cadillac

Cadillac Named Customer Service Champ

Cadillac was named best automotive brand for customer service by J.D. Power and Associates, rising from the number-two spot it occupied last year.

The honor comes after the research firm measured five key customer touch points: people, presentation, process, product and price. According to GM, Cadillac's improving customer service scores are due, in part, to sales associates training with Ritz-Carlton service consultants. Cadillac partnered last year with the luxury hotelier on its first series of training programs, called "Defining Moments" aimed at elevating the customer experience.

Tags: cadillac, J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service, ritz carlton

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Five Luxe Car Brands Cited By J.D. Power as Service "Champions."

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Five luxury automobile brands were in the top 40 brands ranked by J.D. Power and Associates in its annual Customer Service Champions report.

Jaguar, Lexus, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Lincoln all made the list. They were joined by two other luxury brands: hoteliers Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton.

Non luxe brands included in the top 40 were Zappos.com, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and retailer Cabelas.

Brands that receive the J.D. Power Customer Service Champions designation are among the top 5 percent of more than 800 evaluated brands, based on their performance in five key areas identified as the J.D. Power 5 Ps: People, Presentation, Price, Product and Process.

Tags: cadillac, four seasons, j.d. power, jaguar, lincoln, mercedes-benz, ritz-carlton, zappos

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Cadillac Black Diamond Edition Sparkles and Shines

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Cadillac this spring will offer "Black Diamond Edition" of the high-performance CTS-V that comes with performance options and an exclusive tri-coat paint, also called "Black Diamond," that gives the car's exterior a metallic dimensional look.

In the CTS-V Black Diamond, a dark tri-coat paint is embedded with SpectraFlair Bright Silver pigment. Instead of simply containing small bits of metal, the SpectraFlair pigment in Black Diamond uses aluminum flakes encapsulated in a glass-like substance called magnesium fluoride. The result is a paint that has a diamond-like sparkle as light hits the surface from different angles.

Tags: cadillac, CTS, CTS V coupe, CTS-V

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1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car Concept at RM Amelia Island

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions

1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car Concept at RM Amelia Island

These days people are prone to refer to anything top-of-the-line as "the Mercedes-Benz" or the "Rolls-Royce" of whatever category they're in, but once upon a time that position belonged to Cadillac. And with good reason: in the 1950s, Cadillacs were the very pinnacle of luxury motoring. And few examples could demonstrate that as aptly as the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car concept.

Unveiled at the Motorama – GM's own traveling auto show – the Broughham Town Car was a concept version of the Cadillac Eldorado that would hit the market the following year. Only this version was even more opulent, with a split cabin: open in the front and trimmed in black leather and chrome for the chauffeur, enclosed in the back with beige leather and gold everything – from the telephone to the decanter – for the occupants.

The one-of-a-kind car never went into production in this version, but was rescued from being scrapped after touring the United States in the traveling exposition. Recently restored and given a gold-trimmed 365 cubin-inch OHV V8 engine for show use, the Town Car is expected to fetch between $500,000 and $750,000 at the upcoming RM Auctions event at Amelia Island on March 12. Visit RM Auctions' website for more information.

Gallery: 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car

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Tags: 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car, 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car concept, amelia island, Cadillac, Cadillac Eldorado, Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car, Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car concept, rm auction, rm auctions

Laurence Fishburne is the New Voice of Cadillac

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

He may be best known for his role as Morpheus in the Matrix movie trilogy, but Laurence Fishburne is about to become attached to another franchise: Cadillac.

The American luxury automaker has just announced a new deal with the actor to become the face and (extraordinarily deep) voice of the brand. The campaign entitled "Red-Blooded Luxury" will kick off on January 1 with a commercial aired during the Rose Bowl.

Cadillac vehicles – including the CTS sedan and Escalade SUV – were incidentally used in the filming of Matrix movies, Fishburne's character alternately riding in and blowing them up. The commercials will presumably be kinder to GM's luxury offerings.

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Tags: cadillac, fishburne, Laurence Fishburne, red blooded luxury, red-blooded luxury, rose bowl

LA Auto Show: Cadillac's New Urban Concept

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

The last time Cadillac gave us a small, or smallish, car, it was a disaster--the Cimarron, sold during the 1980s. It was a weak attempt by General Motors to put a Caddy in the market that got better fuel economy than its big sedans. But the underlying engineering platform was shared with the Chevy Cavalier, and it felt like it.

GM, a day before it starts selling stock in the new post-bankruptcy company, is showing a small, "urban" Cadillac concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show that could lead to a car Cadillac can sell to U.S., European and Asian buyers who are looking at similar cars from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Peugeot, Renault and soon, BMW.

Called The Urban Luxury Concept, the car has a wheelbase of just 97 inches with an overall length of 151 inches. The width is 68.1 inches and the height is just under 57 inches.

There is a lot of fanciful interior touches to show how interior space can be maximized through innovation with the instruments. Projectors and a slew of capacitive touch screens that glow tanzanite blueish-purple take the place of knobs. There's also a hide-away right-hand touch pad. See the details in the gallery.

Gallery: Cadillac Urban Car Concept

Tags: Cadillac, Cadillac city car, Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept, LA Auto Show, Los Angeles Auto Show, los angeles auto show 2010

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Video: Cadillac Takes the CTS-V Back to the Nurburgring for New Commercial

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Video

Cadillac CTS-V Nurburgring commercial – Click above to view video

Cadillac's new advertising agency has apparently decided that the CTS-V will be the focus of its initial marketing efforts for General Motors' premium brand and started off by going back to the Nurburgring to kick things off. Prior to the launching the second generation CTS-V two years ago, Cadillac engineers set the fastest time ever for a production sedan, lapping the legendary, 13-mile long German track in seven minutes 59 seconds.

Race driver and photographer Jeff Zwart directed the new spot which ends with Cadillac's new/old tag-line, "The New Standard of the World." A century ago after founder Henry Leland debut a number of engineering innovations, Cadillac became known as the standard of the world, a line that eventually faded into obscurity as Cadillac was overtaken by competitors from Germany and then Japan. Expect to see more Cadillac marketing and promotional events featuring the CTS-V in sedan, coupe and wagon in the coming months until the brand is ready to debut the new smaller ATS and flagship XTS sometime next year. The ad and a behind the scenes video can be seen after the jump.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Cadillac CTS-V

Tags: cadillac, cadillac advertising, Cadillac CTS, Cadillac CTS-V, cadillac cts-v ad, cadillac cts-v commercial, cadillac cts-v video, cadillac video

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Executives Want Flagship Luxury Sedans for Volvo and Cadillac

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Remember when buyers looking for a full-size luxury sedan were limited to the German three? The BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class held the market all to themselves for many years. But these days the Lexus LS, Jaguar XJ, Maserati Quattroporte, Volkswagen Phaeton and Hyundai Equus are all vying for pieces of the same pie, and both Bentley and Rolls-Royce are making more accessible models. Now it looks like both Volvo and Cadillac could be looking for a slice of the action themselves.

The orders reportedly come from the very top in both instances. In Volvo's case, it's the Swedish brand's new chairman Li Shufu, of Chinese automaker Geely which recently acquired Volvo. In Cadillac's, it comes from General Motors CEO Ed Whitacre. Apparently both executives would like to see their prized luxury brands competing with the very best. And who could blame them?

Tags: cadillac, ed whitacre, geely, general motors, li shufu, volvo

Review: 2010 Cadillac CTS-V, King of the Super-sedans

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

_{2010 Cadillac CTS-V – Click above for high-res image gallery}

BMW launched the era of the modern high-performance luxury sedan a quarter century ago with the M5. Blending the twin-cam 3.5-liter inline-six from the defunct M1 supercar with the mid-size 5 series body shell created a whole new segment. Since then numerous other automakers have joined the fray with the likes of the Jaguar XFR, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Audi RS6.

When Cadillac introduced the original CTS it was meant to directly take on the likes of the E-Class and 5 series. In order to be taken completely seriously it was decided to create a similar high performance variant which was dubbed the CTS-V. The first generation CTS-V featured a 400 horsepower small-block V8 from the Corvette. This car was quick but still not as sophisticated as its European counterparts. This is a market segment that doesn't stand still and the European incumbents were approaching 500 hp and beyond with their entries. For its second generation, Cadillac intended to place the CTS-V firmly at the top of the super-sedan heap. Read on to find out if they succeeded.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Cadillac CTS-V

Tags: 2010, 2010 Cadillac, 2010 cadillac cts-v, cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V, feature, featured, features, review, review 2010 cadillac cts-v

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Luxury Cars Converge from Near and Far on the 2010 New York Auto Show

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

What would an auto show be without an array of luxury and performance automobiles on display? While the Geneva salon last month held the greatest variety of vehicles targeted by European automakers especially at upscale buyers, the recently concluded New York Auto Show wasn't without its share as well.

This year's expo at the Javitz Center in Manhattan, our crew on the ground got a first had look at the latest from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura and Infiniti, and even Hyundai. Each brought out its latest luxury sedans, wagons, crossovers and sport-utility vehicle. Follow the jump to see what they saw.

Tags: 2010 new york auto show, Acura, Acura TSX, Acura TSX Sport Wagon, Alpina, Aplina B7, BMW, BMW Alpina, BMW Alpina B7 xDrive, Cadillac, Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon, CTS, CTS-V, Equus, Hyundai, Infiniti, Infiniti QX56, javitz, javitz center, Lincoln, Lincoln MKZ, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Mercedes, Mercedes R-Class, Mercedes R350, Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Mercedes-Benz R350, new york, new york auto show, TSX

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Cadillac to Target BMW 3 Series with ATS Sedan, Wagon, Coupe and Convertible

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

With the CTS taking the market by storm and the new XTS set to replace the aging Seville and Deville models, Cadillac is on the upswing. But one area it's typically been weak in is the hottest for rivals like BMW. That's why Cadillac is preparing the new ATS to take on the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. And like those German competitors, the latest reports indicate that the Caddy will breed a range of variants.

The ATS sedan is expected to make its debut sometime later this year. But that'll soon be followed by a wagon, a coupe and finally a convertible, although the decision has yet to be made on whether the cabriolet will pack a folding hard-top or more conventional fabric roof.

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Tags: ats, cadillac, cadillac ats, CadillacAts

Cadillac and Corvette Will Soon Be Available Again in Europe

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

2009 Cadillac CTS Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery

It's been nearly a year since a large number of Europeans have been able to drive home in a brand new Cadillac or Corvette. Up until March of 2009, a Dutch-based third-party company called Kroymans Import Europe was employed by General Motors to distribute Caddys and Corvettes in nearly half of the 25 European markets (not including the U.K. or Russia). After that distribution company went bankrupt, GM was forced to pull its wares out of these important markets.

In order to rectify that nasty little situation, GM has reportedly been in talks with 30 different dealerships all over Europe with the goal of bringing the Cadillac and Corvette lines back to the market. All variants of the Corvette will be made available, while the Cadillac lineup will consist of the CTS (sedan, coupe and wagon), CTS-V, Escalade and SRX. No details as of yet on what the cars will cost in Europe or when they'll officially be available for purchase.

Gallery: 2009 LA Auto Show: Cadillac CTS Coupe

[Source: Autohaus (translated) via The Truth About Cars]

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Tags: cadillac, Cadillac CTS, cadillac cts coupe, Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon, cadillac cts v, cadillac cts wagon, Cadillac CTS-V, cadillac cts-v coupe, Cadillac Escalade, cadillac europe, Cadillac SRX, CadillacCts, CadillacCts-v, CadillacCts-vCoupe, CadillacCtsCoupe, CadillacCtsSportWagon, CadillacCtsV, CadillacCtsWagon, CadillacEscalade, CadillacEurope, CadillacSrx, chevrolet corvette, ChevroletCorvette, chevy corvette, ChevyCorvette, corvette europe, CorvetteEurope, CorvetteRacing, European Parliament, EuropeanParliament

Report: General Motors No Longer Provides Tiger Woods With Free Cars

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports, Crimes and Misdemeanors

According to a report from USA Today (via San Francisco Chronicle), Tiger Woods no longer gets free cars from General Motors. No worries, we're pretty sure Tiger can afford to pay for his own ride anyway.

The news, attributed to Buick spokesperson Dayna Hart, comes as a number of companies like Tag Heuer and Accenture have canceled advertising contracts with the star golfer. GM, though, indicates that the free car agreement was scheduled to end on December 31st and therefore isn't necessarily a result of Woods' November 27th accident outside his Florida home.

Woods hasn't been a spokesperson for GM since the golfer's contract ended in 2008, but the automaker had reportedly agreed to let Woods keep his Buick and Cadillac vehicles for an additional year. As reported on our sister site Autoblog.com, the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Woods was driving (see above) will be repaired and sold.

[Source: USA Today via San Francisco Chronicle]

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Tags: Buick, buick enclave, buick tiger woods, BuickEnclave, BuickTigerWoods, cadillac, cadillac escalade, CadillacEscalade, general motors, GeneralMotors, gm, gm tiger woods, GmTigerWoods, tiger woods, tiger woods affair, tiger woods scandal, TigerWoods, TigerWoodsAffair, TigerWoodsScandal

Detroit 2010: Cadillac XTS Platinum Plug-in Hybrid Concept Previews New Flagship

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Cadillac XTS Platinum PHEV concept - Click above for high-res image gallery

Over the past decade the effort to remake Cadillac into a modern luxury brand to compete with the likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz has only been partially successful. The Escalade and CTS have been hits but the Cadillac has no smaller high volume model to compete with the 3 series and the larger STS and DTS are on their way out. The first phase of Cadillac's effort to flesh out the lineup debuts in Detroit today in the shape of the XTS concept.

The XTS is currently a concept but it's expected to go into production as a flagship in early 2012. Its front styling draws heavily on the 2003 Sixteen concept but instead of a massive V16 engine, the new car gets a direct injected V6 and a plug-in hybrid system. The hybrid system is based on the two-mode hybrid technology available in GM's full-size SUVs and pickup trucks but modified for installation in a car. The nickel metal hydride battery is replaced by a lithium ion pack that allows more electric-only or electrically boosted hybrid driving. The plug-in hybrid was originally planned to debut in the now canceled Saturn Vue in 2011 but will now instead go into one of GM's premium vehicles. The most likely candidates are either the XTS or the SRX crossover from Cadillac.

Gallery: Cadillac XTS Platinum concept

[Source: General Motors]

Tags: cadillac, cadillac xts, cadillac xts platinum concept, CadillacXts, CadillacXtsPlatinumConcept, Detroit, detroit 2010, detroit auto show, Detroit2010, DetroitAutoShow

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Detroit 2010: Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, serious speed and style

by Sam Abuelsamid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery

A few weeks ago at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Cadillac debuted the production version of its sexy new CTS coupe. That version will be quick thanks to its 305 horsepower direct injected V6 but it will be left in the dust when the CTS-V coupe arrives next week. The new V melds the fastback two-door body shell with the immense LSA V8 engine from the existing CTS-V sedan. The supercharged 6.2-liter produces 556 horsepower and 551 pound-feet of torque. Those of the kind of numbers that will help CTS-V run away and hide from the likes of the BMW M6 and the Mercedes-Benz AMG E63.

Any car that can get to 60 mph in the 4 second range and hit 190 mph needs serious stopping power and suspension capabilities. The CTS-V coupe features the same kind of Brembo brakes you'll find on a Ferrari, serious grip courtesy of Michelin and seating by Recaro. The CTS-V goes on sale this summer.

[Source: Cadillac]

Tags: cadillac, Cadillac CTS, cadillac cts coupe, Cadillac CTS-V, cadillac cts-v coupe, Cadillac CTS-V motor LSA, Cadillac CTS-V V8 LSA, CadillacCts, CadillacCts-v, CadillacCts-vCoupe, CadillacCts-vMotorLsa, CadillacCts-vV8Lsa, CadillacCtsCoupe, Detroit, detroit 2010, detroit auto show, Detroit2010, DetroitAutoShow