And his answer was...

He ASSURED me that the next generation Cadillac's (starting with the next Escalade) will not only be as good as Audi (the current benchmark), but the will SURPASS their quality!

I retorted, that GM's interior people do not have what it takes to pull it off and he replied that they were going outside of the company to insure it happens.

His comments immediately made me flashback to the days of Hogans Heroes...

Colonel Klink- General Berkhalter, do you want me handle this?

General Berkhalter- No Klink, I want it done right!

Ok, back to the point...

GM has hired DraxlMeier to design and produce the next Cadillac's interiors.

Who are they you ask?

They're the same company that did the interior for the MAYBACH!

And it don't get any better than that!

Do you think they will pull this off?

We'd love to hear your comments below.

quiturbichin - 11/12/2004 12:08:18 AM

+1 Boost

They're waiting for the next Suburban err.. I mean, Escalade, to improve their interiors? Maybe they should have done something better with the new STS. Saw it last week....decent, but not really up to par with the Germans and Japanese

Matthew1 - 11/12/2004 8:26:58 PM

+1 Boost

Agree with Bob W. he is a business man first. The way he blatently disregards Saab's image is sad. Yes, Saab was in trouble, but I'd rather them die than have their badges on Imprezas!

The next 9-5 is planned to be based on the 2006 Holden Commodore, with GM's global V6 powering it. Where is the Saabness? The ignition between the seats?

Alfa Romeos stunning 3.5 V6 will be replaced by the uninspiring GM V6 too. The Americans are even sucking the soul out of the Italian car makers. It makes any car enthusiast sick.

jrsarchy - 11/13/2004 11:37:32 AM

+1 Boost

I think you need to know a little bit about the car business before you start spewing junk out of your mouth because clearing you have NO knowledge that GM has sourced out THEIR 5-speed automatics to BMW for a while now. That seems to be changing though since they are changing over to a new tranny.

janos2769 - 11/15/2004 9:26:26 AM

+1 Boost

Next!

Matthew1 - 11/17/2004 10:50:20 PM

+1 Boost

Many American produced cars have an abnormally long life cycle. A shape is kept for many years, and only mild face-lifts keep it 'fresh'. You would expect, that, with such a long period in which to engineer the next generation of that model, that it would be very good. Outstanding even. That is not the case.

Look at the Porsche 911. It has had 41 years to evolve. Early 911's were not at the pinnacle of the dynamic tree, and while rewarding, were flawed by their rear-engine layout. Now, the 997, still rear-engined, is so perfect, many purists believe Porsche has engineered it too far. Has the Corvette, with a similiar period in which to evolve, achieved Porsche's success? No.

elviososa - 11/18/2004 11:22:39 AM

+1 Boost

Go Asia, and try to find how many Cadillac VS JAP or EUR cars in the street then tell me Cadillac is a world class.

I serious think that the top of GM need some brain.

elviososa - 11/18/2004 12:12:00 PM

+1 Boost

I thought MB S-class, BMW 7, for example, are full size, and you can find a lot in Asia. one of the reasons that not seeing Cadillac is that Cadillac is not competitive enough as a world class in term of quality that can find in many of those world class autos.