Review: 2017 Cadillac CT6 Twin Turbo AWD - This Big New American Car Ain't No Big Ol American Car

Barge-like handling. Yacht-like responses. The nimble, light-on-its-toes feeling of a Winnebago.

These are the kinds of terms used in the past, sometimes endearingly, to describe the handling of large Cadillacs. 

THE GOOD + Looks like $150,000 + Outstanding 3.0L TT V6 + Proper interior space + Handles like a CTS + 34-speaker Panaray audio

THE BAD – Doesn't feel like $87,000 – 8-spd easily kerfuffled – Very stiff ride for full-size lux – Most of the buttons suck – CUE

For a time, it didn't matter whether the terms were spoken endearingly or in anger. Cadillac was the standard of the world. Cadillac buyers didn't want the steering feel of a Lotus Elan or the delicacy of an MG Midget. 

Cadillac buyers wanted space, a whiff of exclusivity, torque, and pillowtop comfort. 

But then Cadillac rested on its laurels. While Cadillac was still fighting Lincoln, European luxury gradually ate into the Detroit luxury brands' North American territory. 

Then along came Lexus, a Japanese brand which added peerless reliability to a blend of technology and refinement unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.

Cadillac was caught flat-footed. Sales in its home market were nearly cut in half between 1986 and 1996. Then, after a decent resurgence in the early part of this century, sales plunged by a quarter between 2005 and 2015.

Cadillac wasn't playing its old game, nor was Cadillac good enough to play the game that the imports were dominating. Kept afloat by successful SUVs and crossovers, Cadillac's car portfolio was steadily improving but was nevertheless perceived by luxury car buyers as an afterthought.

Yet Cadillac persists. As a result, augmenting the largely ignored ATS, CTS, ELR, and XTS is this flagship, the 2017 Cadillac CT6. It's not a replacement for all those front-wheel-drive wreath and crest airport limos of the past (or present.) It's not intended to evolve into your great aunt Ethel's future hearse. It's a big, traditional, American luxury car. 

Or perhaps, not so traditional. Barge-like? Yacht-like? Winnebagoesque? Not exactly. The new Cadillac CT6 3.0 Twin Turbo has much of the visual presence of a traditional Cadillac flagship: long, low, wide, and extravagant. But its on-road behaviour is something altogether different.

WHAT IS IT?
Similar though their names may be, this is not a replacement for the Cadillac CTS, a smaller sedan that more directly tackles the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5-Series, and Audi A6. The CT6 does, however, tread some middle ground, with pricing that resembles those German midsize cars and dimensions that resemble their bigger brethren: S-Class, 7-Series, A8.

2017 CADILLAC CT6 3.0TT Base Price: $61,915 * As-Tested Price: $87,115 * Colour: Black Assembly: Detroit, Michigan Drive Type: all-wheel drive Transmission: 8-speed automatic Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V6 Horsepower: 404 @ 5700 rpm Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm Curb Weight: 4165 pounds Length: 204.0 inches Width: 74.0 inches Height: 57.9 inches Wheelbase: 122.4 inches Tires: Pirelli Sottozero Tire Size: 245/40R20 Passenger Volume: 3433 litres Cargo Volume: 433 litres EPA City: 18 mpg EPA Hwy: 26 mpg NRCAN OEE City: 13.0 L/100km NRCAN OEE Hwy: 9.1 L/100km Observed: 18.8 mpg Observed: 12.5 L/100km * Canadian dollars, includes $2050 in fees.

In rear-wheel-drive form, the 2017 Cadillac CT6 is offered with a 265-horsepower 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder in base and Luxury trim levels. All-wheel-drive CT6s, starting at $66,240, come standard with the 335-horsepower 3.6L V6 in base, Luxury, Premium Luxury, and Platinum iterations, with the Platinum reaching $97,290 before options. 

We drove a 2017 Cadillac CT6 with the 404-horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.0L V6. The base price with the twin-turbo engine, in Luxury guise, is $75,775. There's also a $79,010 Premium Luxury and a top-tier Platinum trim at $101,890. 

Our 3.0TT AWD Luxury model was reinforced with a $4255 34-speaker Bose Panaray sound system; an Active Chassis Package ($3895) that included magnetic ride control, active rear steering, and 20-inch wheels; an Enhanced Vision & Comfort Package ($2515) with a rearview mirror camera, panoramic sunroof, cooled front seats, and heated rear seats; plus $825 Stellar Black paint. 

Grand total: $87,115, which GM Canada currently discounts by $2000.

HOW BIG IS IT?
Cars come bigger, but not by much.

Nearly nine inches longer, two inches wider, and an inch taller than the Cadillac CTS, the 2017 Cadillac CT6 makes extensive use of aluminum to keep its weight in check. Compared with the CTS V Sport we tested in 2014, this CT6 is only 181 pounds heavier.

The Mercedes-Benz S550 4Matic, the standard among full-size luxury cars, is marginally longer, wider, and taller than the CT6. It also weighs 15% more.

DOES IT WORK?
Prepared though this and other reviews may make you, you'll still be surprised at just how well the 204-inch-long Cadillac CT6 takes a corner. It's not just the lack of body roll and grip, it's the degree to which the car won't become unsettled mid-corner and the ease with which a swift change of direction is met with instant response. The steering isn't nearly as lively as the CTS's, but there's generally little sense of extra girth in this bigger sedan. 

Take note, however, that all CT6's won't handle the same way. This car's 20-inch wheels and low-profile tires are part of it, but the Active Chassis Package also includes rear steering, which improves agility. The rear wheels turn in the same direction as the fronts at higher speeds, albeit only mildly, instead of turning the opposite direction as they do at slower speeds when the goal is to decrease the turning radius. 

Photo Credits: Timothy Cain ©www.GoodCarBadCar.net

Magnetic ride control is part of the same package, but it doesn't make the CT6 a decidedly relaxed rough road companion. (On the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, all the roads are rough.) Just pliant enough in Tour mode, the Cadillac CT6's rear end simply rides too stiffly for a car of this type in Sport mode. 

The payoff, of course, is the exceptionally responsive handling. Sport mode also gives provides sharper throttle response and better weighting for the steering. Cadillac needs to permit these functions to be selected independently, so the shocks could remain in Tour's more relaxed setting while other systems remain in Sport.

With or without Sport mode's greater responsiveness, the 3.0L twin-turbo V6 is a beast. Lag is nonexistent, torque is abundant all across the rev range, and what sound makes its way into the quiet cabin is the kind that cause you to keep the throttle pinned.

It'd be helpful if the V6 wasn't mated to this eight-speed automatic. Perfectly acceptable when the CT6 is being hustled, lighter throttle applications and slower speeds often send the CT6's transmission into a fit of confusion, ending in a harsh shift. Also lacking refinement is an stop-start system that is dreadfully conspicuous. 

The CT6's cabin isn't faultless either. While the rear quarters are by no means in want of space, the CT6's centre rear tunnel is massive. Further abaft, the trunk has a slim opening, and an odd trunk shape limits space to 433 litres, less cargo volume than you'd get in a Camry. 

Those interior traits are obvious before you've left the dealer lot on a test drive. Less predictable is the inconsistent functionality that became a hallmark of our week with the $87,115 CT6. The mode button that selects Tour, Sport, and Snow modes responded, at best, a quarter of the time. Bluetooth was unresponsive. Regardless of driveway angle, the driver's door never wanted to stay open, no matter the position. The Cadillac User Experience touchpad appears to be an afterthought for an automaker that's struggled to earn CUE toushcreen plaudits – just use a proper knob/wheel like the Germans. Many of the capacitive touch buttons remain difficult to use, with a Home button that rarely wanted to take the screen home. Even in the gauge cluster, tasks were sometimes completed lethargically. 

At a lower price point, these faults might be overlooked. At another brand, where resale value and long-term reputations counter quality woes, these faults might be overlooked. But if these issues crept up on a test drive with a Cadillac sales representative within minutes of leaving a showroom that doesn't quite offer the upmarket experience of a BMW store, the CT6's exceptional driving manners won't effectively counteract the idiosyncrasies.

Then again, the 34-speaker – yes, thirty-four – Bose Panaray sound system will make a performance at Berlin's Konzerthaus sound comparatively underwhelming – and turn touchpad troubles trivial.

IS ANYONE BUYING IT?
In Canada, not really. The first CT6s were imported from Michigan in April. Only 250 have been sold since. 

For every CT6 sold in Canada, the nine-times-larger U.S. market has taken possession of 37. 

Mercedes-Benz Canada sells nearly 90 copies of the much more costly S-Class every month.

SHOULD I BUY SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD?
Let's assume you want a big sedan but don't want to pay more than $100,000, a psychological breaking point. This rules out the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, and Porsche Panamera. 

But the Audi A8 3.0T starts just below $90,000 and the 340-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Jaguar XJ starts just above $90,000. Those cars are likely to hold value better and provide a superior dealer experience. The CT6, optioned up to match those lofty price points, will be better equipped, better to drive, and quite possibly better to look at. 

HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY?
To reach this $87,115 price point, you'll need to add $11,490 worth of options to the CT6's 3.0TT AWD Luxury trim level. 

And yet many of those options were central to our enjoyment of this car, central to the getting a truly luxurious experience. If the only thing that matters is performance, we'd direct you to superior performance in a less costly, slightly smaller Cadillac CTS.

As for the CT6, we would be inclined to accept less power in the CT6 3.6 Premium Luxury with the Bose Panaray sound system and the accompanying Comfort Package for a $79,655 total, or $77,655 with current discounts.

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?
This is not a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham.

Thank goodness.

In a prior era, an era of Fleetwoods and DeVilles and Eldorados, it would have never seemed conceivable that the best driver's cars in a variety of luxury car segments would be Cadillacs. 

But do Cadillac sedan buyers, those that remain, want Cadillac to be a better BMW?

The full-size Cadillac CT6 shines brighter and brighter as the road becomes twistier and twistier, as traffic dissipates, as the sun comes up. 

Is that when a proper Cadillac – particularly a full-size, 17-foot-long Cadillac – ought to shine? Or should a proper Cadillac display unruffled manners on rough city streets; should it be easily operable and eminently refined?

---

Cadillac CT6 Sales Figures
2014 Cadillac CTS V Sport Driven Review
2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 4Matic Driven Review
2016 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Driven Review
2013 Tesla Model S P85 Driven Review

---

Conventional automotive sports sedan theories suggest that the buyer who wants this much athleticism will inevitably pursue a smaller car, a CTS or perhaps an ATS. The buyer of a full-size luxury sedan, a veritable limo, surely doesn't need a bona fide sports sedan.

Or does he? What's so wrong with Cadillac overachieving? What's so bad about an automaker that manages to create a lightweight full-size luxury sedan that merges the best of both worlds? The CT6 is a big Cadillac that works out at the gym in the afternoon and then changes into a tuxedo for an evening gala.

Cadillac has succeeded at bringing midsize verve into the full-size category, at merging full-size presence with midsize vigor. I won't fault Cadillac for allowing me to have fun in a category all too often reserved for stodgy stoicism.

Now Cadillac has to fix the niggling faults, the technological foibles and build peculiarities, if the CT6's price point is going to reach to $87,000 and beyond. There's little room for imperfection in this stratosphere.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook. The CT6 was supplied by GM Canada's press office.

2016 Cadillac Escalade Review - Detroit's Defining Luxury Vehicle

570 kilometres almost equally split between highway and urban driving in a 420-horsepower, 6.2L V8-powered, 7-seater weighing nearly 6000 pounds with towing capacity of 8100 pounds should result in fuel consumption of 16, 17, maybe even 18 litres per 100 kilometres? 15, 14, or 13 miles per U.S. gallon?

We drove a 2016 Cadillac Escalade for one week in mid-December for about 300 kilometres in an urban setting and 270 kilometres on the highway. But unlike the 2015 GMC Yukon Denali we tested a year ago, a vehicle which linked this same 6.2L V8 to a 6-speed automatic and drank at an 18.5 L/100km (12.7 mpg) rate, this 6.2L/8-speed 2016 Escalade was downright miserly.

THE GOOD • Looks expensive • 8-speed/6.2L a happy combo • Apple CarPlay overrides CUE • Sufficiently "nimble" • Decent fuel economy for a 6.2L 7-seater

THE BAD • Is Expensive • Busy ride quality • Needs real buttons • Supremely high cargo load floor • Almost useless third row

13.4 L/100km isn't an acceptable figure for the owner of a Honda Civic, Canada's best-selling car. But 13.4 L/100km represents a a massive improvement for the Cadillac Escalade, a vehicle forced to complete a far broader range of tasks, from accelerating faster and carrying more people to towing heavier trailers and hauling heavier loads.

Don't you think even for a minute that Escalade owners are so wealthy that fuel economy doesn't matter. They are so wealthy. But fuel economy does matter.

In the United States, Escalade sales rose 3% to 2,774 units in August 2005, the month in which Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. One month later, with fuel prices rising, Escalade volume tumbled 23%, year-over-year, to 2449 units. Two months later, in October 2005, with fuel shortages front of mind, the Escalade joined its full-size platform partners at General Motors in falling further and faster, sliding 49% to only 1504 units. October 2005 sales of the Lincoln Navigator plunged 53%, the Lexus LX470 slumped 36%, and the Hummer H2 fell 54%.

2016 CADILLAC ESCALADE Base Price: $85,145 * As-Tested Price: $106,190 * Drive Type: four-wheel-drive Transmission: 8-speed automatic Engine: 6.2L OHV 16-valve V8 Horsepower: 420 @ 5600 rpm Torque: 460 lb-ft @ 4100 rpm Curb Weight: 5840 pounds Length: 203.9 inches Width: 80.5 inches Height: 74.4 inches Wheelbase: 116.0 inches Tires: Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Tire Size: 285/45R22 Passenger Volume: 3420 litres Cargo Volume: 430 litres C/V Behind 2nd Row: 1461 litres Max. Cargo Volume: 2667 litres EPA City: 15 MPG EPA Highway: 21 MPG NRCAN OEE City: 16.0 L/100km NRCAN OEE Hwy: 11.2 L/100km Observed: 17.6 mpg Observed: 13.4L/100km * Canadian dollars, includes $2050 in fees.

It's not simply that buyers of expensive SUVs in 2005 lacked the money to pay the higher prices or put up with the same fuel shortages. The image of conspicuous consumption worsened, as well.

Regardless of the reasons, the Escalade of 2005 was rated at just 13 mpg in combined driving, or 18.1 L/100km. The MY2005 Escalade's 6.0L V8 produced 18% less power than the MY2016 Escalade's 6.2L and the decade-old Escalade weighed slightly less, as well. 

Yet a decade after that fuel crisis, our thorough fuel economy test of a more powerful, heavier Escalade resulted in a 26% decrease in fuel consumption. Our results should not turn out to be an anomaly, either. The EPA expects 17 mpg in combined driving. We saw 17.6 mpg. 

That 26% rate of improvement is nothing to sneeze at. The 2016 Toyota Prius, for example, will consume only 10% less fuel than the 2005 Prius. 

The fuel-swilling 2016 Cadillac Escalade doesn't guzzle quite as much gasoline as you thought it would. That's not an insignificant bit of information. But what about the rest of the vehicle? GCBC's review of the 2016 Cadillac Escalade begins now.

WHAT IS IT?
This is the second model year for the fourth-generation Cadillac Escalade. The first-generation was a belated answer to the suddenly successful Lincoln Navigator, a Ford F-150/Ford Expedition-based full-size SUV. In first-gen form, the Escalade was only a thinly veiled GMC Yukon Denali, which like the F-150-based Navigator and Expedition pickup offshoots at Ford MoCo, used a full-size pickup truck platform, as well: GMT400. 

By gen two, the Escalade was more thoroughly differentiated from its stablemates, and GM also built long-wheelbase versions called the Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT, close relations to the Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Avalanche, respectively. 

The third-generation Escalade was by far the most stylistically differentiated yet, but it arrived just in time for an industry-wide meltdown, and following post-Katrina fuel price spikes.

All Photo Credits: Timothy Cain ©www.GoodCarBadCar.net
Click Any Image For A Larger View
Photo Location: Cow Bay, Nova Scotia

Then there's this fourth-generation model, which uses the GM K2XX pickup truck platform shared by the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, and five other full-size SUVs: Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Yukon XL, and Escalade ESV.

Our GM Canada-supplied MY2016 test Escalade is a top-tier example, not the standard Escalade, not an Escalade Luxury, not an Escalade Premium. This is a 2016 Cadillac Escalade Platinum with one option, $1920 power retractable running boards which do their best to attach salt and slush to your pant legs.

HOW BIG IS IT?
Put it this way: the numbers are far larger than the vehicle feels when being piloted on city streets or rural roads. At 203.9 inches from bumper to bumper, the 2016 Escalade is 11 inches longer than the Honda Accord we drove last week, a significant sum to be sure, but not so much as to make the Escalade at all unmanageable. Width is a greater factor, of course, with door-to-door dimensions stretching nearly eight inches farther across than that Accord. Parking downtown? Don't be surprised if the width, not the length, is your more problematic dimension.

In contrast with Cadillac's longer Escalade, the ESV, this regular-wheelbase 'Slade is 20.4 inches shorter from stem to stern. Though the "smaller" Escalade, with a wheelbase of 116 inches and not 130, is thus the more maneuverable SUV, there are obvious sacrifices. Third row legroom is down by 9.7 inches, and cargo volume behind the third row – rather uselessly shaped and totalling only 430 litres in the Escalade – is down 61% compared with the ESV.

Expecting space for a large family? Don't. The regular-wheelbase Escalade is spacious up front, adequate in the second row, snug in the third row, and entirely insufficient for a seven-person road trip's worth of luggage behind the third row. 

The 2016 Cadillac Escalade looks gigantic from the outside. Fortunately, it doesn't feel gigantic to drive. Unfortunately, it's not gigantic inside.

DOES IT WORK?
Even by the standards of Cadillac's most expensive product, this Escalade is an especially pricey, especially sumptuous Escalade. Material quality soars in this high-spec Platinum trim. Scarce is the piece of luxury equipment that's not present in this $106,190 example.

The driver's seat offers three massage settings with three different strengths and adjustable bolstering for your sides and shoulder blades. Centre console storage areas appear with a smooth slide of a wood-slathered cover. The gauge cluster is a technological work of art. Rear seats fold at the press of a button. Running boards glide out to meet you upon approach. Leather and suede are everywhere.

The Escalade's interior is not a masterpiece, however, nor is it always ergonomically sensible. As automakers attempt to differentiate themselves from one another and position their vehicles further upmarket, too many "solutions" are little more than gimmicky inconveniences. Cadillac goes without depressable buttons for much of the Escalade's dashboard. The smooth finish looks cool – at first – but becomes increasingly frustrating and ever more decorated with smudges. Cadillac's CUE infotainment interface is decidedly quick, quicker now than it was, but CUE remains unnecessarily convoluted.

Fortunately, the 2016 Escalade features Apple CarPlay, and just as we heaped praise upon CarPlay in our Accord review last week, here too it is a blessing. Honda's built-in system is not among the best, just like Cadillac's. Masking most CUE issues with Apple sensibility is a gift from Cupertino.

Nevertheless, while Apple CarPlay reduces frustration, the Escalade's greatest feature is found under the hood. The same 6.2L V8 which impressed us a year ago in the GMC Yukon Denali is paired here to GM's 8-speed automatic, not the old 6-speed that's no longer a part of the Yukon Denali portfolio, either. As a result, the Escalade goes from simply quick to  soul-stirringly quick. And rather than feeling hampered by a transmission that didn't want to let the burbly 420-horsepower 6.2L out to play, the 8-speed is a willing partner. No, it's not as intelligent and consistently swift to engage as the 8-speed/EcoDiesel combo in the Ram 1500 we tested last month, but this 8-speed is a smart cookie, and it makes the Escalade adequately efficient.

With this much power, acceleration from rest to highway speed takes less than six seconds. And with this much pace and 5000+ pounds being carted around, an automaker has a responsibility to make a vehicle handle with some level of sprightliness. The Escalade is no Cadillac SRX, let alone a Porsche Macan, let alone a Porsche 911.  It's not a performance SUV, regardless of its accelerative capability. But the Escalade's steering is decently quick and it remains surprisingly level in corners, reacting appropriately to sudden inputs. 

Brake feel is terrific, though braking performance leaves something to be desired. If there is one key dynamic shortfall, it's the magnetic ride control's inability to match the Escalade's surprisingly positive handling with Cadillac-like ride quality. The Escalade, however, is always working to manage the bumps and dips and grooves and holes in the road, busily attempting to create the sensation in your posterior of a serene experience. Sure, it's a wonderfully isolated experience aurally. But Cadillac needs to find a way to match the Escalade's satisfactorily nimble behaviour with a smoother ride, or sacrifice some of the responsiveness.

IS ANYONE BUYING IT?
Escalade popularity in Cadillac's home market is on the rise in 2015, but the big brute hasn't bullied its way back into the hearts of 35,000+ annual U.S. buyers like it consistently did a decade ago. (Those figures don't include the long-wheelbase Escalade ESV.) 

2015 is nevertheless on track to be the highest-volume U.S. sales year for the regular-wheelbase Escalade since 2008.

---

Historic Monthly & Yearly Cadillac Escalade Sales Figures
Historic Monthly & Yearly Cadillac Escalade ESV Sales Figures
2015 GMC Yukon Denali Driven Review
2015 Ford F-150 Platinum EcoBoost SuperCrew 4x4 Driven Review
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel Overland 4x4 Driven Review

---

In Canada, where the market for full-size SUVs is much smaller, Cadillac has already sold far more Escalades in 2015's first 11 months than in any prior calendar year in our records. (The Escalade launched in 1998 – our records begin in 2004, two years prior to the Escalade's U.S. sales peak.) Of the 8242 full-size SUVs sold across six nameplates by GM Canada in 2015's first 11 months, 18% were Escalades; another 5% were Escalade ESVs.

SHOULD I BUY SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD?
If you want a more pleasing driving experience, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (soon to be renamed GLS-Class so it can sound like a Hyundai Elantra trim level) is available with a range of powerplants, but it may look slightly soccer mommy. The Land Rover Range Rover is the next most obvious candidate, particularly if interior appointments are a high priority. But the Range Rover only seats five and pricing starts where the Escalade ends.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY?
If you want your Escalade to look and feel like a genuinely premium Escalade, you'll have to ignore the fact that pricing begins in the $80s and reach instead for the Escalade in Platinum trim. This is where the suede headliner, leather-wrapped instrument panels and console and doors, massaging seats, and seat-mounted DVD players come into play. GM Canada's 2016 Escalade Platinum starts at $104,270. We'd skip the $1920 power-retractable running boards of our Escalade tester, but optional 22" 6-spoke wheels to replace the overly traditional 22" wheels on the pictured Escalade, at $2095, would make a difference. That's a $106,765 Escalade. Which is a lot. But it's a couple grand less costly than the Mercedes-Benz GL550 with driving assistance and towing packages.

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?
Forget the BMW M3-fighting ATS-V. Don't even bother thinking about the Volt-based ELR. The CTS VSport we praised two summers ago? The brand's best-selling model, the SRX?

No, those are not the vehicles which define Cadillac at the end of 2015.

The Escalade is Cadillac. Indeed, the Escalade is the vehicle which most adequately defines Detroit luxury on the whole in the modern era. And with the Star Spangled Banner as the proverbial backdrop, the Escalade succeeds. 

The 2016 Cadillac Escalade projects the exact image Cadillac needs its flagship to project: big, bold, brash, brazen. To completely hit the mark as a full-size SUV, the Escalade's load floor needs lowering, the third row needs expanding, the second row needs greater legroom, and the interior control layout needs to marry the current model's high style quotient with greater functionality.

But even those demerits don't alter the fact that the Escalade is a hugely desirable statement maker, an obviously premium answer to a distinctly European question: can Detroit do luxury?

Yes. Albeit in a strikingly different form than Detroit utilized fifty years ago.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook. The Escalade was supplied by GM Canada's press office.