Today there was a particularly good user submission thanks to a Spy, USNA1999. It linked to a Yahoo Finance story that essentially discussed the problems going on as Cadillac is attempting a renaissance with a product portfolio offensive.
Now though the CTS isn't getting that much love and the ATS isn't exactly a class leader. They're moving off dealer lots thanks to deep incentives while the Escalade commands extremely high prices AND is not encountering any problems selling units. Here's the funny thing: the Escalade isn't even a great product for what it costs.
This got us thinking a bit. WHY doesn't Cadillac start betting more on SUVs that it can actually sell with less incentives over its sedans?
- Where is a Land Rover Discovery Sport or Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class competitor?
- How far away is an SRX replacement that can really take down the Lexus RX and German trio?
- How about a competitively priced three-row SUV priced at $55-60,000? THINK: Infiniti JX.
- Can the company actually make the Escalade a jaw droppingly good product instead of what's essentially a warmed over pick-up truck?
Would THIS be the answer to the company's renaissance? OR, should it stick to the current strategy of building also rans in the sedan category that need deep discounts to get them off dealer's hands?
**Read the Yahoo Finance story here!
...Even though chrome-bedecked Escalades retailing for more than $100,000 each are rolling every day out of an Arlington, Texas, factory that's been working weekend overtime for months, Cadillac still can't keep more than a few weeks' worth of the big SUVs in stock. By contrast, its dealers are offering discounts of thousands of dollars on the ATS sedan, intended to compete with the BMW 3 series, and on the CTS sedan, meant to rival the Mercedes E-class.
At Brotherton Cadillac Buick GMC in the Seattle suburb of Renton, Washington, owner Brad Brotherton is offering 2014 ATS sedans at up to $12,000 off a sticker price that starts at about $33,215. In St. Peters, Missouri, near St. Louis, Bommarito Cadillac was cutting as much as $17,500 off the price of a 2014 CTS sedan, which starts at about $45,345...