I'd say so. Cadillac calls it the Ciel. And while it's only a concept car, the interior is sweet enough to make your jaw drop. What do you think? http://tinyurl.com/3c6tek7
I wonder how many interiors they'll get out of that one 400 year old tree?
Rich
Haha, not many - but it's still refreshing to know Cadillac can compete with foreign high-end luxury automakers when it wants. Usually these concept cars never see production, only elements of their design do. This may be an indication that Caddie is looking to become more luxurious - a definite plus if you ask me.
It probably comes down to the customer base. Years ago, Cadillac and Lincoln catered to an affluent clientele of which there were significant numbers. But they were still mass-produced cars. Today, it seems there are many more of the super-rich who can afford these limited production vehicles, so Cadillac probably sees a market niche for that kind of vehicle. I would think that it also gives the company prestige that benefits their entire line.
Rich
But are there more of the super-rich these days? Caddie was always considered a luxury brand, but in reality it was more of a psuedo-luxury car... designed for the upper middle class, rather than the upper class. Aside from this one car, they don't appear to be altering their business model to attract typical Mercedes-Benz / Jaguar customers.
If anything, I think this is merely a halo car - designed to attract attention to Caddie as a brand. To reinvigorate the upper middle class' interest in the company. To show off what they can do, though they may not actually ever do it again.
Car companies do that from time to time - put all this time, effort and money into a car that may not ever see the light of day. In the end, it's about building a buzz, not a car.
I did a lot of marketing and PR work with GM and their brands. Each GM brand had a target market and therefore the design and subsequent marketing for each market segment was tailored to an individual class of people. In the early years Cadillac was GM's luxury brand and the Chevrolet line was their low end brand.
Oldsmobile and Buick models catered to the middle to upper middle class crowd. The Cadillac brand was obviously targeted to the upper class market. Pontiac was their upper class performance brand and GMC was their upper class truck brand. It was always interesting to see how each brand and market played out. Oldsmobile had a large following but they destroyed the brand when they dumped the cutlass, 98 and 88 models. Sales dropped so they killed the brand. Buick is barely holding on and of course Pontiac is now gone as well
( along with Saturn).
GM never tried to go head to head with any of the luxury car builders with their Caddy brand. Instead they were going up against Lincoln. You would have to delve into the demographics of each luxury brand to understand Caddy's target market. What is interesting is that the Caddy brand got diluted when the ghetto crowd started buying their vehicles and pimping them out.
In regards to " show cars " or better known as concept cars, they are all basically marketing tools used to unveil new models at large car shows. I was invited every year to the Cobo Hall car show as a VIP and attended the unveilings to the media. I was always blown away by the amount of money spent on these concept cars. These cars are never driven or tested. Incidentally, my father and Uncle were both test drivers for Oldsmobiles and they drove the real concept's at Milford proving grounds and at Pikes Peak. This is where model designs and new technology is hidden from the public and are tested under heavy security. The show cars are just that, show cars designed to create hype and to gain them ink in the media.
My specialty when I was still a marketing and PR consultant was motorsports and the automotive sector ( as well as the energy sector which I found boring as hell ). Some of the things they did never made sense to me. The automotive business is very complex now days with branding, models, production costs and varying market segments. I miss it to be honest.
Chris
Hey Chris, did you ever do any work for ASC?
Rich
Quote from: Mojo on September 25, 2011, 07:42:32 am
In regards to " show cars " or better known as concept cars, they are all basically marketing tools used to unveil new models at large car shows. I was invited every year to the Cobo Hall car show as a VIP and attended the unveilings to the media.
Chris
OMG, Chris, the last time I was at Cobo was for SEMA (or was it Autofact) - maybe 10 year ago?? I don't remember. I presented to Ford execs that year. Scared the hell out of me. Small world. I miss the excitement, the people, but I can really do without the big-company politics. It was fun while it lasted, but now days, I'm all into stain-resistant vinyl and my new Bosch foam saw :D
June
Rick - Nope.
June - That was the downfall to my job, corporate politics. I played the game and was good at it but hated it as it all seemed like such a waste of time.
I miss the fast paced action though and the constantly changing world of marketing and PR. It was like a drug to me.
Chris
Quote from: TheHogRing on September 24, 2011, 11:13:44 am
I'd say so. Cadillac calls it the Ciel. And while it's only a concept car, the interior is sweet enough to make your jaw drop. What do you think? http://tinyurl.com/3c6tek7
Delivered some furniture to a customer several weeks back. the husband took me out to the garage to show me his hobby, the first car was a restored 68 Mustang (yawn) I've seen tons of these around. Then he turned me around to view a cherry 1940 Caddy similar to this,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1940_Cadillac_Series_75_34.jpg
He did the interior and mechanics himself and had a pro do the body. The back seat was huge. Awesome looking car.