2021 Cadillac Escalade Sport on 2040-cars

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Cadillac Escala Concept shows off a softer side of American luxury

When Cadillac announced that it would be appearing at Monterey Car Week with a stunning, new concept, the news sent a rush of blood to the head. Would it be a CT6 Coupe? A new V-series model? A follow-up to the show-stopping Elmiraj? Tonight, at the beginning of a weekend of festivities to tantalize automotive enthusiasts and aficionados, Cadillac instead showed off a glimpse of reality: the Escala four-door coupe concept. It wasn't behind a flat-white background, but at a futuristic yet modern home nestled in the hills that Cadillac president Johan De Nysschen introduced the Escala as a "point of inflection" for the brand. Keen observers will note that "Escala" is nearly "Escalade," but any similarity between the two vehicles ends there. De Nysschen noted that the four-door is meant to "relentlessly drive this brand back to its place at the pinnacle of premium." "Nothing less will do," de Nysschen said. The Escala is neither as bold as some recent Cadillacs to take the stage, nor as brash. From a distance, it has a wide, muscular stance wrapped in a tailored suit. Up close, it almost resembles a four-door Camaro — perhaps a nod to the work of former Holden design chief and incoming General Motors director of design, Michael Simcoe. De Nysschen described the Escala project as an "opportunity for designers to flex their creative muscle." The Escala seems to have a footprint mirroring that of a Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, but it feels wider and smaller at the same time. Is the shape derivative? Perhaps, but the Escala's design is less a reflection of a future, incognito Cadillac, and more of a chance for the brand to show off the details that might soon become icons. The Escala's shape may not be earth-shatteringly different, but the truth is in its details. The mirrors are as thin as designer spectacles. The C-pillar offers an opportunity to show off Cadillac's latest take on the Hoffmeister kink. A glass roof adds visual airiness. And a simple "GM DESIGN" badge sits below the side doors, in deference to the stylists who labored to make the Escala different. The most defining element of the concept is the way it utilizes light. There isn't anything blinding about its lighting, but that means you can focus on the shape and appreciate the ambience. The depth of the LED tail lights adds visual length to the Escala and shows where Cadillac's designers placed the most importance. It's contrast and beauty at once.

Such Sweet Sorrow: Cadillac's CTS-V gets an Irish wake

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The honkin', stonkin' second-generation CTS-V, powered by Cadillac's brawny supercharged 6.2-liter V8 has been a very good thing. And now that the 500 final coupes – the only CTS-Vs designated 2015 models – have been built (just five remain unsold as of this writing), it is indeed a good thing that's come to an end. But Cadillac is not letting 2009–2015 CTS-V go gently into that good night, even as its replacement is poised to debut in just in just two months at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Instead, Cadillac invited us to Austin's Circuit of the Americas racetrack for what it called an "Irish wake" for the model that has proven to be one of the quickest and most charismatic models in General Motors' history. If you don't know what an Irish wake is, if you envision storytelling, songs, debauchery and more than a little liquor, you'll be in the ballpark. In this case, though, adrenaline substituted in for the booze, with squealing tires and shrieking V8s providing the singing. The debauchery took the form of an all-you-can-drive lapping of COTA in all three bodystyles – coupe, sedan and wagon – and the stories were told by the grins plastered on our faces all day. First and foremost, we'll miss the CTS-V's perfect balance of luxury and sportiness. Even after six years with no major changes, the CTS-V is surprisingly spry. Certainly, you never forget that it's a heavy thing, weighing in anywhere between 4217 pounds for the manual-equipped coupe to 4424 for an automatic wagon, but with 0-60 times of about four seconds and the ability to hit about 150 mph on COTA's back straight, the Vs remain an absolute hoot on the track. Sure, some of its details – the blocky front fascia shapes and the spoiler on the sedan and coupe models, for example – look a bit dated, but the overall design still looks sufficiently badass. The interior design has worn pretty well, too, and however Cadillac may feel about center stack buttons being so last decade, we favor them over the capacitive-touch madness of today's CUE system. We're not going to bother doing another full review of the car here, but suffice it to say, there is plenty we will miss. First and foremost, will be the CTS-V's perfect balance of luxury and sportiness. Rumor has it that Cadillac will offer the 6.2-liter LT4 V8 in the next generation (we predict about 600 hp), but we hear that the new car will skew more toward luxury than balls-out performance.

Genesis wins J.D. Power Tech Experience Study for third straight time

The results are out for the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, which "focuses on the user experience with advanced vehicle technology as it first comes to market and is an early measure of problems encountered by vehicle owners." Its measurement metric is problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), same as with the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The takeaway this year isn't that owners aren't using advanced technologies, as was the case with the 2022 study, or that they're having more problems with them overall. It's that owners of battery-electric vehicles are having more problems with advanced tech than owners of ICE-powered vehicles. According to the study, 17 of 21 features that can be had on both propulsion types — such as remote parking assistance and gesture controls — get lower satisfaction ratings by owners of BEVs, in some cases nearly 20 PP100.  The survey organization says this tracks with what its found in the IQS, where total vehicle problems were "46% higher among BEVs (excluding Tesla) than ICE vehicles and satisfaction is lower among owners of BEVs across nine of 10 APEAL categories than among owners of ICE vehicles." Findings regarding biometric measurements are among those that go against the overall study findings. Whether a fingerprint reader or an eye tracker, car owners in general said "they do not consider them to be useful." In terms of ease-of-use and satisfaction, plug-and-charge capability on EVs gets good marks. This allows EV owners to plug into a public charger and have payment taken care of automatically; the vehicle communicates with any charging station compatible with an automaker's plug-and-play system, so the vehicle can automatically submit a bill for the charging session to a central owner account with no further action needed at the station. Survey respondents noted a mere 6 PP100 and an 88.9% satisfaction.    Among manufacturers, repeat winners took the top prizes. Genesis earned the highest rank for innovation overall and among premium brands for the third straight year. Hyundai not only won the tech innovation banner for mass market brands for the fourth straight year, ahead of Kia, GMC, Ram and Subaru, Hyundai finished in second in the overall standings. On that overall chart, the top five are Genesis, Hyundai, Cadillac, Lexus and BMW. On the premium chart, Genesis is followed by Cadillac, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the top five. It wasn't close from the first to the rest, though.