From 'No Way,' to Global Success: The Journey of GM's Design Chief | Hacker News Reader

From 'No Way,' to Global Success: The Journey of GM's Design Chief

npr.org

I like Cadillac's "Art and Science" design language (Ed had a hand in it, before he was Design Chief). The bold lines and angles are/were like nothing else and are what saved the brand.

https://www.fastcodesign.com/1672830/how-cadillac-designed-a...

Can definitely agree with you the design language had a tremendous impact on the success of Cadillac. In a crowded market it was so distinct and yet drawing from heritage. On the other hand, I do think the brand survived, practically speaking, due to nice margins on Cadillac SUVs. Particularly the Escalade. I certainly don't want that to take away from the achievements of the brand elsewhere though (particularly racing)...just that money talks.

I would bet that there was and remains a halo effect for the SUVs from the design and brand of the sedans (and obviously they share a good bit of the design language). To pick a related example, I suspect Porsche sells a few more Cayennes than would Nissan selling an otherwise identical vehicle.

While I really dig the exterior design of the newer Cadillac's, the interior dimension and design are absolutely terrible. This is evidenced by the fact that Cadillac is, by far, GM's poorest performing brand.

The interiors are monuments to claustrophobic design and wasted space. I'm not tall and my head almost touches the ceiling of their latest models.

What's your criteria for worst performing? Cadillac had the highest average transaction price of any brand in 2015 and while their sales aren't huge, they're immensely profitable.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/04/cadillac-contributed-rou...

I wish that article touched on the XLR. They mentioned the Evoq concept a dozen times, but not the XLR, which was basically a production Evoq.

It looked great, but they were trying to shake off the Cadillac is for old people stigma, then built a Corvette for old people.

Credit should be given to Howard U for creating a design program for Ed. HBCUs have played a critical role in the education of African-Americans. Shout out to Morehouse!

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