Quo vadis Caddie?

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll) 12/26/2013 at 10:07 • Filed to: mini rant

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The recent talk about Cadillac trying to out-German the Germans as well the the usual holiday boredom got me into researching their offerings over here.

They have the ATS, CTS (coupe, sedan, wagon), CTS-V (coupe, wagon, no sedan!!!), SRX, and Escalade. So far so good. No Diesel engines, but who would have expected that. They only make up 70- 80% of that market segment. If they actually wanted to sell cars over here they should at least offer Opel's top of the line bi-turbo diesel in the ATS. But they don't seem to want to anyway. They have 7 (SEVEN!!!!) dealerships in Germany! Plus a few shops that are allowed to sell them. But even that didn't really surprise/bother me.

What really grinds my gears, is that they don't seem to know how fast their ATS is! Top speed is listed as 220-240 kph. Depending on what? Gear ratios? I don't think so! They are pretty firm on their acceleration times, so that's not it. What else? Couldn't they be bothered to test that? Does it depend on the amount of bacon I had for breakfast. Or does the car decide that on it's own, depending on some mood swings?

Dafuq Caddie??? Acting as if you could out-German the Germans, then appearing as if you don't even want to sell cars on their home-turf, and to put the icing on the cake, not even knowing your vehicle's top speed!!! And people still wonder why GM can't sell cars in Europe that aren't Opel/Vauxhall.

http://www.cadillaceurope.com/data/brochures…

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Klaus Schmoll 12/26/2013 at 10:12

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It's pretty common among American carmakers not to reveal top speeds for most of their range, due to lack of interest (drag times have always been the main performance figure there).
The thing with the CTS is irrelevant because it's being phased out and replaced with a new model. Maybe, maybe they'll put a diesel on it.
I've heard some buzz that with Chevrolet returning to their old status in European markets, Cadillac will be relauched on these sides. Maybe they'll start selling cars via authorized Opel dealerships, for those who want more than a "mere" Insignia?

RightFootDown > Klaus Schmoll 12/26/2013 at 10:19

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As I wrote on RightFootDown.com , Cadillac still has a lot of work to do. The ATS 2.0T with a manual trans and no sunroof can be had for $30k OUT THE DOOR. That's a steal for the caliber of sport sedan it is.

Klaus Schmoll > RightFootDown 12/26/2013 at 10:45

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Yeah, I remember that one. I see that you now have explained the point that made me chuckle the most ("lesser known Mercedes-Benz"). I agree that the ATS is good value for money (€ 38k, out the door), I still don't understand why GM doesn't put any effort into actually selling a few of them here. What would be better for their brand recognition than actually beating the Germans ON THEIR HOME TURF! Actually eating away from BMercaudi's market share would be a big coup, which their marketing team could really exploit. Yet, they either know that this isn't going to happen soon, or they have other plans.

Anyway until that day, saying that Cadillac is taking away anything from the German 3 is quite a bold statement, and sounds like it may be fueled by wishful thinking a bit to me. It's a brand that pretty much exists only on one continent, whereas the others sell cars world-wide.