After driving the new Cadillac XTS for a week I found myself thinking about Cadillac - the brand - and wondering what was next for GM’s luxury division. Most people within and outside this industry who concern themselves with such things are aware of Cadillac’s journey by now. GM’s luxury show pony during its late-50s-early-70s heyday, Cadillac started to lose its way in the mid-70s, just as the German road stars from Mercedes and BMW started to make a serious run at the U.S. market. And what did GM and Cadillac do to respond to that challenge? They got greedy with the brand, adding dealers and pumping up the volume to the point where any specialness left – admittedly slim at that point – was buried in 10-foot-high Day-Glo “SALE” lettering on their dealerships’ showroom windows. Dealers got fat and happy as profits rolled in, but the looming train wreck that would be brought on by out-of-touch products was just around the corner.
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