Anyhow, back to the XT6. Cadillac has not released full-specs or pricing yet, but, on the website, does have some nice gallery-photos and some preliminary specs. It is due for a mid-year launch in the U.S.

https://www.cadillac.com/future-conc...-crossover-suv

 

Another failure of GM management! The XTS shared the platform with Impala and LaCrosse yet was the harshest riding of the three. Where the XTS might have captured many of the previous Cadillac customers, GM decided that the higher end versions should have large wheels and low aspect ratio tires. As a result, the XTS ride was worse than the Impala. With a high retail price and relatively stiff ride, the XTS failed. Or, did it? Last year it was still the highest selling Cadillac sedan. The new CT6 is stiffer, lighter, better handling, and faster with the same engine. Why did the XTS outsell it? It fit better as an US luxe sedan. What happened?

The US market is overly influenced by the auto magazines! Their reviewers are young guys who could not afford the cars they test and are focused on fun to drive.

 

Absolutely, Cajun....you nailed it.

 

 

 

 

That's a common misconception, but not fact. There are WAY more of them out there than you think. And because GM and Ford have basically ignored them in recent years, some of those with the funds to do so are defecting to the Mercedes S-class...or simply keeping their old cars, repairing them, and/or returning to the used-car market. It's remarkable how many old full-size Buick, Cadillac, and Lincoln sedans I see running around my area each day. When (or if) I get a chance to talk to the owners, I keep hearing the same thing.....there's very little left for them anymore in the new-car market, especially with the coming demise of the Impala, MKZ, Lacrosse and Continental.

 

 

This is a fair assessment. Many, many older drivers in CUV's and SUV's these days. With all of the variety and choices its easy to find something that fits the bill.

 

 

Many of them, especially the shorter ladies, don't want crossovers. They sit too high.

Sorry, Jill, but that's downright absurd. Now, if you say the current Rogue is a better handler than those big sedans, you would be correct. People who buy that type of easy-riding-sedan, though, are usually not interested in handing. They don't toss their vehicles around corners.

 

 

 

you think that XTS and Lacrosse buyers are feeling slighted by GM, and then going to pay, essentially double, for an S-Class?

I don't see how you can just completely discount GM's market research in favor of your own observations in your own small portion of the country.

Look, no one will deny you your opinion. But you have no facts whatsoever to base this statement on, other than you may have talked about this with a handful of people. I'll bet GM has 1000s of market research employees who have studied this and conducted focus groups.

My mother is a shorter elderly lady, and the reason you state why people don't want cross overs is exactly why she drives a crossover.

Do you think that when Subaru originally introduced the Forrester or Honda originally introduced the CR-V, that their target market was middle aged or elderly drivers? No--they were young families or pre-kid couples. But when you look around at a lot of drivers of those vehicles, that's a good chunk of who's buying them. And Buick/Caddy/etc want to get the affluent section of that market. Including those who have been driving SUVs for their families, and don't want to go back to sedans.

What you refuse to acknowledge is that this is a shrinking class of customer. I would argue a quickly shrinking class. When Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers got used to Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys as what a car drives like, and then crossovers built on those platforms, a big floaty ride is just not what a vast majority of customers have become used to as they have driven over decades. When a Jeep GC or Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander was your family vehicle, moving to a "easy-riding" Buick Lacrosse in your retirement is not driving what you have become used to--it's very different. You are losing sight of the fact that elderly drivers don't want "easy riding"; they want familiar riding.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't want what you want--it's what you like. It's just not what as many other people like as you think.

You look need to start looking at the marketplace beyond your own viewpoint and biases. Not that GM hasn't misjudged markets before, but they know the data better than any of us--it's just a question of how they analyze and predict the data.

 

A 4Runner isn't a crossover though. It's one of the last mid-size SUVs in existence. It's actually less spacious because it's not a crossover and has a high floor for its off-roading underpinnings.