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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: sls002 (Sep 19, 2007 6:39 am) How are the plastics not as good as the German? I have never been in one but if it is like our last SRX most of the interior is covered with handsewn leather/vinyl. Very little "plastic" but what there was was hard to tell it was hard unless you touched it. The next sts/dts will be bigger than the CTS so it will be more of a 7 size. Probably priced where the STS and DTS is today with more upside. Not sure what you mean by smaller and larger ends. price? Perhaps they have a extended wheelbase version which is very possible.
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Sep 19, 2007 7:27 am) |
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Replying to: anythngbutgm (Sep 19, 2007 10:37 am)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Sep 19, 2007 12:53 pm) 100 a year is more realistic, unless you build 1000 in a single batch, then store them in a warehouse and finish them to order over the next few years. Cadillac needs to build a credible S-class before they think about aiming at Maybach.
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Replying to: bumpy (Sep 19, 2007 1:16 pm) Cadillac needs to build a credible 5-series before they start thinking about the S-class then Maybach/RR. Apparently the new CTS is still a 3.5-series kind of car. Not quiet a 3-series but not yet a 5-series. Maybe Caddy should rename the CTS as 436DI. 
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Sep 19, 2007 7:27 am) I seriously doubt it is handsewn. It is automated by some machine.
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Replying to: british_rover (Sep 19, 2007 3:40 pm) The leather is hand-sewn, just like that found in the STS-V and XLR-V. The SRX will benefit from Cadillac's new "cut and sew" technique that employs craftsmen to cut, stitch, stretch, and install many of the interior's leather panels. This enables such upscale details as French stitching, and GM hopes it will also eliminate the large gaps and poor fitment they've come to be known for. Jim Taylor, Cadillac's General Manager hopes the old-world charm of hand craftsmanship will help lure more customers to the SRX, saying, "The SRX is the latest and most complete example of our new approach to interiors, blending advanced technology with the hand craftsmanship that was once, and is again becoming, a Cadillac trademark."
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The U.S. President still rides in a Cadillac. But more than three out of four Americans who buy a luxury car these days opt for a European or Japanese model. Nowhere has the Detroit-based carmakers' loss of market share been more dramatic than in the luxury segment. General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler sold fewer than half of all light vehicles in the U.S. for the first time in July. But foreign brands captured 78.3 percent of the luxury market. Their share rose further to 79.4 percent in August, according to Autodata, a market research group. What is more, the luxury segment is growing faster than most others and is expected to be relatively resilient in the face of the softening economy. "We haven't seen anything [of a downturn] in the U.S. so far, and don't expect anything in our business for the remainder of the year," Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of DaimlerChrysler Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand and the market leader, reported a 5.2 percent gain in sales in the first eight months of the year, compared with January-August 2006. BMW's sales were up 8.7 percent, and Audi's 10.8 percent. Audi, Volkswagen's premium brand, last week said it had set a target of more than doubling U.S. sales by 2015. It plans to retool its dealer network and develop a small sports-utility vehicle. GM, Ford and Chrysler gave the foreigners an opening in the 1990s by focusing on SUVs and pick-up trucks. GM's Cadillac brand was outsold by Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the first eight months of this year. Ford neglected Lincoln, its domestic luxury brand, instead acquiring four European-based carmakers: Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Lincoln sales have also fallen behind Honda's Acura. Cadillac gained a new lease of life in 2002 with a flurry of new models, notably the CTS saloon and the big Escalade SUV. But it has recently run out of steam, with sales down more than 10 percent so far this year. Demand for Cadillac's SRX crossover has been flat while rival Acura MDX is up by 13 percent. The Lexus RX outsells the SRX four-to-one. Cadillac is banking on a fresh boost from a new CTS. A hybrid Escalade will follow next year. Lincoln has also recently launched a flurry of new models. But Tom Libby, director of vehicle analysis at consultancy JD Power, says Cadillac and Lincoln are not perceived as having the same quality as a Lexus." One problem in Mr. Libby's view is that the two domestic brands do not have image-enhancing, top-of-the-line models to compete with BMW's 7-Series and Mercedes' S-Class. A Cadillac spokesman said it plans to fill that gap, but declined to elaborate. But the foreigners are not sitting still. Mr. Libby points to Mercedes' and BMW's success in extending their range of vehicles to derivatives such as sports models and SUVs. At last week's Frankfurt auto show, BMW premiered the X6, a "sports activity coupé" that combines elements of an SUV and a sports car and is due to go on sale next year. Lexus has expanded the luxury image to its dealerships. One $75 million outlet that opened in Newport Beach, California, last year includes marble floors, a grand piano, a games room and a café. |
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Although the upgrades probably won’t send CTS sales barreling past those of its rivals, they place the car on firmer footing against the best from Germany and Japan. Inside, nary a floor mat is carried over from the previous model. Thoroughly modern, high-tech and luxurious, the interior surpasses what most will expect from a car of this ilk. Infotainment and heating/air conditioning controls are less intuitive on this model, but with several redundant buttons and a dial that centralizes several functions, operation becomes second nature quickly enough. The ’08 CTS isn’t merely an improvement on the previous generation. The redesign marks a giant leap that takes the car out from among the also-rans in a crowded segment and puts it right alongside those at the head of the class.
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