Worst part is, it is not even adorable like the 500 or Mini. It looks like a door stop with Lambo doors. What amazes me is that GM spent money to build this..and at no where along the line did someone say.."Hey..rebadged ugly Spark...looks terrible and should have nothing to do with Cadillac with Cadillac".

People only buy cars this size because a.) they are frugal, and want something cheap that drives, b.) They don't have money and it is all they can afford, or c.) the car is really cute, or handles really well (see Mini and 500).

I don't see this car fitting either 3.

 

Off topic a bit, but I personally don't find the 500 to be very good looking at all. The Mini, however, is a slick little car.

Anyway, I think the idea behind this concept (and this is most certainly a true "concept" car, unlike many recent concept cars that are simply production cars with bigger wheels a few other minor detail changes) is that, in the future, small won't be associated only with cheap / frugal. Aston Martin is going to sell a rebadged Toyota iQ for crying out loud!

I'm not saying I think it's a good idea, at least not yet, but if we get to the point where small cars are more the norm b/c of skyrocketing fuel prices, there may come a time when premium branded small cars are somewhat accepted here. I hope we don't get to that point, but that's the idea. Basically, a car like this would be for a scenario d.) addition to your reasons listed above. Something like d.) Small cars are the only viable option, so I'll take a small car with as much lux as I can get.

I sure as heck hope a Caddy small car would look better than this thing, however, if things reach this point...

 

That car is ugly. Which means it would probably sell in Europe/Japan like hotcakes.

 

So what's it priced at?

 

Pretty much agree.

The take away is that GM needs some sort of cool little car to sell. Not from Cadillac.

 

And in order to succeed, North America really ought not to be its primary market. In this part of the world we still associate small cars with being cheap. The mini gets away with it because its a Mini, and Fiat is going to force feed the 500 (and it already has credit as a solid performer). So either it goes as a Chevy (where we already have the Spark) or it goes as a Buick where it could get a premium as a 'semi-lux' if done right. I'm still on the fence which brand I'd prefer to see it at, but if it was a Chevrolet and more expensive than a Cruze, I think it'd rot at dealerships. As a Buick it'd have a chance. It would have worked for Pontiac, but... well...

 

Agreed 100%. I've been saying for quite some time that GM needs a car that fits a, b & c. However such a car should be a Chevrolet, not a Cadillac. Even a modern version of the old 3-banger Geo Metro would be better than this.

 

people glossed over this I think. Merc. has this. BMW also has its mini brand. so a mico caddy is not uncommon to think about.

 

Mercedes hasn't damaged their reputation by showing them over here though. And they certainly wouldn't sell them here. BMW has spun some marketing genious - nobody thinks 'BMW' when they see or think of a Mini, the dealer networks are separate, etc.

I understand this is really just a styling exercise, but I have no eartly idea why it is wearing Cadillac badging.

 

The ULC was nothing more than a trial balloon (as a friend put it) simply to see what happened.

After seeing it in person, as I wrote in the LA thread, it's barely more than a box with a Cadillac grille and lights attached. It has minimal exterior styling. It looks like about 30 seconds of effort was put into the exterior.

The interior is far more thoughtful. Looks good. More attention to styling.

In the real world, where the tire hits the asphalt, anyone expecting this particular car to head to production probably spent too much time breathing 2nd hand smoke at a Cheech and Chong concert as a kid.

Perhaps in a world where gasoline costs $12-15 per gallon, then maybe. But unless that happens, people spending money on a luxury car name like a Cadillac, is going to want a real car, not an expensive urban commuter.