How to Fix General Motors part I

Now for the last of the American big 2.something manufacturers.  We have worked up to GM since they are by far the messiest of the three, and have the most right and wrong at the same time.  They have so many home runs mired among the steaming piles that they are easy to miss.  Let’s hope there won’t be too much to wash off when were done here.

I think that may be a bit generous.  When you make as many things as GM does you’re bound to get a few things right once in a while.  My biggest problem with GM has long been that they are one of the worst abusers of badge engineering.  In some respects I thought that was improving, but now I’m not sure anymore.  Pontiac, in particular, is like my gauge for how stupid GM is being.  Pontiac G3?  No way.

Before he has an aneurysm… on with the show!!!

Buick’s Current Lineup

Everything
LaCrosse
Lucerne
Enclave

First off, I have to say what happened to the great Buick names of the past; though Refined is slowly convincing me that the names fit in with the Buick naming style… paradigm?… of the past. Beyond that, I am having a hard time telling the difference between the Lucernce and LaCrosse. The LaCrosse is overall a cheaper car but can be had with a larger more powerful engine while the Lucernce seems to have more technically advanced gadgets and a higher price tag. One of these two needs to be dropped, though that would leave a big gap in Buick’s lineup that I really don’t know how to fill.

The Enclave, though having a name that seems to fit in even less than the other two, is a crossover…. ’nuff said.

I agree: the names, although having no historical significance, are still Buicky.

I also agree that the LaCrosse and Lucerne don’t make terribly much sense to me. What differentiates them? The LaCrosse is meant to appeal to old fuddy-duddies and I don’t think it needs to change, but the Lucerne is not making sense. It seems like the Lucerne is being aimed at a younger, more technologically savvy crowd. I think that’s a fine idea, although the name does more to remind me that I need to call my Grandmother than make me think of a modern technologically advanced mid-luxury car. Additionally, it needs more power and it needs to be RWD. Somehow, although marginally larger and 200 pounds heavier than the LaCrosse, the Lucerne has less power in both the V6 and V8 variants. I also think a better transmission is needed. The 4speed might be OK for the LaCrosse but the younger crowd would rather have a 5 or 6 speed auto.

Cadillac’s Current Lineup

Cars	SUVs & Crossovers
CTS (all versions)	SRX
DTS	Escalade (all versions)
STS (all versions)
XLR

One thing that I like about Cadillac is that all their cars share a similar design language and a three letter naming system. It all gives it a nice sense of family without any weird standouts with odd wordy names.

Similar to Buick I’m a bit confused about that’s going on with the STS and the DTS. These two cars don’t seem a whole lot different. The best I can figure is that the STS is again trying to cater to a younger crowd than the DTS. Neither are trying to be RWD performance machines like the CTS. For the most part it seems Cadillac has tried to kick grandpa aside for a more youthful and stylish approach, but when you look closer it gets to be hard to tell.

The SRX is fine with me. I’m relatively indifferent about it, but it has the right look and name to fit in. Cadillac even made a point of its performance when it was announced so I suppose it’s meant to be reasonably quick which also fits with the new overall Cadillac image.

Unfortunately, there’s an elephant in the room. What’s worse, it’s elephant sized and has all the grace of an elephant with explosive diarrhea. The Escalade just doesn’t belong, and only obnoxious people buy them. This model needs to be eliminated, if GM really wants to keep it around, it needs to be migrated to one of their other brands.

Sad to say that elephant already exists in another brand: better known as the Chevy suburban, it’s umpteen-million derivatives.

Car wise, I do like the CTS for what it tries to be: the American 5-series/E-class fighter. It has the ragged edge that an American car needs, but it still keeps up with them – especially in the straights when that V8 is allowed to open up. The other two don’t even really fall on my radar, but I’m under 50 so I guess it makes sense.

Realistically, they should downsize the STS so they have a 3-series competitor, and modernize the DTS so they can have a 7-series competitor. This would bring them in line with what they are trying to compete with, and maybe make them more attractive to the American buyers.

Their crossover is a good upsize to the sedans, and as Refined pointed out, seems to fit in well with the family and performance ideals Cadillac is trying to espouse at this point.

Their trucks, like all luxo barge trucks, need to die. That is all.

I think that spreading the STS, CTS and DTS further apart to reproduce the 3/5/7 series BMW style lineup would be a good direction for Cadillac to go. They don’t need two big FWD sedans and I don’t think Cadillac should bother selling to the AARP crowd anymore. Like the CTS, they should all be RWD and perhaps offer AWD as well.

Since the Chevrolet lineup is such a screwed up mess, we’ll tackle that in the next post…. until next time!!!