Shantanu

25,000 cars is not very many. I wonder why they are starting out so small.

The 4 cyllinder engine will be a huge drawback to people looking to buy a $35,000 car. The interior looks pretty disjointed, with lots of whacky buttons all over the place.

I've been a long time critic of the current GM trucks, and I think these new ones look awesome. I'm glad they didn't just tack on a Tahoe front end. For that, there's the Avalanche. I really like the way they've integrated the chrome into the bumpers. And the fender flares give it character.

If you want to see how far Cadillac has come, compare it to Lincoln. The two brands were about the same 5 years ago, or arguably Lincoln was ahead due to the LS and the full size luxury SUV Navigator, which it pioneered. Look where Lincoln is now. That's where Cadillac would be if GM hadn't put any thought into the brand, and just let it drift on auto pilot.

The challenges facing Cadillac today are pretty small considering the challenges Cadillac had about 5 years ago. Cadillac was seen as an old man's brand. It's top seller, the Deville, had a dying demographic. The STS was never a credible competitor to imports. The Catera was an embarrasment. The US Dollar was strong, and the imports were able to charge less and make more. Then the Escalade came out, and for the first time since the days of Elvis, Cadillac had a hit product amongst the young and the trendy. The biggest gamble came with the CTS. No one thought that GM could make a car that was even in the same league as the German RWD sedans. But not only did GM deliver, but they had a solid hit on their hands. The CTS even won a comparo or two. And all this despite the G35 unfortunately coming out at the same time and stealing much of its thunder. Most importantly, the CTS did well amongst young, professional car enthusiast types that GM had long been trying to win over. The V-Series broke new ground for Cadillac. No one thought that would succeed, but it did, and its now grown to a lineup of 3 cars. Before the XLR came out, many people thought that "no one would pay $80,000 for a Cadillac". But GM proved them wrong, and the XLR held its own. Going into the future, GM has a solid foundation to build on. First of all, the U.S. dollar is at an all time low against the Euro (and quite low against the Yen), so they don't have to worry as much about competing with the imports on price while still making money. Cadillac technology has gone from being far behind the competition, to on par with them or ahead of them in most areas. They've got a new plant, one of the best in North America. They've proved that Cadillacs can be trendy, that young people can and do buy Cadillacs. The Cadillac dealers have made lots of money the past 5 years, and many of them have opened up brand new showrooms that are as fine as BMW's best. With the next generation of Cadillacs, GM can hopefully go from being merely satisfied with products that are mentioned in the same sentence as BMW, to products that handily trump BMW.

I just found out Mormons wear Magic Underpants that non-Mormons aren't even supposed to know about.

It's a lot better than what I was expecting, which was basically something exactly like the Tahoe. I give it a 9/10. Definitely the most attractive pickup on the market by a long shot.

I'm not sure I see it exactly the same way you do. In economics, when there are a lot of people making the same product, you have to compete on price (or something nebulous like brand power). The first Lexus IS300 was an almost complete flop because Toyota made a car that matched the BMW 3 series to every single dimension within an inch, but it was obvious that it was just a second-rate knockoff. And despite being cheaper, they were still asking too much (according to the market) and the car couldn't compete. GM - pretty wisely - saw that if they made something exactly like a BMW 3 series it a) probably wouldn't be as good as the real thing, b) would be up against a lot of competition (Audi A4, Lexus IS300, Mercedes C-Class all about the same size), and c) would either be a failure or not command much money. So they realized - once again, pretty wisely - that many people buying these entry luxury sedans were buying them in spite of their compact size, not because of it. They knew that some of these people would be happier buying a slightly bigger car that still contained many of the tight, RWD handling characteristics for about the same amount of money. Sure the CTS didn't do as well in comparos, but for many Americans it was a much more practical choice. The CTS did well because it carved out its own niche, where it wasn't into as much intense competition against the German sedans as the poor Lexus IS300 was. The smart choice is not to make the same product as the other guy, especially if he's very successful at it. Unless you can crush him on price (like Lexus did with their first sedan that went up against the big Mercedes). The smart choice is to make a slightly differentiated product, so that effectively you face a different demand curve. That said, it might not be a bad idea for the next CTS to shrink a few inches. That will still differentiate it from the German cars which have grown to about 180 inches now.

I don't think anyone here in Ohio would want to be seen driving an FJ Cruiser. The FJ Cruiser looks like some environmentalist's attempt to lampoon Hummers and Jeeps... Except that Toyota is making them seriously, and people are seriously buying them.

It looks very tall, with a very high beltline, even moreso than the current CTS. The front end looks very powerful. The old CTS has a bit of a big butt look, and so does this one, but that I can live with.

Instead of the STS, Cadillac might be better served with some kind of coupe.

A good idea, and it could work for the next generation. CTS: 185"-190" STS: 195"-200" By then, a lot of the old time Cadillac Deville buyers will be dead, so GM could replace the Deville with a more sporty, RWD based vehicle without losing too many sales.

It's not Cadillac's business to copycat the Germans and put up cars 1-1 against them (that's Lexus's, job ). The Cadillac Deville sells quite well and probably makes good money for GM. There's a big market for that sort of soft-riding, big FWD car. Not that I would ever buy one, but a lot of people do. If GM replaced it with something that went head to head against the 7-series, that would likely alienate about 20-30% of current Cadillac buyers. Not a good idea.

The CTS is still holding its own in sales, although it has understandably fallen off a bit from its peak. The STS and SRX are two vehicles that never lived up to expectations. The new DTS is just bizarre looking. I can't wait for a replacement.

Those sources don't even tell you how the vehicles were driven. At least with the EPA test, it's a fixed standard that all vehicles are judged by.

Umm... It seems like a very good point to me. Toyota portrays itself as a company that makes these Earth saving hybrid cars, when in reality it's been tripping over itself to launch as many gigantic new SUVs trucks as possible in recent years. And most recently, they are building a new plant in Texas for the sole purpose of building huge trucks. GM has more plants that makes trucks and SUVs but then again GM doesn't portray itself as holier than thou in its marketing and promotions. It doesn't have ads running on TV right now talking about how the air you breathe will be fresher if you buy an Earth saving GM car. Also GM is a bigger car company in America than Toyota so of course you would expect them to have more car plants, more truck plants, etc.

I think that's a good policy from GM. In a lot of hybrid forums (not that GM should try to appease these nuts), they say things like "such and such car would be more meaningful, if it was only a hybrid". And that will be true for the V4 Aura.

Not to me. It's a lightning bolt going through a circle. Planetary rings aren't crooked like that.

I think GM is trying to cut back on product overlap. Not all GM family cars need to be all things to all people. I think it's fine if the Aura is V6 only, especially since its aimed as a more premium car to be cross shopped with the higher end Camrys, Accords, and Volkswagen Passats.

I don't think the Malibu as it is, is cross shopped that much with the Toyota Camry. The Toyota Camry is a highly desireable, almost premium product, or at least a very premium family car. And the Malibu holds up the lower end of the family car market. As such, the Malibu costs thousands less after discounts. I would say a more typical GM competitor to the Camry is the Buick LaCrosse, and the upcoming Saturn Aura will probably also get cross shopped.

If the Toyota Camry hybrid is getting ~35mpg in the real world, that could be withing striking distance of the Malibu hybrid. Keep in mind, this is a $25,900 car we are talking about. If GM can put out a Malibu mild hybrid that gets ~32 mpg, and is about $20,000, that will be very significant (4 cyllinder base Malibu is $17,000).

With the current Saturn logo, you look at it, and it seems like someone put a zoom box on an Ampersand ( & symbol). You take a closer look at it, and it appears to be the ringed planet. I think they should make it more obviously a ringed planet in the logo, maybe something like the Sci Fi channel logo. Ringed planets = teh win

It would be funny if they came, if only to see them leave again after a few years with their tails tucked in between their legs.

Yes, but he has raised the big question of "Is there nobody better in this world to run GM than Rick Wagoner?", which is a question that surprisingly few people in the world have the guts to raise. I give him a lot of credit for that, because many people here just drink Bob Lutz's kool aide, and keep believing the old line that "The hot products are just around the corner, GM's about to turn around!"

I agree with Buickman that overall the tenure of Rick Wagoner has been a piss poor one. Almost any other company would have dumped this loser a long time ago. Right now GM needs someone of the caliber of Lee Iacocca or Carlos Ghosn to turn the company around. The point is that GM can do much better than Wagoner.