2015 Cadillac Escalade: First Impressions

2015 Cadillac Escalade⁶

For the past 10 years, I have not paid any mind to the Cadillac Escalade. Why, because for the past 14 years the Cadillac Escalade was just a rebadged GMC Yukon Denali and Chevy Tahoe. Don't believe me? Go on Google Images and look at the interior shots of all three vehicles in the same model year and you will see the similarities. Now of course the materials and colors will be different and there will be subtle layout differences, but look at the overall design. You will see that the steering wheels are identical, the center consoles are the same, and even the dashboards are similar. Pop the hood and you'll even see the same LS V8 mated to the same transmission in all the three vehicles. The main problem about rebadged cars is all of the problems found in the lower tier vehicle will be found in the more expensive vehicles. So in 2011 when the Chevy Yukon was recalled for steering and rear suspension problems, the 2011 GMC Denali and Cadillac Escalade suffered through those same recalls^1,2,3. And when the Chevy Yukon was recalled for brakes, steering, and transmission problems in 2012, the 2012 GMC Denali and Cadillac Escalade had to be recalled too^4,5. What happened to brand separation? Ford had this same problem with Mercury and Lincoln and look where that have gotten them; Mercury is dead and Lincoln had to overhaul their entire company to stay afloat. GM really needs to pay attention and do a better job at establishing brand separation. Even though some Audis use the same chassis as Volkswagen and some Lexus’s are based off Toyota’s platform, you cannot distinguish the lower tiered vehicles from its more expensive counterpart. Although GM rebadges a handful of their vehicles and all of those vehicles are currently North American exclusives, Cadillac cannot afford to mess up with any of their vehicles. They only have 5 main models in their lineup and they cannot assume that the ATS and the CTS (their most popular vehicles) will keep them out of trouble.

Thankfully, Cadillac is beginning to pay more attention to their brand image and is moving in the right direction despite GM’s dwindling stock numbers. The new 2015 Cadillac Escalade is beginning to redefine its image and move away from its Chevy and Yukon brothers. They are all based off the same platform, which is ok, but the Escalade offers a different exterior, interior, powertrain, and features than its younger brothers. That is a huge step in the right direction.  Let’s take a first look at the new Escalade, the SUV that reintroduce Cadillac into the luxury market back in 1999.

Design

Bold, advanced, and luxurious are the 3 words that came to mind when I first saw the new 2015 Cadillac Escalade. If you ask Cadillac what they think of the design, they would say art and science. Art and science is the new design inspiration that Cadillac is starting to use in their recent models. Whether you can see this art and science inspiration in the new Cadillac’s is based on a viewer’s perception but the inspiration is there.

Beautiful LED headlights and accent lights that extend down the bumper⁶

The headlights are the most noticeable design feature that holds the art and science DNA. These headlights are made up of LED lights instead of the traditional bulbs and projector beam units that we are used too. Because LED are lighter, brighter and last 20 times longer than traditional light sources, designers can go crazy when designing light units and consumers don’t have to buy and replace their bulbs anymore. When I look at the Cadillac’s headlights, it’s basically a vertical version of Acura’s Jewel headlights seen in their new vehicles. These LED ice cubes are then neighbored by a long LED accent light that runs all the way down to the bumper. Remember those accent lights; just like how you can recognize an Audi from afar just by its LED accent light, you will recognize current and future Cadillac’s with these long vertical accent lights day or night. The same concept is seen in the taillights, all LED lights (not new) formatted in very long and narrow tail lights (very new). The automotive internet world has shared some negative views and criticism about these tail lights. But I personally don’t believe people hate them because they are ugly, I believe people don’t like them because they different, new, and nothing else is like it one the market. People are natural conservatives; we don’t like change or new things. Just wait till 2015 and popularity increases, people will begin to like this tail light design. Overall exterior designs extremely well when you get the ESV model.

The current controversial tail lights⁶

The interior is just as luxurious and revolutionary as the exterior. I am pleased to see that the interior looks nothing like the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe. It’s a beautiful montage of premium leather, woods, and technology. The very noticeable center stack retains the waterfall or V-like effect that is seen on the grill in the exterior. I pray that the QUE infotaiment system is improved in this Escalade because the current generation in the Cadillac ETS, ATS, and CTS is slow, hard to use while driving, and unresponsive. The QUE system is not all bad, its a good idea and may revolutionize the infotainment industry when it's fixed. But as of now, you will miss simple knobs and buttons to adjust climate control, control volume, and perform other simple actions. The no button theme also continues on the steering wheel, which will be interesting to try out for myself. For those who don’t know what I mean by no button theme; Cadillac’s new center console uses a black touch screen like plate instead of traditional physical buttons. The Que system will also collaborate with the all new 12” reconfigurable gauge cluster to display pages upon pages of driver information⁶.

All new interior including new steering wheel and virtual guage cluster .
That twotone color design is sexy.⁶

Luxury is maintained all the way to the back seats.
Looks better in the Kona brown color option⁶

There are 3 trim levels offered for the Escalade; Standard, Luxury, and Premium. The Luxury trim offers 22" rims, driver awareness packages (only warnings, not active), a head up display, and IntelliBeam headlamps6. One of the driver awareness features is the Rear Cross-Traffic Alert from the ETS. This feature is amazing! Everyone who drives full size SUVs know how nerve wrecking it can be when they back out into traffic in the city or close quarter environments. The IntelliBeam headlamps continuously scans for vehicles ahead and when they sense an oncoming vehicle, the headlight will dim to prevent you from blinding those vehicles. The Premium trim includes everything from the Luxury package but changes all of the driver awareness features from warnings to full automatic, and adds a 9" rear sear entertainment system6.

Cadillac has down a good job integrating the lines from the
power dome with the grill⁶

Powertrain

                The 2015 Cadillac Escalade’s powertrain is also all new and exclusive. The new Escalade will be equipped with a 6.2L V8 engine with direct injection, variable valve timing, and active fuel management producing a whopping 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque⁶. That’s a 17 hp and 43 lb-ft bump over the current Escalade’s 6.2L Vortec V8⁷. Does this new engine sound familiar? Does it sounds allot like the 6.2L V8 used in the new Corvette Stingray? Before you get too excited let me inform you that they are not the same engine. Despite occupying the same volume and using the same technology, this V8 is an all new engine available in the new Escalade and GMC Denali. Thanks to the active fuel management technology (disables 4 of the cylinders for maximum fuel economy) in the new V8, we should expect better fuel economy than the current generation (14 MPG city/18 MPG highway) despite producing more power⁷. Interesting fact; despite producing more power in the new engine, Cadillac actually lowered its trailering max from 8300 lbs to 8200 lbs^6,7. I wonder why that is. I know most don’t associate an Escalade as a vehicle to tow a yacht but I have seen it personally so there is a market niche.

Side profile of the new 2015 Cadillac Escalade⁶

                Carried over from the current model and found throughout GM vehicles, the new Escalade will include the Magnetic Ride Control. This suspension system is a GM savior. I knew it was something special when I saw that GM sold its usage to Ferrari. Magnetic Ride Control monitors the road about 1000 times a second and continuously makes adjustments to road conditions to produce the smoothest ride and best handling.

Competition

                The competitors for the Cadillac Escalade are the Land Rover, Infiniti QX56, Lexus GX, Lincoln Navigator, and maybe the Mercedes-Benz GL. Even though current and past Escalades was able to keep up with the large luxury SUV market, it was always towards the bottom of the list. Why? I believe past Escalades was able to sell mainly because of its image and statement it stood for rather than its quality, durability, and luxury. It's like the Hummer, people brought the Hummer because it was a Hummer. Buyers wanted that manly war-toughened vehicle and wanted to be seen in one, not because the Hummer was a good reliable car (it wasn’t) and could trek across the mountains like a military vehicle (not even close to be able to do that). The Escalade has a statement and image associated with it, and previous buyers brought the Escalade because of that image. Cadillac cannot continue to produce average vehicles and run their marketing strategy on this “buy a Cadillac because it’s a Cadillac” statement. They need to step up their game if they intend to dwell in this market place and charge a whopping $65,000 – $85,000 for an Escalade. America does not want an $80,000 version of a Chevy Tahoe, we want a luxury vehicle that offers performance, durability, technology that makes consumers question other companies like Lexus, and Infinity.

The ESV's proportions fits the Escalade's design well⁶

                In the past, I never paid the Cadillac Escalade any mind because it was an example of rebadging at its finest. I was serious when I said that America does not need an $80,000 Chevy Tahoe; that’s what the GMC Yukon Denali is for. America needs a Cadillac, a luxury vehicle that uses its art and science philosophy to produce vehicles that are unique and competitive in today’s market. Cadillac is beginning to branch into the right direction but based on my first look, they are not there yet. Yes Cadillac produced a new vehicle unique from its GM cousins, but I am not convinced they produced a vehicle that is seriously competitive against other luxury SUVs. Don’t get me wrong, people will purchase the new Escalade in large numbers mainly because it’s an Escalade. But Cadillac will struggle to attract enough new customers to move it up the top large luxury SUV list.

Work Cited

1.       MotorTrend. "2011 Cadillac Escalade Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/cadillac/escalade/recalls/>.

2.       MotorTrend. "2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/chevrolet/tahoe/recalls/>.

3.       MotorTrend. "2011 GMC Yukon Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2011/gmc/yukon/recalls/>.

4.       MotorTrend. "Chevrolet Tahoe Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/08/chevrolet/tahoe/recalls/>.

5.       MotorTrend. "GMC Yukon Recalls." Motor Trend Magazine. MotorTrend.com, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.motortrend.com/new_cars/08/gmc/yukon/recalls/>.

6.       Cadillac. "2015 Escalade Luxury SUV | Cadillac." Cadillac.com. Cadillac.com, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. <http://www.cadillac.com/future-cars/2015-escalade.html>.

7.       Cadillac. "STANDARD & OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT." Cadillac.com. Cadillac.com, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. <http://www.cadillac.com/escalade-suv/features-specs/standard-optional-equipment.html>.