2015 New York Auto Show - new models released

[Palumboism]

Here are three new models released at this years New York Auto show.

Cadillac CT6

Lexus RX350

Chevrolet Malibu

[Palumboism]

Honda Civic coupe concept with 1.5 turbo engine.   

[APE907]

Cadillac desperately needs CT6 to succeed.

Currently the only hit on their hands is the Escalade.  It's a shame because the CTS-V is world class.

Issues with overly high price tags and too many dealerships (700+ in US) are crippling progress.

Caddy are pricing much of current lineup at same level as established luxury marques........they haven't really earned the ability to pull this off at this point.  GM should shitcan Buick and put resources into Cadillac.

[Palumboism]

Cadillac desperately needs CT6 to succeed.

Currently the only hit on their hands is the Escalade.  It's a shame because the CTS-V is world class.

Issues with overly high price tags and too many dealerships (700+ in US) are crippling progress.

Caddy are pricing much of current lineup at same level as established luxury marques........they haven't really earned the ability to pull this off at this point.  GM should shitcan Buick and put resources into Cadillac.

  
March Sales
BMW        34,000
Mercedes  32,000
Lexus       31,000
...
Cadillac    14,000

You're right about the prices on Cadillac's, a four cylinder non turbo ATS is $34K.  

When you ruin a brand it takes years of great products to get people to change their minds. In Cadillac's diffence, the luxury car market has so many competitors right now.  

[APE907]

Agreed.  The Art & Science marketing makeover started over a decade ago for Cadillac with countless millions spent in attempting to change the image with mixed results.

I want Cadillac to succeed.  It is a long road ahead.  Hopefully GM sticks to their strategy.  They do not have a long history of success in branding a luxury line.  They need to weed out the low performing Cadillac dealerships and mandate stand alone Cadillac franchises.  The dealership experience these luxury customers expect requires this.  Mercedes, BMW, Lexus have FAR fewer franchises and absolutely crush Cadillac's sales numbers. 

Cadillac should also begin punishing by death the dealerships that install wire wheels, gold trim badges and landau roofs as dealer installed options to new Cadillac inventory in order to pad profits.  This is unfortunately still a common practice in pockets of this country.  It works completely against the huge marketing dollars being spent to attract new customers and shed their old image.

I do not envy Cadillac executives' jobs......it won't be easy.

[sync pulse]

Cadillac built over-sized, too heavy, poor handling, mushy suspension, chunks of low grade pig iron because that is what the WWII generation wanted.

They didn't see the change coming in automotive driving tastes.  They thought the desire for fun, sprightly, well handling GT style cars was just a temporary California based fad.  They thought as the children of the WWII generation aged they would start to want cars like their dad's.

They did not see the success of the 1964 Pontiac GTO,  Mustang, Volkswagen GTI, Corvair (If they had bothered to engineer it better) as being a harbinger of things to come.

  GM should shitcan Buick and put resources into Cadillac.

Can you believe that GM was so stupid to keep Buick, but kill Pontiac?  The division most associated with GT style cars.

[Palumboism]

Agreed.  The Art & Science marketing makeover started over a decade ago for Cadillac with countless millions spent in attempting to change the image with mixed results.

I want Cadillac to succeed.  It is a long road ahead.  Hopefully GM sticks to their strategy.  They do not have a long history of success in branding a luxury line.  They need to weed out the low performing Cadillac dealerships and mandate stand alone Cadillac franchises.  The dealership experience these luxury customers expect requires this.  Mercedes, BMW, Lexus have FAR fewer franchises and absolutely crush Cadillac's sales numbers. 

Cadillac should also begin punishing by death the dealerships that install wire wheels, gold trim badges and landau roofs as dealer installed options to new Cadillac inventory in order to pad profits.  This is unfortunately still a common practice in pockets of this country.  It works completely against the huge marketing dollars being spent to attract new customers and shed their old image.

I do not envy Cadillac executives' jobs......it won't be easy.

There's a lot of debate about the changes being made at Cadillac on the car forums.  Older customers seem to be frustrated about Cadillac chasing imports or shedding their "American" image.  While this is true, it is customers that abandoned old school Cadillac first.  The luxury market changed in the 1990s thanks to the addition of Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura.  What sold so well for Cadillac to that point simply wasn't working anymore and they eventually had to adapt.

Cadillac focuses on the imports because customers focus on the imports.   Most buyers today unfortunately don't want what once made Cadillacs Cadillacs.  Cadillac HAD to change

[Palumboism]

2016 Nissan Maxima.

2016 Jaguar XF.  To me this look exactly the same as the old car and I question why they wouldn't change it more.

[APE907]

There's a lot of debate about the changes being made at Cadillac on the car forums.  Older customers seem to be frustrated about Cadillac chasing imports or shedding their "American" image.  While this is true, it is customers that abandoned old school Cadillac first.  The luxury market changed in the 1990s thanks to the addition of Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura.  What sold so well for Cadillac to that point simply wasn't working anymore and they eventually had to adapt.

Cadillac focuses on the imports because customers focus on the imports.   Most buyers today unfortunately don't want what once made Cadillacs Cadillacs.  Cadillac HAD to change

Totally agree Cadillac had to change or die.

Perception is reality, and perception is true luxury is only found in Euro brands (atrocious running costs IMO), or fanatical Asian perfection (Lexus primarily and Acura, Infiniti second tier Asian prestige marques).

Cadillac's only claim to fame is blending euro styling (gold standard), with blood & guts high caliber/displacement HP.......American manufacturers are the equal/or superior to anybody else's HP numbers even when using antiquated pushrod configurations.  The sad reality is that consumers in this upper echelon value brand equity over pure spec sheet advantages.

If consumers bought on spec sheet alone, the $70K cts-v with 556hp would be runaway hit.

The sad reality is that perceived brand image and value causes most consumers to choose MB or BMW over cts -v.  

I really want Cadillac to win.......I have deep concerns that those in charge don't "get it".

[Mr.1derful]

CT6 is hideous.

[tommywishbone]

2015 RX 350 in the garage right now.  Wife's car.  She likes it.  It's a solid luxury SUV.

The F-series is a whole different thing.

[Bevo]

U guys really know your cars and car brands 

[Core]

That honda type r will sell nicely if brought to the states. The fiesta and focus st from ford are gaining a big following and civics are already one of the most modified cars out there. Every street has a rice can civic on it.
The new wave of fun cars has to be accessible and have a decent aftermarket behind it and so far the trend of modding cheaper cars for high hp and better handling is still strong. Buddy pf.mine has a focus st and put almost 20k into it and it beats a lot of cars three times its price.
I like the look of the new focus rs. Awd, turbo hatchback and a ton of power to weight as stock. I wanna see mazda, subaru and vw step up their game soon or the gti, wrx and ms3 are going to suffer because on paper the focus rs destroys those cars.

Toyota needs to release a new supra as well. Or something more powerful than the frs. They nailed the handling and styling of it, but it.needs a turbocharged engine. If they took the boxer engine out of the wrx sti (since they worked with subaru on the frs/brz) they could really have a great car there.

And id like to see something more interesting from Nissan too. A new Silvia/240sx would be cool. Not a lot of fun rwd vehicles out there these days unfortunately.

Unfortunately the average car these days looks the same as any other and doesn't inspire any interest from me. American csr buyers are boring as hell for the most part and just want a box with wheels to get from a to b. The new fad of these turbocharged awd crossovers is silly too. Having a family vehicle put down 230+ bhp is stupid, mom isn't going to use even half of that powerband.

Still saving my money for a MKIV supra or skyline or a nice 4x4.

[funk51]

bet they don't have any of these there, a real man's car...

[APE907]

That honda type r will sell nicely if brought to the states. The fiesta and focus st from ford are gaining a big following and civics are already one of the most modified cars out there. Every street has a rice can civic on it.
The new wave of fun cars has to be accessible and have a decent aftermarket behind it and so far the trend of modding cheaper cars for high hp and better handling is still strong. Buddy pf.mine has a focus st and put almost 20k into it and it beats a lot of cars three times its price.
I like the look of the new focus rs. Awd, turbo hatchback and a ton of power to weight as stock. I wanna see mazda, subaru and vw step up their game soon or the gti, wrx and ms3 are going to suffer because on paper the focus rs destroys those cars.

Toyota needs to release a new supra as well. Or something more powerful than the frs. They nailed the handling and styling of it, but it.needs a turbocharged engine. If they took the boxer engine out of the wrx sti (since they worked with subaru on the frs/brz) they could really have a great car there.

And id like to see something more interesting from Nissan too. A new Silvia/240sx would be cool. Not a lot of fun rwd vehicles out there these days unfortunately.

Unfortunately the average car these days looks the same as any other and doesn't inspire any interest from me. American csr buyers are boring as hell for the most part and just want a box with wheels to get from a to b. The new fad of these turbocharged awd crossovers is silly too. Having a family vehicle put down 230+ bhp is stupid, mom isn't going to use even half of that powerband.

Still saving my money for a MKIV supra or skyline or a nice 4x4.

Focus RS is a hot ride for the money.  I'm a purist and really prefer RWD platform but I know times are changing and torque steer has been tamed a bit in higher HP fwd applications.

Expect to see Toyaburu twins get a lung attached to bump HP and keep vehicle interest from sagging.  The two door sports car segment is notoriously fickle with consumers constantly switching their attention span to the next greatest offering.  Shelf life of these vehicles is shorter than in other segments.

[Parker]

Cadillac desperately needs CT6 to succeed.

Currently the only hit on their hands is the Escalade.  It's a shame because the CTS-V is world class.

Issues with overly high price tags and too many dealerships (700+ in US) are crippling progress.

Caddy are pricing much of current lineup at same level as established luxury marques........they haven't really earned the ability to pull this off at this point.  GM should shitcan Buick and put resources into Cadillac.

Also, Cadillac dealerships right next to/conjoined to Buick, Chevy, GMC dealerships. They need stand alone dealerships.

What is interesting is that the CT6 has a toned down interior, whereas the Lincoln Continental has an up to date, yet old skool 70s Luxury interior...like you can go to sleep in the seats.

[Parker]

Focus RS is a hot ride for the money.  I'm a purist and really prefer RWD platform but I know times are changing and torque steer has been tamed a bit in higher HP fwd applications.

Expect to see Toyaburu twins get a lung attached to bump HP and keep vehicle interest from sagging.  The two door sports car segment is notoriously fickle with consumers constantly switching their attention span to the next greatest offering.  Shelf life of these vehicles is shorter than in other segments.

Focus RS is AWD and can have 70% of the torque sent to the rear wheels.

[APE907]

Focus RS is AWD and can have 70% of the torque sent to the rear wheels.

I stand corrected......maybe mixing up with Focus ST?   Thought there was a hot fwd version available?

[APE907]

Also, Cadillac dealerships right next to/conjoined to Buick, Chevy, GMC dealerships. They need stand alone dealerships

Agree this is huge problem......that segment of customers wants a more "special" experience at their dealership.  GM needs to drastically reduce number of Cadillac franchises and differentiate remaining dealers with stand alone buildings and highly trained sales staff......this will take shitload of cash and hurt lots of feelings when/if the necessary cuts are made.

[Parker]

I stand corrected......maybe mixing up with Focus ST?   Thought there was a hot fwd version available?

Yeah...ST is the FWD
They "consulted" with Ken Block in making sure that the RS could drift.  345 hp for I think under 40k?
Check this Ken Block Ford RS vid, where he takes a prototype thru the Ford Cologne factory...

[Parker]

Agree this is huge problem......that segment of customers wants a more "special" experience at their dealership.  GM needs to drastically reduce number of Cadillac franchises and differentiate remaining dealers with stand alone buildings and highly trained sales staff......this will take shitload of cash and hurt lots of feelings when/if the necessary cuts are made.

The new products are slick...the new CTS is easily identified with those four vertical LEDs, it's become it's calling card. The ATS is nice, bland, but out handles the 3 series. Interiors of both the ATS and CTS are impressive to me.

And that is why Cadillac needs to do as you said. They have a great opportunity. No other GM brands should be
Near them. You want the luxury buying experience that is befitting to a luxury brand. Look at what Lexus does.
There are no Toyota dealerships around. Just stand alone dealerships with excellent customer service, and interior design that is both modern, luxurious and comfortable.

[Bevo]

I would take the Golf R over a focus RS any day

[APE907]

The new products are slick...the new CTS is easily identified with those four vertical LEDs, it's become it's calling card. The ATS is nice, bland, but out handles the 3 series. Interiors of both the ATS and CTS are impressive to me.

And that is why Cadillac needs to do as you said. They have a great opportunity. No other GM brands should be
Near them. You want the luxury buying experience that is befitting to a luxury brand. Look at what Lexus does.
There are no Toyota dealerships around. Just stand alone dealerships with excellent customer service, and interior design that is both modern, luxurious and comfortable.

Agree on all points.

The cts-v is an American M5 with better looks IMO.  Most likely more reliable electronics and far lower cost of ownership once outside factory warranty.  The headlights are defining feature.  This car is hands down best American sedan ever manufactured.  Seems like neither the customers nor dealer network are prepared to capitalize on it.

[APE907]

Yeah...ST is the FWD
They "consulted" with Ken Block in making sure that the RS could drift.  345 hp for I think under 40k?
Check this Ken Block Ford RS vid, where he takes a prototype thru the Ford Cologne factory...

That is a pretty fierce package.  Looks like the STi has met its match.  I like direction Ford is going but they have troubling quality issues across the lineup. They are also a decade behind Cadillac in rebranding the Lincoln lineup.  The Lincoln dealers I work with privately hate franchise and look forward to its demise.  New Continental at least got the looks right.  Years of rebranding Fords with boatloads of chrome and fake wood have eroded the brand.  Like Cadillac, I'm also pulling for Lincoln, but I have serious doubts it can pull out of current state.

[Parker]

I would take the Golf R over a focus RS any day

People on bimmerpost's M2 board are talking about cross shopping the M2 and Focus RS, and the Golf R.

That is a pretty fierce package.  Looks like the STi has met its match.  I like direction Ford is going but they have troubling quality issues across the lineup. They are also a decade behind Cadillac in rebranding the Lincoln lineup.  The Lincoln dealers I work with privately hate franchise and look forward to its demise.  New Continental at least got the looks right.  Years of rebranding Fords with boatloads of chrome and fake wood have eroded the brand.  Like Cadillac, I'm also pulling for Lincoln, but I have serious doubts it can pull out of current state.

Word is (from the inside) that there will be high performance Fusion as well.
I agree on all your previous points.