AUGUST 17, 2016

(Cadillac)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: Cadillac, the General Motors luxury division, unveiled yet another concept at Pebble Beach Thursday night (8/18). After unveiling the Ciel roadster (2011) and the Elmiraj coupe (2013) concepts in previous years, Cadillac operatives unveiled the Escala Concept, calling it "the next evolution of Cadillac design and previewing the craftsmanship and technology being developed for many future models." The difference with the Escala concept, according to Cadillac - or as I like to call it, the Cadillac A9 - is that it's on a stretched CT6 platform and it's supposed to be production intent. We'll see. “Escala is a concept with two clear objectives,” said Johan de Nysschen, president of Global Cadillac, in a quote. “First, Escala is a statement of intent for the next iteration of the Cadillac design language, and also technical concepts in development for future Cadillac models. Secondly, Escala builds Cadillac’s aspirational character, signaling the brand’s return to the pinnacle of premium.” Pinnacle of premium? Huh. That's a stretch by well, any stretch of the imagination. “Escala is a concept car, but one based upon the unrelenting rise of our product substance,” de Nysschen added. “Depending on the development of market segment for large luxury sedans, Escala is a potential addition to our existing product plan.” There are no ifs, ands or buts here, folks, they're going to build this car as part of de Nysschen's relentless push to remake GM's luxury division in the spitting image of Audi. And it's aimed right at China, which is where Cadillac operatives go to feel better about themselves. Escala — Spanish for “scale” in case you were wondering, not a new Cadillac restaurant in SoHo — "is designed to be both a driver’s car and an indulgent flagship sedan." (Spanish for "scale"? No, it's the first six letters of ESCALAde. Can't wait for the Cadillac DE, which is cadillac's "pinnacle of premium" way to say, "DUH" -WG) At 210.5 inches in overall length, Escala is roughly 6 inches longer than today’s CT6. The Escala will of course be displayed this weekend for the swells at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Let's just say I will have plenty more to say about this. -PMD (I feel another Rant about Cadillac coming from Peter. Watch for it this week. -WG)

(Cadillac)
“This concept shares how Cadillac will bring forward a new experience that is uniquely American, and unmistakably Cadillac,” says Andrew Smith, executive director of Cadillac Global Design, in a canned quote massaged by GM's PR minions. “Escala is an expressive symbol of reward and an exhilarating driving experience. On the interior, we pushed further. It’s about precision and ingenuity in craftsmanship, and the artistic integration of technology.” Cadillac says that Escala features a “dual personality” interior crafted with distinctly different zones: The front is about intensely focused modern technology, while the rear delivers relaxation (aka riding around in China). “My brief to the designers was to create a car you desperately want to drive, and also one in which you want to be driven,” Smith said (aka it has to work for riding around in China). “So rather than a single design, this interior consists of two themes. It was an opportunity for our designers to break the rules a little bit, exactly what Cadillac should do from time to time.” Sure, whatever. It's also filled with curved OLED screens up the wazoo, because well, you can't get enough of that, apparently.

(Cadillac)
The Escala Concept utilizes a stretched version of Cadillac’s new RWD-centric large luxury car architecture. The mixed-material construction "enables unprecedented agility and efficiency," says Cadillac. That last quote was brought to you by the PR minions at Cadillac, but you can substitute any manufacturer you like, because they've all basically said the same thing every time they've introduced a new car.
(Cadillac)
The Escala uses a new 4.2-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine, a prototype of a new system in development for future Cadillac models. The advanced engine utilizes Active Fuel Management technology, enabling fuel-saving 4-cylinder operation. Editor-In-Chief's Note: Oh by the way, this engine is the basis for the new Cadillac engine that will debut in a DPi class car in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year. Why is Cadillac racing in an American sports car series when its future lies in providing backseat room in China? I'll comment on that in next week's "Fumes." -PMD

(Mercedes-Benz)
This is the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, which Mercedes-Benz unveiled in Pebble Beach and is calling "a exclusive, sensational luxury-class coupe." Mercedes-Benz says that the 2+2-seater pays homage to the glorious age of the aero coupes and consciously carries this tradition forward into the future. The coupe reinterprets classic, emotional design principles in an extreme way, following the Mercedes design philosophy of sensual purity." Editor-In-Chief's Note: Funny, no mention of the importance of rear seat room here. -PMD
(Mercedes-Benz)
The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 is a stunning 18.5-feet (nearly six meters) in length, and is designed as an all-electric car. The drive system has an output of 738HP (SAE), (550 kW or 750HP in Europe). The shallow underfloor battery allows a range of over 200 miles according to EPA (over 500 kilometers according to the NEDC.)

(Mercedes-Benz)
This is what Mercedes-Benz is saying about the concept: "With its sensual, emotional design (hot) and intelligent details (cool), the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 represents the ultimate in luxury. The classic aesthetic proportions of the show car - an extremely long hood, low roof line and rearward positioning of the greenhouse - recall the aero coupes of days gone by. But this is not retro design - this is a reinterpretation of classic, aesthetic principles." This is what we say: It's frickin' cool.
(Mercedes-Benz)
Now this is a show car interior, folks.
(Mercedes-Benz)
"Our sensational coupe, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, represents the ultimate in contemporary luxury. It is hot and cool," states Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Daimler AG. "With its intelligent appeal and reduced, technoid look, it perfectly embodies our design philosophy of sensual purity and our pursuit of aerodynamic efficiency."

(BMW images)

Showing up empty-handed at Pebble Beach is anathema to these manufacturers, so the BMW Group did yet another rehash of one of its competition cars from the past, the BMW 2002 Hommage. The company did so in order "to shine the spotlight back over its successful history with turbocharged engines." In 1973 the BMW 2002 turbo became the first series-produced vehicle in Europe to feature turbo technology (about ten years after the Chevrolet Corvair, in case you were wondering). This is what BMW said: “The BMW 2002 Hommage celebrates the extraordinary feats of engineering on which BMW turbo technology is based and re-interprets them in the form of a design study,” says Karim Habib, Head of Design BMW Automobiles. “With its iconic orange/black paintwork, the car has a color scheme and livery synonymous in the minds of many motor sport fans with the triumphs of the 1970s.” This is what he meant to say: "We were so fresh out of ideas and so tired of doing 'i' electric vehicles that we decided to blow off a little steam."

(Ford)
Four More Years. Ford Performance is adding two more years of production for its all-new carbon fiber GT supercar. Year three of production will support applicants who were placed on the wait list; previously deferred applicants and those who missed the initial application window will be served by production year four. The application process for fourth-year production will reopen in early 2018. Those who already applied to own the car will only need to update their request. The additional production supports the recent decision by Ford Performance to race the Ford GT in both IMSA and World Endurance Championship (WEC) series events for four years. “Ford GT has racing in its blood,” says Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, product development, and chief technical officer. “The road car and race car will live on, side-by-side, for the next four years – providing ample opportunity to test and prove innovative new technologies both on and off the track.”

(Honda images)
The Honda 2017 Civic Hatchback will be arriving here in the fall. Built on the same platform as the 10th-generation Civic Sedan and Coupe, the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback will be available in LX, Sport, EX, EX-L, and Sport Touring trims, and will feature a single engine for the U.S. market: a 1.5-liter DOHC direct-injected turbocharged in-line 4-cylinder with peak output of 174 horsepower and 162 lb.-ft. of torque in LX, EX and EX-L trims, and 180 horsepower and 162 lb.-ft. of torque in the Sport and an all-new Sport Touring grade, which feature a high-flow center-mounted exhaust. The turbo engine will be offered with either a CVT (all trims) or a 6-speed manual gearbox (LX, Sport, and EX trims). The Civic Hatchback's all-new Sport Touring model will have Honda Sensing™, Apple CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ and LED headlights as standard equipment, while adding heated rear seats and other features. The 2017 Civic Hatchback was developed jointly by Honda R&D teams in Europe and Japan, and will be manufactured exclusively by Honda of the UK Manufacturing in its Swindon, UK plant. 

(McLaren Automotive North America)
The McLaren 570GT by MSO Concept "further accentuates the McLaren interpretation of a GT car," according to the exotic car manufacturer. When it becomes a production car - which it will - it will go real fast and cost a lot of money. That is all.

Editor's Note: Occasionally we reprint particularly interesting emails in "On The Table," especially if Peter has attached a comment. I'm sure you'll find this exchange interesting. -WG

Clueless in SoHo.

I can think of 63,845 reasons not to buy the new XT5. And I'm a former Cadillac driver. So you get ONE standard no-cost exterior color, and the entry level model has ONE pleather interior color option? Seriously? Cadillac should follow the Lexus playbook, offer fabulous value and slowly raise prices as you become increasingly successful. They just don't seem to get it. Do they?

MJZ
Royal Oak, Michigan

Editor-In-Chief's Note: Actually, no, the Cadillac brain trust doesn't get it and apparently will never get it. Cadillacs have been overpriced for years - the hot Escalade SUV is an entirely different story - and this situation was supposed to be rectified upon John de Nysschen's arrival from Audi by way of Infiniti. The "old" way of doing things at Cadillac was to price its cars, which are admittedly excellent for the most part, right on the nose with BMW. The problem with that strategy is that, except for the "V" cars, the perception "out there" by real world consumers is that Cadillac, as good as the new models are, just isn't worth that kind of money. So, what ends up happening? Cadillac cars are heavily discounted with customer cash and dealer incentives at the retail level, which, surprisingly enough, takes the actual transaction prices down closer to where the cars should have been priced to begin with. How difficult is this to understand? When the first large Lexus sedan arrived here, Toyota executives made the conscious decision to price the car as much as $15,000 less than a comparable BMW or Mercedes, even though it was confirmed later that they were actually losing as much as $15,000 per car by doing so. This is called "taking the long view," which is absolutely anathema in the car business as it is practiced here. Toyota operatives understood that they had to earn their way into the luxury big leagues, and it wasn't going to happen overnight. And look where they are today. So what does the "new" Cadillac pricing model look like? Well, let's see, it's not uncommon to see the new CT6, which arguably is the best Cadillac sedan ever built, sitting on dealer lots with MSRP's hovering around $80,000. Can you get CT6 models that cost less and that are still decent? Sure, but once you get into the "premium" option groups the CT6 gets very pricey. What's wrong with this picture? It doesn't really matter how good the new CT6 is if the perception out there in ConsumerVille is that it's not as good as a Lexus, Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz. The reality for Cadillac and its new show horse - the CT6 - is that consumers should be able to get a loaded one, all in, for no more than $65,000.00. And that just isn't possible. Cadillac operatives blew the whole pricing cadence of the CT6, and now they have the division right back to where it has been operating for the last ten years. And it's truly pathetic. But that's not the end of the story, oh no. This fall a new car will make its debut in the luxury arena in this country and it will be much more dangerous to the CT6 than any of the aforementioned luxury competitors. I predict the Genesis G90 (Hyundai's new luxury division) is going to be priced correctly - meaning it will be geared to hammer the luxury + value equation home for consumers - and it is going to take it to the CT6 with devastating effect. I truly expected more from the Cadillac brain trust, but the pricing mistake with the CT6 suggests to me that it's the same as it ever was. -PMD

Editor's Note: From the Cadillac XT5 to the VW Beetle Dune. What a difference a week makes. I can't say I was at all excited when Peter said we were getting the Dune, although I've always had a soft spot for the Beetle - the original Beetle. And I spent many an afternoon way back when, checking out Karmann Ghias in all of their Bondo-ed splendor, when I was just starting out and searching for a funky but cheap ride. I thought it was cool when VW brought out the New Beetle, but somehow I was never drawn in, I could make the connection intellectually but not emotionally. So, the Beetle - and pretty much all of VW - dropped off my radar screen. And I figured the Dune would just be some special-edition Beetle that I would quickly forget about. Wow, was I in for a surprise! This is what the VW website has to say about the Dune: "The Beetle Dune brings a new edge to a classic desert icon. We’ve taken the spirit of the classic dune buggies that roamed the beach and Baja and transplanted it into a new, more aggressive design. It’s a rebel on four wheels" That last line is a bit of a stretch (those ad people!), but I will say that the Dune is fun, fun, fun. Unexpectedly so. Now granted, this is not a Costco car or family car or a road trip car (well, it could be if you like being alone or you really like your travel partner). But there's a lot to love about the Dune. The turbo has some kick to it, making it quick and fun around town. I loved the interior, with its extensive body color details, as well as the yellow piping and stitching throughout - a Dune-exclusive feature. The controls are a no-brainer - no need to get out the manual and try to figure out your problem, made more complex by some convoluted table of contents. I love that there are just two optional packages and a handful of individual options. Our car came equipped with the optional Dune Technology Package and that was it! No laundry list of stuff I don't really need (heated seats standard - check). And at just under $27k, it's a lot more interesting than most of the 'regular' cars in that price range. There's a passage in the 1998 VW catalog (yes, I still have it!) for the New Beetle that goes like this: "Originality. Honesty. A point of view. It's an exhaustive and zealous rejection of banality. Isn't the world ready for that kind of car once again?" I would say, emphatically, yes! We are awash in a sea of automotive banality, which is why despite the overwrought, over-commercialized, over-branded nature of this week in Detroit with the Woodward Dream Cruise, it is still important to get out there and imagine what it must have been like when the highways and byways weren't a sea of sameness, when it was coral and turquoise and tail fins and chrome and ornamentation and personality. Okay, a bit of a digression, but the thing is, in a weird way, the Beetle Dune taps into this longing for personality, for a point of view. It's simple, it's cool and it's fun. It strips down the automotive experience to the act of driving - and actually makes you engage in a way that feels fresh and new. That's why, this week, during the dog days of summer with auto passion in high gear here in the Motor City, the Beetle Dune was just what I needed to drive. -WG Editor-In-Chief's Note: No, I wasn't excited about the Dune Beetle either. Given VW's problems of late, it's hard for me to get excited about VW, frankly. I do love the Golf GTI and the Golf R, two of my favorite rip-around cars, but there's no question that VW management's calculated gaming of the system in order to get their diesel engines to pass emissions testing is pretty much unforgivable, and VW's image and stature has taken a huge hit because of it. And deservedly so. Fortunately, the Dune, even though it's a last-gasp "special edition" on a model that's fading away, made me forget about that, at least for a while. As special editions go, the Dune is nicely executed and well thought out. The color, the detailing, the exterior and interior tweaks, it all comes together nicely in the Dune, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with those dune buggies of yore. As WordGirl said, the Dune definitely has a personality and a point of view, which is refreshing in today's automotive world. And it's at a price point that's easy to accept. No, it's not a performance machine by any means, but while negotiating the urban slog it's capable of adding a little ray of sunshine to the proceedings. -PMD

2016 VW Beetle 1.8T: $26,760 (as reviewed). $23,995 Base Price; Sandstorm Yellow Metallic, $250; Dune Gray and Black Interior with Yellow piping; 1.8-liter TSI DOHC, 16-valve, Direct Injected, Turbocharged 4-cylinder with 170HP and 184 lbs-ft of torque; Front-wheel-drive; Six-speed automatic transmission; Four-wheel independent suspension; 18" alloy wheels with all-season tires; Automatic headlights with daytime running lamps; Heated, fold-able, power adjustable side mirrors; Front wipers with heated washer nozzles; Climactic manual climate control; Leather-wrapped, multi-function steering wheel; Leather-wrapped parking brake lever and shift knob; Tilting and telescoping adjustable steering column; Manual - and heated - front sport seats with adjustable lumbar support; Split-folding rear seats with headrests; Ambient interior lighting; Carpeted floor mates, front and rear; Rear view camera; Park distance control (Park Pilot) front and rear; 6.3" touchscreen, AM/FM/HD radio with CD player, USB and AUX in; Eight speaker sound system; VW CAR-NET APP-CONNECT smartphone integration and interface; Bluetooth mobile phone connectivity; SIRIUS Satellite radio with limited time subscription; Cruise control; Multi-function display with trip computer; Auto-dimming interior rear view mirror; Exclusive Beetle Dune features including raised suspension, contrast stitching on steering wheel, shift boot and brake lever, Dune Exclusive cloth and leatherette seating surfaces with yellow piping and stitching, Dune Exclusive bumpers and air intakes, large rear spoiler, black exterior cladding and LED taillights; Dune Technology Package - Power sunroof, Climatron Automatic Climate Control, Keyless access system with push-button start, Fender Premium Audio with sub-woofer - $1,895; Destination charge, $820.

Adherence to Brand Image: As I said above, I haven't really given VW more than a passing thought in years. There was just no compelling reason to do so, which made my days with the Beetle Dune both happy and sad. Happy because the Dune is a simple, fun car that hits all the right notes, but sad because it tells me that VW is capable of so much more than they're delivering. -WG. Editor-In-Chief's Note: The Dune has nothing to do with VW's brand image but then again, since VW's brand image is in tatters, I don't know if it matters all that much. The fact that the Beetle even exists in the VW portfolio doesn't really make any sense, which is why it's being put out to pasture. That doesn't mean VW should walk away from doing these kinds of alternative cars, which is why I'm hoping that the BUDD-e all-electric people mover is a grand slam home run for VW. The company is going to need that kind of product hit and the buzz that comes with it if it's going to survive in this market. -PMD