Have Cadillac been going down market?

[waterzap]

Interesting Cadillac Article...

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/how-gm-could-save-the-cadillac-ats-from-its-otherwise-inevitable-fate-of-complete-marketplace-failure/

I do like this note

"don’t make it cheap. Don’t offer rebates. Loosers who can’t afford Cadillac should be kicked out of the dealership all the way to the Buick showroom."

Have Cadillac been going down market in the last few decades? When I looked at prices for old Cadillacs on NADA. You can also see what the original MSRP was. It seems that in the 70's an Eldorado cost about twice the price of a Corvette.

76 Eldorado Convertable was $11,000, same price for a Fleetwood. A Camaro was $4,000, an Impala was $4,700 and a Corvette was $7,600

[C.R. Patton II]

Hello Wal

I appreciate the the sharing of the article. It illustrates creative ideas to improve sales. We must remember the goal of this automotive company is to compete in an evolving global economy with varied restrictions.

I place my confidence with the Standard of the World.

[cadillactim]

Cadillac has lost its identity.  It's loyal following left Cadillac after they started building junk in the early 80s. It wasn't just GM, Ford and Chrystler also built bad cars then.  People left Cadillac and went to foreigh cars which had much better quality. When GM finally turned their quality around in the early 90s, it was too late. Their customers had gone foreign, and were happy. Why should they return?

Ever since, Cadillac has been imitating the foreign cars. Cadillac is not Cadillac anymore. Personally, I think the last nice Cadillac was the 96 Fleetwood, but even it was not as eloqent as the older ones. The generation today has grown up with the "European ride." They don't know what "floating" down the road is.    Instead of other countries admiring the American luxury car like they used to, we are following them instead. Cadillac quit making the RWD Fleetwood because they weren't selling. People got used to European cars, and that is what they bought.

Today cars are throw away, like everything else. It is a downright shame that the supposed best quality American car today has a throw away motor. It is virtually impossible to rebuild a Northstar motor. I visit junkyards frequently, and they are full of 90's Cadillacs with Northstars.  Who could ever restore a 90s Cadillac.  There will be no parts.

If the car people would get back in charge instead of the bean counters and finance people, perhaps Cadillac could make its own image again, and lure future generations to them. It can't happen overnight, but it could be done.

Tim

[soonerinmo]

   I agree. I think engines like the V8-6-4, 350 Diesel and HT4100 signaled a desperate attempt to make Cadillacs more fuel efficient, and thus competitive against German luxury sedans. The lackluster performance of these engines probably pushed the typical luxury buyer toward European competitors even faster.

   It's obvious Cadillac has gone the way of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" with their primary focus now on performance. I drive a SAAB as my daily driver, and I've also had an Audi and Porsche. Come to think of it, my Cadillac is the first American sedan I've owned and it's refreshing to climb into the Caddy for a comfortable ride where you don't get beat-to-death by a "sport-tuned" suspension! I think the days of a soft ride are over, as designers seem to think that even luxury cars need a stiff suspension.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

One of the reasons for getting away from the "Soft-riding" cars is that the roads are getting so much better, and there is less reason to build vehicles with heaps of suspension travel, and "loose" shockers.

Put very stiff Shocks, and Sway Bars on any of the oder Cadillacs, and the ride stiffens up a lot.

Plus, don't forget that the tyre manufacturers aren't going to make limited number of special high profile tyres for small runs of vehicles, and keep the price down that the ordinary Joe Public is going to be able to afford when his tyres wear out.

With the vast amount of odd-sized tyres on the market now, and the manufacturers changing designs all the time, imagine what it is going to be like, trying to purchase a replacement tyre, of the same size and profile, for your CTSV in 20 years time?

Back in the '50's, '60's, '70's and '80's the 15" tyre with 80, 75 then 70 Profiles, was the norm for most makes and models of vehicles.   Now we have 16", 17", 18", and up to 24".   With a vast array of profiles and widths.

One day, we will have to scrap our car because you can't get rubber for it.

Bruce.

[R Schroeder]

Bruce. You have to come up to Wisconsin and drive on our roads...............ha

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Drove around USA and Canada in 2002, and never drove on a bad road.   Sorry I missed your bad roads in Wisconsin.   Must have been further north from where we drove.

Bruce.

[R Schroeder]

Well Bruce, I have to say that was quite a drive around the block.
You went right past my house.......ha
 Roads were better back then too.
I was down in Tennessee last week and they have some nice roads.
 Roy

[wrefakis]

its cadillac,know a guy driving an 04 town car,motor starting to smoke just a bit,   at 802k miles untouched, cadillac was the only livery car back in the day,they did this to themselves

and yes here are some of the gems i owned
stick shift cimmaron
all syles diesel
new 84 tin man( 4100 ) more repairs in 50k miles by double compared to 05 linc with 222k

cadiilac,once the industry leader,but greece was once the worlds most advanced civilization also

[waterzap]

its cadillac,know a guy driving an 04 town car,motor starting to smoke just a bit,   at 802k miles untouched, cadillac was the only livery car back in the day,they did this to themselves

See many Crown Vics in the junkyard with over 300k miles on them. First 100k spent as a Police cruiser, idling for many hours at a time. Last 200k miles working as a Taxi. A car with its platform out of the 70s. There are still many Mercedes Benzes out of the 70's and 80's running around in the worst places in Africa. I challenge anyone to keep a modern Benz running after 20 years.

[Steve Passmore]

Thats a coincidence Bruce, apart from your foray into Canada and the fact you went clockwise its virtually the same state by state trip my wife Diane and I made in the summer of 79. The people at the Hertz hire car counter were speechless when we brought back their brand new Toyota Celica with 12000 miles on the clock that they checked out with 200 miles.       We'll never forget that trip but I couldn't do those sort of distances any more.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

14,750 Miles, in an '89 T'bird V6, and used $1000.00 in buying Petrol wasn't too bad.   Car cost $1600.00, and sold it for $1000.00

Tried to get a Cadillac, but only saw an Eldo with HT4100, before heading off, and decided not to tempt fate.  Wanted to get a '72 Eldorado Convertible, but every one I saw, the seller wanted to pay off the National Debt, or the car was too rough to keep.   Actually, didn't see that many for sale, but a '75 was totally rusted out, yet the seller still wanted top dollar.

I even compiled a book on the trip, with lots of photos.

Bruce.