You don't need power windows or locks at all but it is nice to have. I personally couldn't care less about half of those things, but I can see why not having them might turn you off to a premium car.

 

The first line of your post in post #8 of this thread... replace "Kyle" with the word Stefan. Thanks.

 

your cute

 

I don't think Caddy is 'struggling' to establish itself at all, not in the US at least. DTS is recognized as the tops of pure luxury large sedans, smooth floaty ride and all. CTS is bonafide HIT. The CTS revolutionized what people thought of when they think Caddy car. World's best exterior, interior, and powertrain are on the way for CTS 2.0 and I expect CTS to continue a march to the top of the luxury car sales category. STS lukewarm reception but still a VERY nice package. SRX not a hit with consumers but how many times has it placed tops in comparos against EVERYTHING?! XLR is very nice and a totally because I can product. Meaning it doesn't have to sell well Vette makes the volume and XLR is just the icing on the cake. I don't think you will see many traded in on SLKs, its only competitor. Escalade, do I really need to elaborate on this?

Caddy has defined itself very well with eye catching exteriors and good powertrains at great values. As interior's and powertrain improve I expect that Caddy will continue to be top tier in their efforts and will be reguarded in the BMW/Mercedes class much easier than Lexus (which has a bit of an old man's car air to it, until the new IS and GS were released, based upon personal experience).

 

caddy has a rep as a car for old people and black people... to be blunt. they are working to break away from that stigma, but they haven't quite gotten there IMO.

 

Kinda like saying....I dunno....Lexus is for those who couldn't afford the Benz?

 

Cadillac has some vehicals that have been around too long. When was the CTS originally released? How did it compare to something like the IS, or any other BMW/Mercedes, in its market segment when it was released? The problem for the CTS is that the market has meet and surpassed it.

I think that GM could recapture 30-40% of the market, but they will have to come out with redesigns, either face lifts or major redesigns, every 3-4 years. That, I'm not sure that is possible, and that will keep GM from taken back a large portion of the market segment.

 

DTS is known for a floaty ride for sure - popular with the older crowd. But "tops of pure luxury large sedans"? And what sedans are in the "pure luxury large" class and how is the DTS 'known' as tops?

Eh... maybe? Lexus generally offers more bang for the buck and WAY better reliability and lower cost of repair when they do break.

 

That's also true for Cadillac.

"Great Value" shouldn't be a value in this segment -- it only means that Cadillac's getting a lower class of customer than other luxury brands, and it also limits to a great degree what GM can do with Buick and Saab.

GM as a whole needs to get away from the "Bigger & Faster & Cheaper" methodology of selling cars, because it's obvious they cut corners on the interiors to make it work financially. But it's especially obvious with Cadillac.

 

The fact that this article was even written shows the strides Cadillac has made. I'd be willing to give up a power tilt wheel to get the (imo) best looking SUV in its class. Cadillac is almost there, the new CTS should define how new GM can do a ground-up car.

 

I am not so sure that it still lingers as much as you think it does. General stereotypes are just in the minds of those who entertain them. It is not an accurate representation of the world (well, duh!), however it influences how such individuals perceive what the rest of the world is (supposedly) thinking. What I'm saying is that although you feel that this is what other people think of Cadillac, they most likely don't How's that for a blunt statement?

To get on the subject, though, saying that Cadillac will have to be on top and be the best... That is a bit ambitious for anyone. For one thing, there is no one at the top. There is Mercedes, there is BMW. A little distance behind is Lexus. There's also Audi somewhere there. MB and BMW appear to be among the top brands, and their name and prestige help them in that regard.

For Cadillac to make the necessary leap to be on top is probably not feasible in short-term. Lexus has been trying to beat BMW and MB for over 10 years now. They have arrived close, and in the process they carved up their own style. They will never be on top of MB, simply because the name Lexus does not equal the name Mercedes-Benz. Many reasons that you, Kyle, mentioned for Cadillac not being able to beat other brands stand for Lexus as well - cult following being among them.

 

While I agree that this is Lexus' #1 problem right now is getting that 'cult' following and name associated with that following... most studies I've seen have placed their name third in associated prestige, with Porsche being first, MB being second, and Lexus being a very close third.

But you make it sound like Lexus is struggling too.... maybe you missed who's been #1 in US luxury brand sales for many years now?

 

Do you think being #1 means being #1 in sales? If GM sells more Impalas than Honda sells Accords, it doesn't make Impala the number one car.

I don't think Lexus is struggling. To the contrary, I think it has done very well. Having said that, Lexus will not end up as the #1 luxury brand for reasons that may be similar to why Ferrari is the #1 italian sports car and not Lamborghini. There is history and heritage involved, and Lexus is still building theirs.

edit: as for those studies you quoted... I can't (nor should anyone be able to) make an informed opinion about studies without knowing details. For example, what questions were asked? How were they worded? How was the study carried out? I'm sure you know enough about surveys and opinion polls. But to take the study you quoted... Porsche should not be in the same list as MB, BMW and Lexus since, with the exception of Cayenne, it's a sports car company. Lexus is not competing with Porsche. Porsche doesn't even have an offering to compete with Mercedes S-class or Maybach, or Lexus GS or LS.

 

Lexus has done very well, but I don't think they are absolutely "top of mind" when you think luxury cars...even if they are the #1 selling luxury brand. People are always going to think MB and BMW.

 

I think its safe to say, we all agree Caddy has done some good things, and some great things.. However, they still need to keep up the good work, and keep improving things. This applies to GM as a whole, forever now.