West Hollywood, California (Monday, August 10, 2009) - Which luxury brands(s) are the competitors for Cadillac CTS? The new Cadillac CTS often gets compared to a the BMW 3-Series or 5-Series. 
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It's priced like a 3 but it's about the same size as a 5. Inevitably, the BMW wins the enthusiast vote; but are there lots of the BMW customers interested in a Cadillac?
I don't think so - at least not in LA.
My impressions of Cadillac go back to its origins as the premiere, prestigious American luxury brand. I grew up in an age when the word “Cadillac” actually could be used as an adjective to describe the best of almost anything.
A Cadillac was always the biggest, most powerful, most beautiful and most advanced automobile on the market. A Cadillacs had automatic climate control – you couldn't get that on a Chevrolet or a Ford! Things have changed, huh?
Cadillacs were presidential limousines. Cadillac CTS had names like Coupe de Ville, Sedan de Ville, Eldorado, Fleetwood, Seville and Biarritz. If you wanted a truck, you bought a Chevrolet.
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Cadillacs seemingly floated over rough roads and the cabin was as quiet as the vacuum of space. The radio had a power antenna and the power disc brake pedal was as large as Michael Phelp's foot.
You could put several bodies in the trunk - on top of the two golf bags and a gigantic spare tire. The steering wheel could tilt or telescope to fit any driver (even the very large ones) and you used the Cadillac wreath hood ornament like a sexton to navigate your land yacht down endless stretches of the interstate highway.
If you owned a Cadillac, you had arrived at pinnacle of success. You could sail away into your golden retirement years, content with Social Security, a defined benefit pension plan and a gold-plated health insurance card from the employer you worked for all your life.
The halcyon years of GM's heyday are now reserved for a rose-tinted rear view mirror and Cadillac long ago ceded the luxury market to the Germans and the Japanese.
Cadillac has made a resurgence lately with hits like the Cadillac CTS sedan and the Escalade line of gussied-up Chevy trucks.
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Unfortunately Cadillac abandoned its treasure chest of nameplates in favor of a confusing alphabet soup identifiers:
Cadillac CTS, formerly a Catera Touring Sedan, is the entry level car.
STS, formerly a Seville Touring Sedan, is the next level up.
DTS, formerly a Deville Touring Sedan, is the largest and last front-drive Caddy, soon to be in the grave.
Escalade is a rebadged Chevy Tahoe
Escalade ESV is a rebadged Chevy Suburban
Escalade EXT is a rebadged Chevy Avalanche
SRX, is a tall crossover wagon based on the old Cadillac CTS platform
XLR is a restyled Corvette with a retractable hardtop.
V is the high performance designation in an attempt to compete with a the BMW M or Mercedes-Benz AMG.
In 1989, Toyota fabricated the Lexus brand out of whole cloth specifically to sell luxury Toyotas to the U.S. Market. Nissan did the same thing that year when it created Infiniti. Honda beat both of them to the table with the Acura brand in 1986.
The Japanese needed to created a marketing narrative to make up for their collective lack of heritage, pedigree, racing creds, engineering depth and, yes, experience in the luxury market.
The trick worked for Toyota because Lexus became the number one selling luxury brand in the US in a decade.
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I've long held that a Lexus is like the professional line of a mainstream appliance maker – you know, something like the Frigidaire "Professional Series" or Kenmore "Elite".
Everyone knows that under the skin, the appliances are nearly identical to the “regular” version; however, you get sleek stainless steel exteriors, designer colors, a digital readout and some other upmarket features you can't get in the standard line.
Welcome to Lexus , the Sub Zero of luxury cars.
It's a long-held axiom in the car business that Toyota makes the best Buick. The Toyota Avalon is as cushy and quiet as any modern Buick except it has the reputation for Toyota reliability and residual value you can't find in a Buick.
If GM wonders what happened to its Buick customers, there are usually two answers: They are either dead or they bought a Toyota.
So why is Cadillac expected to compete with the Teutonic “charm” of a the BMW, Mercedes-Benz? I don't see customers in LA tossing out their German cars in favor of a Cadillac.
Although Lexus is not even 20 years old it sold 329,177 units in 2007 versus Cadillac's 214,726. Cadillac placed fourth in the luxury vehicle category, behind the BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Lexus originally benchmarked Mercedes-Benz for luxury while Infiniti used the BMW.
Lexus has been polishing its luxury credentials for nearly twenty years, but those credentials are based on Toyota reliability and an undeniably excellent customer sales and service experience.
Lexus can't match the Germans for heritage, engineering depth and the “feel” of a car that has a century of engineering behind each new generation.
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Lexus took sales from the Germans, but it's really Cadillac and Lincoln customers that got poached. The last 30 years of poorly-made, unreliable Cadillacs pushed customers to other brands.
The phenomenon is no different than what has happened to all the American brands.
When I look back at what made the Cadillac the world standard for luxury, Lexus is the closest competitor.
A Lexus is known for being filled with gee-whiz electronic gizmos and gadgets, a floating ride and minimal cabin decibels. Sound familiar? Yeah, those qualities were Cadillac hallmarks.
Lexus is not perfect. The cars lack strong styling and there is a complete lack of emotional, gut-level connection with customers. Lexus can't compete with Mercedes for the emotional appeal of a legendary car like the original Mercedes Gullwing 300SL.
It can't compete because Lexus is merely a marketing exercise for Toyota. The Lexus brand is nearly unknown outside the US, although Toyota plans to change that.
Lexus doesn't have one memorable car in its past. They are all just boring Toyota refrigerators with a different badge. They are as forgettable as the current ones.
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Just because a car is reliable and you are treated well at the dealership doesn't mean that its products grab at your heart and gut. That is the essence of a great brand and you can't create that intangible feeling simply by marketing.
There is no emotion in a Lexus, only derivative generic luxury car cues. Conversely, Cadillac has a long, storied and emotional connection with US customers and GM should focus Cadillac on taking on Lexus, not the Germans.
In GM's glory days of the 1950s and 1960s, Bill Mitchell (GM's legendary and flamboyant design and styling chief) styled the most fantastic dream machines on the planet. Fit and finish and overall quality were a benchmark for its time. That's when Cadillac was at its pinnacle.
GM may have Maximum Bob Lutz to bully the engineers and cost accounts into new products and innovative technology; but GM needs a Bill Mitchell to push Cadillac back to its rightful place in the automotive universe.
Come on, GM; give Cadillac what it needs to take on Toyota's Lexus brand.
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For many years, Todd “Evan” Bianco has written about cars and Los Angeles on his website acarisnotarefrigerator.com from his West Hollywood base.
Mr. Bianco’s focuses on the car biz and cars as they exist with us here in WeHo and Los Angeles, not in Detroit. He covers subjects as diverse as hybrid hype, the influence of the Asians in So Cal, trends, etc.
Mr. Bianco had a weekly radio show on Sirius Out-Q for a year, and returned to the air with The John McMullen Show on KNEWS AM 870 * 1140 * 1250 knewsradio.com on March 3, 2008.
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