RENDERED SPECULAITON: IF Cadillac's All-New Flagship Looks THIS Good, Does It Have A Fighting Shot?

The big Cadillac is a success if it gets built and is in the hunt. Then Cadillac has to build reputation. Sales rate is not the goal. Perception is.

Agree Matt... based on the ATS & CTS, they're going to build a competent machine... make it "American" gorgeous and make it a much better value, and it'll sell... I've had 6 , 2 BMW's & Audi A6 and want to buy a vehicle that has the content and panache, something that gives the "pride of ownership", but would prefer one that makes $ sense. The dealer experience MUST be on par or better than the germans too. Simply selling a great vehicle but then treating customers to crappy svc after the sale will send them right back for the next one. Most Mercedes and BMW's are getting waaaaayyy too expensive. Also if Cadillac does this right folks that buy all others such as Equus, etc... those folks will have another alternative to the germans.

There was a time when Cadillac & Lincoln dominated the luxury car business, and there is no reason they cannot reestablish. For those who say they cannot keep your heads in the sand. 40 yrs ago few would have thought that BMW with only one car in the US and Mercedes with perhaps 4 would have the hold in this market they do now, the Japanese would have any influence, or Cadillac & Lincoln would be "rebuilding"...

Any car looks better with those Infiniti M37S/Q70 wheels on it. Beyond that, it looks like the old Maybach with a more modern Cadillac front end.

To make it in the Northeast and Mid-west it has to be four wheel drive...which it ain't for now as per press release. Cadillac like others trying to establish or reestablish themselves in market segments pull their punches to lessen their risk when the opposite is true. Play like a winner going full out, hanging in and being consistent and you will be a winner !

It'll have All Wheel Drive, the ATS, SRX, CTS and XTS do, so why would you expect this to not have it?

Will this be the final design? Most concepts don't get to the production line without being waterdowned to reality level.

The front end is not new, that's been around for a while, but I don't think this design has what it takes to grab 85K starting price, the quality, durability, good turning circle and all sorts of shit that Benz has long ago mastered are all important factors in making a car this caliber. Going face to face with the one and only king the S-class is not an easy task.

If A8, BMW 7, the always confused Lexus LS, Jag's big cat and a few others are having trouble toppling the S-class alone or all together combines, then what makes GM think a glorified Buick will get there and prove all of them wrong?

Maybe very low price can catch an attention of the buyers like Toyota did with LS and then they were sick of taking losses so they hiked up the prices and now LS is a slow seller.

Since the LS is in low 70's and up range, then maybe GM should put this in the 60's range and maybe that would be a seller,

GM has lots of homework to do to figure out who's garage this car will be shoved in.

@benzforlife The A8 and the XJ--dynamically and/or sales volume--are not even remotely in the hunt for the 7 Series/S Class. Lexus has let the LS get old and the spindle face did it no favors. The Cadillac can gain traction if does NOT try to be German. Dial in just a hint of muscle car DNA and some of the swankiness of the 60s Cadillacs and it has real potential to get a toe hold.

Your comments only revolve around how "awesome" Mercedes is and how everyone else are poseurs... There is no doubt they're in a stellar place right now and build truly desirable, benchmark vehicles but ALWAYS Mercedes, Mercedes, Mercedes... its boring....

Yes. Keep the exterior and give it a Bentley interior

If the production car is close to this picture, I think it will do well in the US market. It will still lag well behind MB, BMW, Audi and Lexus everywhere else in the world.

It will be a great jaguar competitor

Cadillac aiming at the Jaguar XJ would be asinine. Lets put the Jaguar XJ's sales into perspective for model year 2013:

Hyundai Equus: 3578
Jaguar XJ: 5434
Audi A8: 6300
Lexus LS: 10,727
BMW 7: 10,932
Mercedes S: 13,303

Were it not for the Hyundai Equus, the Jaguar XJ would be the worst selling large premium sedan.

If Cadillac could get ahead of the slow-selling Equus, XJ, and A8, that would be an accomplishment.

Matt - Always the voice of reason! Great comment!

car companies make 1 huge mistake over and over again. that is " we want to compete against the s class" and make a big car and price it the same or a couple thousand less than that.
they need to realize, S class is king , and price is WAY less than that. if S class is like 100k, this car needs to top out at 70k
it needs to have all the options, and performance numbers the same, but price it much less.
why would it work with this over a huyundai or kia trying to do the same thing, because those have crap names !!
at least cadillac is still a luxury marque .

Cadillac matching Mercedes performance and options for 20% less--across the board--would be the smart move.

Sorry, but I can't help but have images of DeVilles and Fleetwoods of old when looking at this rendering/concept. One of the reasons I think the CTS is lagging so far behind, despite its amazing press, is that it's visually too big, boring, and harkens back to old, vintage Cadillac. This new flagship looks like it's following the same trend and I truly think that's a mistake.
And the reality is, Cadillac needs sales to put itself back on the map and be considered truly competitive in the luxury segment. The ATS and CTS continue to flounder against their direct competition despite the unprecedented positive press they both received.

cidflekken - Disagree, they're slowing in sales because I think this recall buzz has hurt them, but also the initial excitement has past, and they probably did not take a stronger enough advantage of it, probably due to the recall distraction, and new CEO buzz. They also must have less time between compliment cars, ATS Coupe, the ATS V-Sport, and ATS-V, CTS-V, etc... 6 months or less between variants to keep the buzz going. Got to admit the Dealership experience on my ATS has been 2nd rate but they're climbing a mountain, and you don't get to the top quickly. The key here is Cadillac must continue to build strong, competitive products that are the equal or better of anything on the planet, and "re"establish themselves as a leader and innovator. An ELR Convertible priced at around $45K might have been a missed opportunity. Its based on a Volt but wow look at it and topless too!

Quite honestly those DeVilles and Fleetwoods sold in huge quantities in their day and we're desirable at the time. Good looking... yes, they were, in their day. The original SeVille was a big hit, and though based on a Nova, a really nice car in its day. I saw one the other day and it still looked great. If this new car has some visuals that harken back to the glory daze, not really sure that's a bad thing. Its really in the late 80's & 90's that Cad fell short with their attempts to market competitive Euro-Products always fell short. The Cimarron was an attempt that failed miserably and was an embarrassment, the truly awful front driver Eldorado/Sevilles of the late 80's & 90s... really small and boxy, were horrible, expensive cars. I still see an Eldorado ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe) but all I see is etc, etc.... then the next gen what 92 Seville and late 90's Seville were rated pretty well though front drivers. But Cadillac had established a reputation, prior to any new release that the vehicle would not hit the marks and a brand new vehicle would place 3rd or 4th to older competition. This has more to do with GM's Financial situation, not that they were not capable of building world cars.

Your comment: And the reality is, Cadillac needs sales to put itself back on the map and be considered truly competitive in the luxury segment. - The way to do that is consistently build world class, emotional, desirable cars that people want! Once they're sold, CONTINUE to delight the customer with a strong dealer performance or you're shooting yourselves in the foot...

The ATS and CTS sales began to plateau before the recalls became the debacle they are today. Neither car truly reached the numbers that they should have considering the tremendous amount of incredibly positive exposure they received for the better part of a year.

I agree with you that Cadillac needs to deliver on product. Buyers in this segment aren't looking for a 4-door Corvette. They want all-around competent vehicles that deliver luxury, space, technology, and driving enjoyment and they are just not delivering here.

BUT, they also look for style, which is where I think Cadillac is LEAST competitive. Look at the Lexus GS. Lexus is an incredibly reputable company, with a car that drives possibly best in the segment. But, it too, like the CTS, can't get a foothold against its competitors. Why? Styling. Even the Lexus sales agent I spoke with last week admitted the styling was a bit overly conservative. Put the ATS next to a 3/A4/IS/Q50/S60 and especially the new C, and it just looks out of place, and not in a good way. It almost looks like it belongs in a class below. Same with the CTS against the 5/A6/E and the CTS looks fairly plain (esp. withou the LEDs on), big, and boxy. Especially the rear end that is beyond non-descript with zero character.

The other area Cadillac is not being the smartest is price. Not sure customers have the trust in the brand to spend $50-$70k on these cars. As many have mentioned on here before, Cadillac would be smart to drop their prices to get a better foothold in the segment.

To add: Yes, the Fleetwoods and DeVilles sold well. 30 years ago. That's when cars of that size and design were commonplace and accepted. Not so today.

If it looked like that I believe it would have the exterior style to hold its own against the S-Class...but that's only 20% of the battle. They need to at least match Mercedes in every way to get the cachet and recognition they hope this car will bring. There can't be one thing on this car that says compromise. It all has to come together to make a fascinating whole.

Frankly, it looks nice. If the interior is up to German standards it can be a winner. But is it too late? People are hypnotised by vulgar, common Mercedes and Bimmers. The beauty of American cars was always size and posture. They had flair and really unique styling. Unashamed and showy. Not the horrid cheap copies of today. Cadillacs and Corvettes are the last shadow of the glory days and deserve to succeed.