Readers Report
The Future of Cadillac
Seeing one of America's bedrock icons, a Cadillac tail fin, on your recent cover was refreshing ("Can GM save an icon?" Cover Story, Apr. 8). General Motors Corp. is a world away from where it was four decades ago, when it was the most successful global brand. If you were to ask most GM officials, engineers, or even car designers whether Harley Earl was an engineer, 9 out of 10 would argue he was certainly not. They usually say: "Earl was that stylist." That's a big part of the problem. Earl was highly talented in many areas. He graduated from Stanford with an engineering degree, and his first title at Cadillac was consulting engineer. He was part artist, part engineer, and much more. He never got pigeonholed like most auto executives today.
Richard Earl
Royal Oak, Mich.
Editor's note: The writer is the grandson of the legendary GM designer.
For men of my generation, Cadillac ownership was a dream and a goal--the epitome of success! Young men like me would stand at the showroom windows admiring the new Cadillacs, knowing that when the right time arrived, we would have one.
That time arrived when I was about to turn 50 and at the peak of my career. I indulged myself in a new 1977 Cadillac. That car proved to be the worst piece of junk among the 45 automobiles that I have owned in my lifetime. The experience helped to make me a cynical old man. Cadillac may someday make a better product, but they can never restore a young man's dreams. Cadillac--you're too late!
Clark McClain
Tucson
I have driven foreign luxury cars. I have driven domestic luxury cars. My 2001 Cadillac is simply the best car I have ever driven, period.
Herbert B. Knight
St. Charles, Ill.
Two years ago, I bought a Cadillac DeVille DTS. I didn't buy a BMW because I wanted to be different. Objectively, my car is a great machine: well-engineered, fast, and comfortable. I love it. But everyone thinks I'm nuts. Sorry GM: I couldn't start a trend among thirtysomethings.
David S. Weiss
St. Louis
If Cadillac hopes to succeed, it must go head-to-head with Mercedes S-Class, Audi, and the BMW 5 and 7 series. The new Caddy will need to outperform the German cars in terms of power and handling; it will need to be more comfortable with major innovations in cabin technology; and it will need to last longer and require less maintenance than any Japanese car. I don't think Detroit has the culture, the brains, or the management discipline to do this.
Luis Bernhardt
Burnaby, B.C.
Can GM save an icon? Yes! GM needs to build a $150,000 sedan that is a truly stylish automobile of the highest quality--an icon. It should be available as a convertible so that its luxury can be flaunted. They may only sell 1,000 of them, but it will reestablish the [Cadillac] brand as the best car you can buy.
Bradley Leland
Newton, Mass.
Why do Americans feel the need to define themselves by way of European/Pacific Rim vehicles? Without postwar U.S. taxpayer dollars in the form of the Marshall Plan and intervention by U.S. auto manufacturers, there would be no foreign cars. Buy American.
Anna McManus
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Been in any Cadillac dealerships lately? They remain stuck in the past and lack the polish, professionalism, and amenities found in Lexus or Mercedes-Benz showrooms. Sorry, but I shall continue my relationship with Lexus. They got it right--right from the start.
Michael Kersey
Corona, Calif.
I think dealer attitude, not design, drove sales down--although I was never fond of the tail fins.
Phillipp J. Quedens
Berlin, Conn.
Cadillac [should] consider manufacturing the Seville or its successor with a right-hand drive and really go after the market in Japan--where, of course, they drive on the left side of the road. I have visited many countries where they drive on the left: Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa--all countries where GM competition is very much in evidence but where GM has missed its market.
George A. Parker
Bohemia, N.Y.
One side effect of the government's CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] laws and gas-guzzler taxes has been the destruction of the American luxury-car brands. A Cadillac is either the biggest, most powerful, and most exuberantly styled car on the road--or it is nothing. Under current laws, big, powerful vehicles must be "trucks," not "cars." As a 53-year-old owner of 10 cars (including two Lexuses, a BMW, a Mercedes, and an Audi), I would buy a "true" Cadillac sedan if they built one. I still have fond memories of a 1966 Fleetwood 60 Special sedan I had in the '70s.
Louis R. Woodhill
Houston
Why would Cadillac build a bold, razor-edge-styled car--the new CTS--and then ruin it by dropping in the British-built Vauxhall 3.2-liter motor (based on high warranty claims for the 3-liter Catera)? Americans may not be familiar with the Vauxhall product, but Canadians are, and they are a quality nightmare. Until Cadillac gets a North American-built engine in this car, it will be just another Catera, or should I say a Vauxhall Omega Elite.
R. Glenn Reid
Oshawa, Ont.
During the period of Britain's "quiet war" with Germany in late 1939 and early 1940, prior to the onslaught of the blitz later that year, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PLC, producer of the Merlin In-Line aircraft engines used in the Spitfire, was stymied, searching for a ball bearing which would hold up in high-altitude conditions. The people who quickly solved this problem were engineers at GM's Cadillac Motor Car Div. It is interesting to learn that rival BMW, maker of Messerschmitt fighter engines during World War II, is now using Cadillac transmissions.
Robert R. Hannan
Honolulu
I'm old enough to remember when the Packard was top of the line among American cars, back in the 1920s and '30s--ahead of Cadillac. To boost sagging sales, they downsized the popular Packard 120 and came out with a stripped-down version, so anybody could afford a Packard. It had a Packard label, but that's where the similarity ended. Cadillac did the same thing with the Cimarron, in reality a Chevy with a Cadillac crest. It didn't take long for Packard Motor Car to fall by the wayside. Like it or not, there is a certain amount of snob appeal in spending a lot of money for a car.
Edward Hacker
Rocky River, Ohio
Another Look at Variable Life Insurance
"Variable life insurance variables" (BW Investor, Apr. 8) addresses a worst-case situation and ignores the benefits of these products. Investing a policy's value in equities gives you the chance to enhance your death-benefit protection and accumulate a tax-advantaged nest egg. You're much less likely to achieve these goals if--like the Wisconsin couple in your article--you let short-term volatility alter your strategy.
But never buy an equity-based product without [evaluating] your tolerance for risk. First, consider the suitability of the policy's investment options for your goals as well as the capabilities of the money managers. Not all variable life policies are created equal.
Robert A. Kerzner
Executive Vice-President
Hartford Life Insurance Cos.
Simsbury, Conn.
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Copyright 2002 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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