It Looks Like Cadillac Is Sticking With Its Alphanumeric Naming Strategy
Not everyone was a fan of Cadillac’s decision to dive into an alphanumeric naming plan for its models. Seen as an attempt to copy German brands like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, General Motors’ luxury arm began aggressively chasing the trend in the new millennium. But a great many traditionalists still feel that alphanumeric names are best left to Japanese sports cars and European sedans sold in various shades of gray.
However, these dissenting voices voices will continue falling upon deaf ears at General Motors. Cadillac is sticking with the letters-and-numbers strategy and recently filed reserves with United States Patent and Trademark Office for just about everything starting with CT or XT.
Hopefully, you weren’t holding out for a revival of the Eldorado this century.
While the company likely won’t use every single label, Cadillac has filed trademarks for CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT7, CT8, XT2, XT3, XT6, XT7 and XT8 according to GM Inside News. That should keep it covered for the next decade and save the creative department the trouble of coming up with monikers that might evoke any kind of emotion in prospective customers.
We’ll let you guess which of these will be reserved for the CTS and ATS replacements, but the mere inclusion of “CT2” makes wonder if someone at GM is musing the idea of a compact Caddy — a modern-day Cimarron, if you will. Meanwhile, the hypothetical XT2 would have to be similarly microscopic and probably based on the Chevrolet Trax. Before you ask “who would want that,” allow me to issue a preemptive answer. Any time a large American company offers a flashy but inferior product that you can’t quite wrap your head around, it’s almost always intended for China. This applies to movies, automobiles, appliances, and literally everything else that can be produced for the masses.
However, none of those itty-bitty luxury models currently exist outside this author’s imagination. And, even if they do in a few years, you’ll still have access to the comically oversized Cadillac XT8.
[Image: General Motors]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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A big problem with Cadillac using alphanumeric naming is that it reflects aspirations of a German-wannabe instead of a proud American luxury leader. Cadillac should stick to their own luxury values instead of imitating the Germans spec-for-spec, appearance-for-appearance, alphanumeric-for-alphanumeric. Cadillac should be building cars for American roads, highways, and driving preferences, rather than designing cars for the Autobahn and the Nurburgring Nordschleife test track. If someone wants a German car, they'll buy a German car. Cadillac did not become the luxury leader post-WWII for five decades straight by being a cheaper version of the cramped, hard-riding, blandly rounded "performance sedans" the Germans were offering. Cadillac already tried getting direction from their Johans and Uwes, and it didn't work. Johan de Nysschen never understood what Cadillac meant, in terms of being a large, roomy, comfortable-riding, refined, reliable, strongly-powered, modern-electronics luxury brand with brash look-at-me angular styling, with real names, not Eurobland appearance with generic names. Johan gave Cadillac their silly Euro-wannabe naming system; now that he's been fired they need to bring back real Cadillac values, and bring back their own naming system. Not necessarily more Devilles and Sevilles and Eldorados, but real names once again, reflecting that this is no longer a brand that is embarrassed to be American, and hoping someone will think they are actually German but at a cut-rate price.
How bad can Cadillac be if they produce the CTS-v. In my lifetime I never thought there would be a Cadillac capable of nearly 200mph. That car is a monster.