The 1959 Eldorado was one of the classics that defined Cadillac. (GM)
When General Motors' top executives were choosing this year which brands to keep and which to ditch, Cadillac was unquestionably deemed a valuable asset that should be part of the new GM.
The most iconic of GM's brands, Cadillac is known worldwide. In its heyday, it rolled out some of the most beautiful cars ever built -- the fin-tailed sedans of the '50s and '60s that symbolized American optimism across the globe.
"We all use the expression 'the Cadillac of toasters' or 'the Cadillac of something else.' It still means 'the best of' to a lot of people," says Csaba Csere, a contributing editor to Car and Driver magazine.
Lineup changes
- Look for some new variations coming to the Cadillac line.
- Just launched: the SRX crossover with taillights that evoke the fins of the past; a CTS wagon.
- Soon to launch: a CTS coupe next year.
- Under development: a large sedan, the XTS, to replace the STS and aging DTS cars; and a small car to compete in the segment dominated by BMW's 3 Series.
As GM emerges from bankruptcy, it needs a luxury brand to showcase its best technology and designs, and to retain customers as they progress from mainstream to premium cars. "You can't have a successful GM without a successful premium brand," says Cadillac General Manager Steve Hill.
By many measures, Cadillac holds its own against the top-tier luxury brands. "They're there in quality," Csere says. "Some models are absolutely there in styling." The CTS-V, the performance version, "is perfectly capable of running with a BMW M5 or a Mercedes E63 AMG."
Alexander Edwards, a partner at the San Diego consulting firm Strategic Vision, says Cadillac scores well in surveys measuring "things gone right" -- features that appeal to customers, as opposed to the absence of flaws. In the latest survey, it beat out Lexus and BMW, he says.
In this year's J.D. Power and Associates' Initial Quality Study surveying new-car owners, Cadillac came in third place, behind only Porsche and Lexus.
The CTS Sport Wagon, a spin-off of the popular CTS sedan, launched in June. (GM)
With its new vehicles, Cadillac is picking off import buyers like Oscar Cabrera, a salesman in Boston. He and his wife went for Japanese models until four months ago, when they bought an SRX for $36,000. "It came down to the features and price," Cabrera says. "I like the car. The interior is very nice. It feels very high-end."
Cadillac hopes the XTS sedan it's developing will build on the gains achieved by its acclaimed CTS midsize car. People familiar with the sedan's development say Cadillac is taking its interior to a new level, with cutting-edge display screens and fine grains materials.
At the new GM, it's not enough to launch models that are OK, CEO Fritz Henderson said in June. With its survival at stake, every new model has to hit the mark.
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