'General Motors has tried for more than two decades to restore Cadillac's standing at the top of the automotive world, with little sustained success. In 2015 it moved Cadillac's headquarters to the SoHo district of Manhattan, aiming to immerse those shaping the brand in the kind of upscale urban setting that is a prime target for high-end products.'
'G.M. spent heavily to develop engines to be used only in Cadillacs. One of them, a 550-horsepower V8, became available this year -- at a time when electric vehicles are captivating luxury-car buyers. Now Cadillac is planning to phase out combustion engines in favor of electric models. Within six to 10 years, Mr. Carlisle said, Cadillac's entire line will be electric.'
'the Super Cruise driver-assistance system. Using radar and cameras, it is able to pilot a car on divided highways. Drivers don't even need to keep their hands on the wheel. As long as they look straight ahead -- an infrared camera monitors the eyes -- Super Cruise does the steering, braking and accelerating as needed.'
I don’t think of Cadillacs when thinking about the Manhattan driving experience. There, if you drive at all, you need a smaller, more nimble, and easier to park vehicle. I can see Denver or Dallas for the headquarters maybe, but Manhattan? Not so much. Wide open spaces are what Cadillacs need to thrive.
Tom and Ray hit the nail on the head as to restoring Cadillac to the prestige image. They concluded that too many gangsters drove Cadillacs. They reasoned that GM should furnish, free of charge, Mercedes Benz and other prestige nameplates to certified gangsters. This would devalue the nameplates of other luxury cars and boost Cadillac’s image.
Being very familiar with SoHo, I was mystified by that move. Yes, it is the “wealthiest zip code” in the US, but cars and that urban environment–complete with SoHo’s narrow, cobblestone-paved streets–are just not a good mix.
Well like I said, the more I read about the deplorable history of the NYT the less I give a dang what they say. At any rate, in the Midwest people who can afford the luxury many times do not want to show it and it would be embarrassing showing up to church in a Caddy. So my advice is to just tone the dang thing down a little and be less showey. This is what Olds and Mercury used to provide-the same luxury for those that didn’t want to show it. I think both GM and Ford missed the marketing boat. In Europe they all drive MBs. Performance, luxury, but kinda tired styling.
Back in the mid 1950s, Cadillac had a very good reliability record according to Consumer Reports. The gasoline mileage for the time was also good. A Cadillac with its 4 speed Hydramtic got better mileage under most conditions than the 1950-52 Chevrolet with the PowerGlide automatic transmission. My dad had a friend who replaced his 1949 Nash Ambassador with overdrive with a used 1955 Cadillac and got about the same mileage.
The problem with the Cadillac was depreciation. Tom McCahill in his book “What You Should Know About Cars” published about 1963 reported that he had two friends. One friend had a Cadillac and the other a VW. After four years the two cars were in equivalent condition, both had about the same number of miles and worth the same amount of money even though the Cadillac cost more than twice as much as a new car.
I know Fox is NOT in Canada…and according to the ever truthful Hannity - it’s because liberal government of Canada doesn’t want them there.
Fox news broke Britain rules and was banned for a while. Fox tried to make a comeback but couldn’t grow enough so they pulled out of the market.
While the word BANNED might have been too strong…it surely is not considered a valid source of truth world wide. There are websites dedicated to Fox lies. Not just biased reporting but complete fabricated lies. Average education level of Fox listener is well below that of other news organizations. In all media they are only slightly higher then Daytime TV.
Well the Fox News ban in Canada is not correct per Snopes
It is available on cable and satellite
Conversely, MSNBC had a Canadian division… from 2001 to 2004. Apparently Canadians didn’t like MSNBC so much. Also available on cable and satellite.
I find MSNBC to be entirely too far to “the left”.
And, Faux News is essentially nothing more than a PR outlet for the GOP.
I suggest that people interested in accurate reporting should avoid both of those channels.
Back to cars. Cadillac moved to Soho to get the design and product planning staff out of Detroit. Detroit is so parochial and insulated from the rest of the US. Detroiters were convinced imports were a fad… until they lost their jobs.
Soho is also isolated from the rest of the country but with a totally different culture than Detroit. The flyover states would be as foreign as Mars.
Maybe Cadillac needs to join Nissan and Mitsubishi in Tennessee. Or Honda in Ohio.
Just to be clear, an article from Fox was not posted but an article from the NYT was. This had nothing to do with Fox or ABC or NBC etc. Read a little history of the NYT coverage of the holocaust, Stalin, and on to current times and they are one troubled paper. I did like their recent magazine coverage of the summer of 69 though and Woodstock and the moon landing even though it cost $15. It had a picture of my VW but the wrong color.
Cadillac has lost it’s focus. It was once a luxury car for older and wealthier people. It was smooth and powerful compared to other vehicles of its day. If it went back to that formula it would find that that market segment has gotten larger while the competition in that segment has shrunk.
Forget the mega sized wheels with rubber rubber bands of tires and concentrate on a smooth quiet comfortable ride with plenty of power. The older segment isn’t that interested in high reving motors or taking corners at 1G.
