Yeah, but nobody knew that back in 1990. Remember that this is what most people associated w/ Toyota back in 1990:
What they knew was the Lexus was selling a car that was an S-Class competitor at an MSRP that was around the price of a 190E.
I actually think most people getting a BMW only care that it’s a BMW, regardless of actual sticker price. Same thing w/ a Mercedes.
IMHO, a $55k starting price for a Cadillac will be so off-putting that people won’t even bother to run the numbers. I think it needs to keep the $37k starting price AND have strong lease incentives.
Well that… and the fact that the head of interior design was poached from Bentley.
I think where Cadillac is falling down is that it has been trying to compete w/ the Germans in terms of driving dynamics, at the cost of everything else. I think the success of Lexus indicates that the US buying public doesn’t give a sh*t about driving dynamics. They don’t mind Buick driving dynamics and quietness, but they want it in a fully modern package (in terms of design) w/ a very high level of perceived quality (I saw “perceived” b/c most luxury car buyers are presumably leasing, and they don’t care about long-term reliability as long as the interior has french-stitched faux leather and digital screens as far as the eye can see).
All JMHO.