Cadillac Says It Will Challenge The Germans - What Is It Going To Take To Get Them There?

"Cadillac Says It Will Challenge The Germans - What Is It Going To Take To Get Them There?"


A sense of humor??

(Hmmmm, maybe they have that already!)

Carry on!!!

LoL! isn't that what CADILLAC is already doing? (slapping a CADILLAC logo on a Cruze, a Spark, Malibu)

I love dumb Detroit-only stories such as Cadillac is ready to challenge Germans. they cant challenge them in the affordable model department, but they are ready in the 90-100K level?
In its last few months, Benz sold more C-class models than Cadillac is able to dream of. all their small models that are made to be high volume money-makers are slow sellers but for some odd reason GM has figured out the secret to yank people out of their S-classes and shove them into their glorified Buicks with Cadillac emblem on it and of course there is that legendary Detroit-only catch, S-class starts 94000 and re-badged Buick will start 75000. if that was the case then what ever happened to re-badged Corvette called XLR that was 20000 less that Benz SL ??? Corvette is a wonderful car, that's why no one paid 75000 to buy the basterdized version of an iconic car ---- the only car Detroit hasn't fucked it up yet

It's good to aim high I suppose. Not much more I can offer than that I'm afraid.

What does GM need to challenge the German premium brands:

(1) Completely new management. With GM leadership as it has been in the past, and as it is today, sustained prosperity and long-term survival are long shots, let alone trying to challenge well-established luxury brands.

(2) When GM gets new management, and good leadership at that, they'll revamp their engineering department to design products to a higher standard. This will show up as better handling, performance, and possibly efficiency. They might even get fewer defects along the way.

(3) When GM's new management gets into full swing, they'll revamp their design and styling department. Rather than aiming just to look different and going in the direction of Gotham City or Origami, they'll design bodies that are beautiful to the eye, aggressive to the wind, and noteworthy to the harshest critics.

(4) GM's new management will stop "managing to budget" (the leadership of Bean Counters) where each department cuts corners to reduce costs and meet targets. Instead, they'll define higher standards of workmanship, components, fit and finish, and employ sharp minds to figure out how to deliver that in a cost-effective way.

(5) This will mean sweeping out the UAW, with its adversarial, self-serving, "Us vs Them" mindset, as well as old-school employees who think that way. This is consistent with Old School GM. They'll replace these bodies with people who make a contribution that's measure in more than 1/4 hour increments on a time-card; people who love cars, who have a passion for workmanship and a job well done, and who take pride in being selected to be part of a winning team. People who'll walk into their boss's office and proclaim, "I have a better way to do this!" rather than those who would prefer to picket for guarantees and getting more without giving more in return.

Those are my thoughts on when GM will be able to challenge the German premium brands. Until then, I believe it'll be more of that same at GM: lip-service about challenging the leaders, turning out products whose best quality is their relatively lower price and how many featured can be named in a marketing sheet, and which few people outside of Detroit aspire to own.

A product like the CTS-V might take them there.

It already has in two generations.

Cadillac should not challenge the Germans. Let the Germans be Germans, let Cadillac be Cadillac as it once was. They should build the Elmiraj as closely as possible to the concept. Make it elegant, powerful a great cruiser with good handling but not a sports sedan. This is what will bring Cadillac back. Quit chasing others and take the lead in a new (old) direction.

Cadillac needs to take a bigger leap in terms of offering the same all-around excellence of the German offerings. They clearly took painstaking efforts to ensure the ATS and CTS drove like 4-door Corvettes, but they forgot about the rest of the cars. And their styling has gone backwards, back to the boring, boxy Cadillacs of old.

Make better cars

So thinks Jock de Nutsack--the village idiot GM hired after Infiniti fired him.

Caddy making a challenge to the Germans? With what? It's pathetic re-badged Chevy cars it produces? Caddy is dreaming....as always.

The ATS is a rebadged Chevy what? The CTS is a rebadged Chevy what.

Stop badge engineering. Every Escalade on the road is a reminder that there is NOT a real Cadillac SUV on the road. And the ELR, well since there are so few on the road...

What will rappers drive if Cadillac is not making an Escalade?

GM can build a car to beat the Germans, you idiots. The car needs to be Ciel/El Miraj gorgeous. The 3.6TT is std, a Cadillac version of the Z06 Mill, then put 2 Vette engines together and make a V16. Follow it up quickly with the actual El Miraj Coupe & Convertible with the same power. The Germans lost 2 wars, they can be beaten. Its the commitment to do it. Did the Germans land on the moon? Of course our space vehicles were not assembled by UAW rats....

I completely agree. Bugatti is the only V16 available and for $1M+. This car with the std 3.6TT could be reasonably priced (S Class starts at $93 so price this one at $80K), then the Caddy/Z06 (say $92?), then the V16 would push Cadillac over the $100K price point, maybe $125K+? or more... It would offer something exclusive and unique, something no other marque has. I think it would be appealing globally? It could also set the stage for a car priced above it. Perhaps an interior done in Italian leather? If the rest of the car is as special as this engine perhaps the actual Cadillac Sixteen would become a reality....?

ATS and CTS are on par with the German cars (if not better in the case of the CTS). Cadillac just needs to fix the rest of its range.

Sorry, far from true. They are not nearly the complete luxury packages that are offered by the Germans. Yes, they handle well, but fall behind in almost every other category.

And cidflekken we know that you only adore and lavish praise on German cars so your bias is showing. Empirically, you don't have a leg to stand on.

Go back to what Cadillac used to be (1930-1950s):
More luxurious, more flamboyant, more powerful, higher quality and more advanced then any of the euro competition.

I think what I just said above compliments what you said... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_V16_engine

Higher Quality than other GM brands
Higher Quality than German brands-which should not be difficult.
Build something Old School Gangsters would actually want
Quality?
Make the turn signals shut off automatically.

Refinement starts with one simple mind set.

Create a Cadillac. Don't source from the GM parts, create NEW GM parts that the lower lines can use afterwards to lower costs.

This is Cadillac, your flagship brand. Let people know Chevy used Cadillac parts not the other way around.

The last 8-10yrs has proven that they are capable of building some vehicles with serious performance credentials. However, when stacked up against the Germans, failure seems to be due to interior design and ergonomics along with fit/finish, more than performance and driving dynamics. It's also hard to shake the past brand image and everything that comes with it that seems counter to our concept of what a German car should be. My last 4 cars were an '02 BMW M3--> '07 CTS-V--> '09 BMW 335i sedan--> and now an '11 M3 sedan. The 1st gen CTS-V had a nice engine, but that's about it. Didn't compare to the 3 BMW's in any other category.

Cadillac is in effect starting over. They have alot of new models that are geared to younger buyers, but they have to build brand loyalty.