Did Cadillac Cancel The CT8 To Focus On $300K Ultra Luxury Sedan And Ultra Luxury SUV Models?

Fat chance. Whenever someone talks about a product that isn't going to hit the market for 11 years, you need to take it with a grain of salt.

I would not use the Cadillac brand for the ultra-$$$ market. That brand is damaged beyond repair at this point from the 70/80's badge engineered nightmares and Escalade crowd. The Ultra market is dominated by international standards and tastes and Rolls, Bentley, and the S-class are solidly represented. GM needs to invent a new brand to cater to the wealthy Saudi oil shieks and Eastern European oligarchs... These are the main customers of the ultra market.

April fools?

rockreid: Well Said !!!

What idiocy! The SUV is TEN years out? I've read elsewhere that the Escalade WILL NOT be called XT8 which would be akin to renaming the Corvette to be a CR7 or some other pointless alphanumeric abortion.

I really DO NOT think Cadillac will waste a penny of a big sedan, but more than likely will replace the CTS with a coupesedan CT5 and maybe a premium Tesla S fighter as the CT7.

They simply would not go after Bentley/Maybach/Rolls Royce at this stage of the game.

@rockreid is on to something. If VW sells Bentley in their corporate implosion, then GM should buy. Or if FCA would be willing to sell Jeep and Maserati, GM should buy both.

The Cadillac ELR failed because it was a rebodied Volt--evoking Cimarron PTSD--, grossly overpriced, and a 2-door. Two-door coupes aside from the Camaro and Mustang are largely niche vehicles

De Nyschen will be long gone by 10 years- that is past his age of expiration for the GM job.

Cadillac already has the basis for a dynamite line-up in the future if YOU think about it. They should re-price the ATS line to compete with the A3/CLA - where it would be size appropriate and a much better vehicle Dynamically.

THen they should reposition the pricing of the CTS to compete with the C/3 level - where they would have a clear lead in interior space along with a really good driving competition.

The same can be said for the CT6 which is already positioned to compete with the 5/E level - but is bigger - lighter and a better luxury car. This is not the place - but my mom's CT6 with the 3.6 is in the driveway - and is even better than I expected.

THen Cadillac needs a large sedan - one that is clearly bigger than a Rolls inside. THe CT8 seems destined for that duty. However - until they produce a V-8 and V-12 - anything bigger is unlikely to work in that ROLLS level market.

And you would be surprised that the Cadillac name is a well respected Luxury car Brand around the world. THey just do not have the product right now. I don't think they would need Bentley.

What Tom said.

TomM:

Not trying to ridicule. Before you got the CT6 (for your mom), would you have even considered it over a 5-series - on paper & in numerous magazine comparos, the CT6 is never enough, right? Didn't it take a certain level of ownership to realize that the CT6 is indeed comparable to the 5-er?

I think that is what Cadillac is trying to get (potential) consumers to understand. They are making competitive vehicles - now. They should be planning ultra-luxury vehicles for the future. GM can make a Bentley competitor. Collectively, its just not bold enough to tease that idea with the public yet.

I'd agree w/rockreid on the names for sure. Perhaps using “Fleetwood” as a series, to denote upmarket Cadillac's is an option and more well-known than Maybach. Matt might be on to something w/Bentley. Perhaps GM should buy Aston Martin and Bentley and put them all in Cadillac dealerships (which is a huge handicap for GM). I imagine AM could be had relatively cheap and the brand, its history along with future platform sharing among AM / Bentley and Cadillac could be interesting. That said, I'm not sure more brands is what GM needs, it needs focus and an understanding of what it wants Cadillac to be. After announcing the CT-8 then killing it, communicates confusion... Creating anything “new” will need hundreds of millions in marketing whereas “Fleetwood” or buying established premium luxury brands brings historic, instant brand recognition and the cache they’ve already established. The prospects would be very interesting indeed. Oh, Matt, as you well know, GM created the Toronado, the Eldorado, Riviera, which spawned tons of other "personal coupes". I'd love a CTS Coupe similar to these past cars. A car with real style, as a 2 door (Avista) I think could sell in decent numbers to justify making one. The first car I drove in Drivers Ed was a 76 Cutlass Supreme Coupe and my first car was a 70 LeMans Sport Coupe... At 55 w/no kids, decent income, I'd LOVE to have a new coupe like one of those... The Camaro isn't my style and the ATS is too small. A CTS Coupe could be a nice seller.

The last CTS coupe was a disaster.

Toronado, the Eldorado, Riviera, Cutlass Supreme, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Thunderbird, Cougar and others were not. The past CTS Coupe was not like these others...

Cadillac has lost his direction and identity. The management is clueless and lost.

I am very sure that is NOT the case. What happened to Cadillac is that DeNyschen decided that what it needed - without any other input - was to be an American AUdi and go after Mercedes and BMW - INSTEAD of addressing the wants and needs of the AMerican Market and the Chinese Market - who prefer far more luxurious - bigger cars - rather than Hot Rod Drag Racers. So Cadillac has come out with SMALLER - more nimble - sportier - and largely UNWANTED cars because of the lack of interior size - small trunks - and no spare tires (Among other problems). But it is clear WHAT DeNyschen is trying to do - it is just that the people dont agree with him.

A very Large Cadillac Fleetwood - with a V-8 - could easily sell in the $100,000 range and compete on a LUXURY basis with the Mercedes S-Class in China and the USA and the Rolls in the Mid-East and for Government leaders and Industry leaders. (Europe and Japan are a different story - they DON"T want a car from the USA - no matter how good - Why buy a BMW wanna be when they can buy the real thing cheaper)

But until Cadillac decides to address what the customer wants - rather than telling them what they should want -they will never catch on again in the USA - and THE USA is key - because Cadillac will never be a player until it competes in its home market. I believe my Blueprint above for repositioning the cars into their appropriate size markets would do that.