FEBRUARY 5, 2025

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Cadillac's esteemed marketing team has unveiled its new campaign for the Escalade IQ BEV. First, a little background is in order. GM Marketing purged its established agencies last year - in a painfully misguided move - and the resulting chaos cost a lot of people their jobs around here. Cadillac marketers decided to work with an agency called 72andSunny, and with great fanfare, the agency alighted on something revealed during research, which is, ta-dah, that Cadillac drivers own swimming pools at a higher rate than most people. I kid you not. "There's a lot of pools because everyone wants people to come to their house. They want to celebrate with their friends and family,” said Melissa Grady Dias, Cadillac’s chief marketing officer, as quoted in Automotive News. That insight about Cadillac drivers' social tendencies eventually led to a campaign that debuted this week for the new Escalade IQ, which includes a new tagline, “Let’s Take the Cadillac.” And the following is taken directly from the AN article, because you just can't make this shit up, and in case you're still shaking your head: "The phrase feeds into what the brand and 72andSunny have learned about Cadillac owners: they are inherently social people, who like to share their Caddys, just like they share their pools. The tagline is 'actually a very familiar set of words,' said Carl Mueller, 72andSunny’s executive strategy director, noting the research included interviews with some 100 Cadillac owners. 'When people choose how they want to spend their day and where and how they want to drive to their destination, they said, ‘Let’s take the Cadillac.’ Everyone immediately understands this is going to be a special trip.' The campaign’s first ad shows two couples hopping into an Escalade IQ and driving through a city beneath a full moon. They take a car elevator to a fancy rooftop party. The ad, backed by Benson Boone’s “Nights Like These,” ends with shots of other Cadillac EVs: the Lyriq crossover, which debuted in 2022; as well as the compact Optiq and the three-row Vistiq, which are both hitting dealerships this year. An ad for the Optiq is expected to debut soon, Grady Dias said." My initial take on this: Really? That's all you got? That was worth ditching the ad agency for? The thinking behind this campaign strategy is vacuous, at best. I'm sure the operatives at GM marketing - especially CMO Norm de Greve - are smugly satisfied with the direction of this campaign, because smug seems to be the operative word in their approach to everything, including firing ad agencies. But the campaign can only be described as campaign light, only not filling and with zero taste. And interviewing 100 Cadillac owners somehow constitutes doing your due diligence? I'm sure the people who lost their jobs in the GM marketing "purge" are flat-out furious all over again, as well they should be. What a bunch of unmitigated bullshit. -PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Well, the numbers are in, and the Detroit Auto Show was a certified bust. Public attendance was 275,000, although we think this figure is inflated. That "reported" number is down 65 percent from the heyday of the show, when it saw more than 800,000 people attending in 2016 and just under 775,000 in 2019. I predicted this would happen months ago, because the Detroit Auto Show is no longer a showpiece for the Motor City's dominant industry. Instead, it's nothing more than a regional "retail" auto show, no different than many lesser auto shows across the country. Is this situation reversible? No. The sobering reality is that the highpoint for the Detroit Auto Show was many, many years ago, which was a different time and a different era, never to return. -PMD

(RM Sotheby photos)

You're looking at the most valuable Grand Prix car ever sold, and the second most valuable car of any kind ever sold. In association with Mercedes-Benz Heritage and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the iconic Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Streamliner (Stromlinienwagen) sold for €51,155,000 million in a special one-car auction on Saturday, February 1, in Stuttgart. This car, the first Streamliner-bodied W 196 R ever offered for private ownership, is among the rarest and most beautiful competition cars ever created, standing as one of Mercedes-Benz' greatest accomplishments. The machine is a bona fide competition legend and one of Formula 1's most successful models ever, bar none.

(Mercedes-Benz)

From the "Bring Money" File: Although Mercedes isn't saying just how much money yet. The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E PERFORMANCE 4-Door Coupe is the most powerful production vehicle from Affalterbach, combining "exceptional performance and impressive driving dynamics thanks to its special performance hybrid powertrain," according to Mercedes-AMG PR minions. The combination of a Handcrafted AMG 4.0L V8 biturbo engine and electric motor generates a combined system output of 831HP and a combined system torque of 1,032 lb-ft1. The immediate response of the electric drive at the rear axle, rapid torque build-up and improved weight distribution "make for a new, highly dynamic driving experience," according to the manufacturer. In the AMG GT 63 S E PERFORMANCE, the Handcrafted AMG 4.0L V8 biturbo engine is combined with a permanently excited synchronous electric motor, an AMG high performance battery developed in Affalterbach and AMG Performance 4MATIC+ fully variable all-wheel drive. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph takes 2.8 seconds with a top speed electronically limited to 197 mph. The 201HP electric motor is positioned at the rear axle, where it is integrated with an electrically shifted two-speed gearbox and electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential in a compact electric drive unit (EDU). Experts refer to this layout as a P3 hybrid. The lightweight high-performance battery is also located above the rear axle.

(Cadillac images)

Cadillac is introducing the 2026 Cadillac LYRIQ-V, its first-ever all-electric V-Series vehicle. The LYRIQ-V "delivers signature performance blended with craftsmanship and technology," according to Cadillac PR minions. LYRIQ-V is not merely a sporty drive, according to Cadillac it is "a truly complete luxury vehicle with a multifaceted, iconic character and performance-driven features."

LYRIQ-V features standard dual motor all-wheel drive and Cadillac-estimated 615HP and 650 lb-ft (880 Nm) of torque, delivering a Cadillac-estimated 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds with Velocity Max, a driver-selectable feature that unleashes the vehicle’s full performance capability, making it the quickest Cadillac ever. LYRIQ-V includes a 102 kilowatt-hour battery pack that will enable a Cadillac-estimated 285 miles of range. You also get:

• V-Mode takes performance customization further, allowing drivers to save performance-focused settings, including Competitive Mode and a unique sound experience. It’s intended to offer instant access to their preferred performance-driving settings via the V button, mounted on the steering wheel. V-Mode can also be accessed in the Drive Mode app within the 33-inch-diagonal advanced LED display.
• Unique, multi-layered sound experience. Interior and exterior signature sounds are synchronized for an orchestrated sonic experience.
• Launch Control, designed for consistently thrilling straight line acceleration. When engaged in V-Mode or Velocity Max, the vehicle will deliver a 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds. 
• Competitive Mode enables a suite of traction management features specifically engineered to increase vehicle agility.
• Brembo® performance front brake calipers are standard. Available red calipers are accented with the V-Series logo.
• Standard Super Cruise, the industry’s first truly hands-free driver assistance technology (with three years of OnStar connected service).
• Unique to LYRIQ-V 22-inch wheels, with a dark sport finish and an etched V-Series logo come with a choice of standard summer or available all-season tires.
• LYRIQ-V will launch with a dual-plane Augmented Reality Head Up Display.

The LYRIQ-V's MSRP MSRP10 starts at $79,990, including destination freight charge, but excluding tax, title and dealer fees. Dealer sets final price. It will be sold in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as other global markets to be announced at a later date. Production starts early 2025 at General Motors’ Spring Hill Manufacturing plant in Tennessee. 

 

The AE Song of the Week:


It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by

My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doing things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by

"As Tears Go By" by The Rolling Stones, from the album 'December's Children" (And Everybody's), 1965*. Written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Andrew Loog Oldham.
Publisher: BMG Rights Management. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the video here. 

*This was one of the first songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones manager, Andrew Oldham, gave it to a singer he also managed named Marianne Faithfull, who released it in 1964. It was going to be the B-side of her first single, but the record company decided to make it the A-side and it became her first hit. The Stones recorded it a year later. Faithfull became Mick Jagger's girlfriend in 1966. Their tumultuous relationship ended three years later. In that time, she helped write "Sister Morphine" and gave Jagger the book that inspired "Sympathy For The Devil." In a 1992 interview with Guitar Player magazine, Keith Richards said: "suddenly, 'Oh, we're songwriters,' with the most totally anti-Stones sort of song you could think of at the time, while we're trying to make a good version of (Muddy Waters') 'Still A Fool.' When you start writing, it doesn't matter where the first one comes from. You've got to start somewhere, right? So, Andrew locked Mick and myself into a kitchen in this horrible little apartment we had. He said, 'You ain't comin' out,' and there was no way out. We were in the kitchen with some food and a couple of guitars, but we couldn't get to the john, so we had to come out with a song. In his own little way, that's where Andrew made his great contribution to the Stones.  Mick Jagger (1995): "I wrote the lyrics, and Keith wrote the melody. It's a very melancholy song for a 21-year-old to write: The evening of the day, watching children play - it's very dumb and naive, but it's got a very sad sort of thing about it, almost like an older person might write. You know, it's like a metaphor for being old: You're watching children playing and realizing you're not a child. It's a relatively mature song considering the rest of the output at the time. And we didn't think of doing it, because the Rolling Stones were a butch Blues group. But Marianne Faithfull's version was already a big, proven hit song... It was one of the first things I ever wrote." When Mick and Keith wrote this, The Stones were still playing mostly Blues covers at their shows. This did not fit their raucous image, but it established The Stones as a band that could pull off the occasional ballad. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com) Marianne Faithfull died on January 30, 2025, at the age of 78.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG