About Cadillac

Cadillac is a brand of luxury vehicles owned by General Motors. The majority of their vehicles are produced and sold in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the name became a synonym for "high quality", used in such phrases as "the Cadillac of watches," referring to a Rolex. In English usage outside North America, other brands are used in such phrases - usually Rolls-Royce.

Cadillac's current slogan is "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit," in reference to the inalienable rights mentioned in the United States Declaration of Independence.

General Motors

Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors conglomerate in 1909.

Cadillac became General Motors' prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. The Cadillac line was also GM's default marque for "commercial chassis" institutional vehicles, such as limousines, ambulances, hearses, and funeral home flower cars. The latter three of which were custom built by aftermarket manufacturers: Cadillac does not produce any such vehicles in factory.

Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars, aimed at an upper class market, below that of such ultra-exclusive marques such as Pierce-Arrow and Duesenberg. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with 12- and 16-cylinder engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom coach-built bodies; these engines were remarkable at the time for their ability to deliver a combination of high power, silky smoothness and quietness.

The Art and Science Era

Somewhat surprisingly for a model with such a strong design heritage, Cadillac has recently resisted the temptation to produce any "retro" models such as the revived Ford Thunderbird or the VW New Beetle, and has instead pressed ahead with a new design philosophy for the 21st century called "art and science" which it says "incorporates sharp, shear forms and crisp edges — a form vocabulary that expresses bold, high-technology design and invokes the technology used to design it."

Hybrids

Currently Cadillac offers no hybrid passenger cars. However, Bob Lutz was quoted in July 2007 as saying that "nearly every Cadillac product could feature a hybrid variant as early as the next two years." A hybrid version of the Escalade is scheduled to go on sale in the summer of 2008.

Current models

• 2006-present Cadillac XLR V-Series
• 2006-present Cadillac STS V-Series
• 2004-present Cadillac CTS V-Series
• 2006-present Cadillac BLS (Europe, Middle East, Mexico, and South Africa only)
• 2003-present Cadillac CTS
• 2006-present Cadillac DTS
• 1999-present Cadillac Escalade full-sized SUV
• 2003-present Cadillac Escalade ESV over-sized SUV
• 2002-present Cadillac Escalade EXT pickup truck
• 2004-present Cadillac SRX
• 2005-present Cadillac STS
• 2004-present Cadillac XLR

Concepts, Prototypes

• Cadillac V-16 Aero coupe — 1933
• Cadillac Caribbean, Coupe de Ville, El Rancho, Embassy — 1949
• Cadillac Debutante — 1950
• Cadillac custom roadster for Bill Boyer — 1951-52
• Cadillac Eldorado and Townsman — 1952
• Cadillac Le Mans and Orleans — 1953
• Cadillac El Camino, La Espada, Park Avenue — 1954
• Cadillac Celebrity, Eldorado Brougham, La Salle II, Eldorado St. Moritz, Westchester — 1955
• Cadillac Castilian, Gala, Maharani, Palomino, Eldorado Brougham and Eldorado Brougham Town Car — 1956
• Cadillac Director — 1957
• Cadillac "Rain Car" and 4-door Eldorado Seville — 1958
• Cadillac Cyclone — 1959
• Cadillac 4-door phaeton — 1960
• Cadillac Florentine — 1964
• Cadillac CART-PPG — 1985
• Cadillac Voyage — 1988
• Cadillac Solitaire — 1989
• Cadillac Aurora — 1990
• Cadillac Evoq — 1999
• Cadillac Vizon — 2000
• Cadillac Imaj — 2001
• Cadillac Cien — 2002
• Cadillac Sixteen — 2003