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
recalls1,2,3. 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 too4,5. 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.
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 lbs6,7. 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.
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>.