roblaw
Getting familiar with the group...
Cadillac just went live with the pricing calculator for the 2014 CTS. Wow! is all I can say. They must have real confidence this car is going to blow away the competition.
Now that the CTS is comparable in size to the E-class, 5 series and Genesis they really have priced this thing like they think it is a superior car. I played with the numbers for an AWD 3.6 (which in the real world is likely to be about as fast as an E350 but noticeably slower than the current and 2015 Genesis, 535 and A6 3.0). Since I live in PA most Genesi are likely to be equipped with AWD when that options becomes available so that is what I will likely be shopping in a few years.
The car I spec'd out was well equipped but neither the top model nor with all the options on the mid-price model. I tried to equip it similarly to what I think the next Genesis with the Premium and Tech models would have. The price . . . . .
$64,000.00! This not the twin turbo V6, just the OK 321 horsepower V6 currently available in the 2013 CTS and with a 6 speed auto to boot.
GM/Cadillac has grown some elephant size balls.
While I suspect the interior (excluding the much mocked CUE system) will be very attractive and high quality (and likely nicer than the next gen Gen), have free service, and will have a well sorted suspension (as per recent road tests), I think Cadillac is getting a bit ahead of themselves. They need volume to get back their former glory and I do not think they are going to get it with an average (but by no means luxuriously equipped) CTS listing at $60k+.
No one knows now and certainly the Koreans have not been shy recently about moving their prices upmarket (see Kia) but my gut is that an AWD 3.8 2105 Genny with the equivalent Prem/Tech combo is likely to come in at about $50K or less. This gives Hyundai $7k to add AWD, some new features and a bump for a better car. And given a hopefully sorted 8 or 10 sp. auto, a little more torque and similar or reduced weight, it would appear that at least drive train performance will be far superior for the Genesis.
I would LOVE to buy an American car. But if Cadillac, the only real American competitor in that market, is going to set their pricing as high or higher than the Germans, I do not see how they are going to steal the Germans' customers with a nice, but merely competitive, product.
Now that the CTS is comparable in size to the E-class, 5 series and Genesis they really have priced this thing like they think it is a superior car. I played with the numbers for an AWD 3.6 (which in the real world is likely to be about as fast as an E350 but noticeably slower than the current and 2015 Genesis, 535 and A6 3.0). Since I live in PA most Genesi are likely to be equipped with AWD when that options becomes available so that is what I will likely be shopping in a few years.
The car I spec'd out was well equipped but neither the top model nor with all the options on the mid-price model. I tried to equip it similarly to what I think the next Genesis with the Premium and Tech models would have. The price . . . . .
$64,000.00! This not the twin turbo V6, just the OK 321 horsepower V6 currently available in the 2013 CTS and with a 6 speed auto to boot.
GM/Cadillac has grown some elephant size balls.
While I suspect the interior (excluding the much mocked CUE system) will be very attractive and high quality (and likely nicer than the next gen Gen), have free service, and will have a well sorted suspension (as per recent road tests), I think Cadillac is getting a bit ahead of themselves. They need volume to get back their former glory and I do not think they are going to get it with an average (but by no means luxuriously equipped) CTS listing at $60k+.
No one knows now and certainly the Koreans have not been shy recently about moving their prices upmarket (see Kia) but my gut is that an AWD 3.8 2105 Genny with the equivalent Prem/Tech combo is likely to come in at about $50K or less. This gives Hyundai $7k to add AWD, some new features and a bump for a better car. And given a hopefully sorted 8 or 10 sp. auto, a little more torque and similar or reduced weight, it would appear that at least drive train performance will be far superior for the Genesis.
I would LOVE to buy an American car. But if Cadillac, the only real American competitor in that market, is going to set their pricing as high or higher than the Germans, I do not see how they are going to steal the Germans' customers with a nice, but merely competitive, product.
You can actually get a leftover 2013 for almost $10k off, so $38K for a fully loaded car (twin turbo 365 HP, AWD, heated/cooled seats, rear heated seats, remote start, auto park, blind spot monitoring, HIDs/LEDs, blah blah blah)
