Cadillac Busts A Fuel-Saving Move, Will Go Four-Cylinder
August 28, 2008
By Bill Visnic
Signaling fuel-economy concerns are making an impact in the luxury market, General Motors
Corp.'s Cadillac division let it be known last week - in the midst of the snobby Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance, no less - that Cadillac will be using four-cylinder power for its upcoming new entry-level model.
The use of four-cylinder engines is something of a line in the sand in the luxury market, an option consumers in the past have embraced with mixed results. And believing four-cylinder engines imply a frugality and dearth of "power" inconsistent with the nature of the beast, many luxury marques - in recent years of low U.S. fuel prices, at least - have steadfastly refused to cross the line into small-engine territory.
Excluding its very early days, Cadillac dabbled with 1.8- and 2-liter four-cylinder power with the famously awful Cimarron (1982-88), but today's four-cylinders are vastly more powerful and refined than anything available during the Cimarron vintage. So in light of nasty-high fuel prices and evolving buyer sentiment about the environmental correctness of small engines, Cadillac must feel more confidant about the climate for revisiting four-cylinder power with its planned 2010 rear-drive sedan.
The new model will sit below the division's current entry point, the CTS, and roll on GM's coming new global rear-drive architecture - a detail that also may aid credibility, as Cadillac's current European entry car, the BLS, employs front-wheel-drive (not to mention four-cylinder engines exclusively) and has flopped in the showroom.
If U.S. customers display willingness - or at least acceptance - of four-cylinder power, European luxury brands might have a leg up, however.
For every Europe-based luxury marque, small engines are the mainstay of home-market sales, with four-cylinder engines - particularly diesels - common even in midsize cars and SUVs. If these players decide to shift their U.S. engine mix toward four-cylinder engines, gasoline or diesel, it presumably will be much easier to quickly make that adjustment.
Audi of America Inc., which long has offered four-cylinder gasoline engines with the high power densities that can satisfy American customers, seems to be one automaker well-placed to address U.S. engine-downsizing trends. Audi product and technology spokesman Christian Bokich tells AutoObserver the four-cylinder sales mix for the three model lines (A3, A4, TT) in which Audi's 2-liter engine is available is running at a robust 80 percent.
Although Cadillac sees the wisdom of having a four-cylinder model, Audi's German competition will have to re-examine its priorities. BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz - both burned in the past by ridiculed four-cylinder U.S. models - currently offer no four-cylinder engines for any U.S. model.
Even for its C-Class, which in the previous generation offered four-cylinder power, Mercedes has gone to V6s across the board. And after the bad experience of the 318 sedan and hatchback, BMW vowed to banish four-cylinders from its U.S. lineup - an edict the company has yet to reverse despite the $4-per-gallon premium unleaded its magnificent inline six-cylinder engines demand. BMW's loophole has been to offer exclusive four-cylinder power for its successful Mini brand.
Europe's Saab Cars and Volvo Cars, owned by GM and Ford, respectively, have stayed close to their utilitarian roots and offer severafour-cylinder models. As with most luxury brands expecting to make four-cylinder powerplants a viable play, turbochargers inject most Volvo and Saab four-cylinder powerplants with both the added power and technical chops the segment demands.
The Japanese automakers with luxury divisions effectively mirror Europe: Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s Infiniti provide no four-cylinder models for the U.S. Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Acura unit, to now the slow-selling contrarian of the trio, offers a 2.4-liter four-cylinder for its TSX entry-level sedan and a turbocharged variant for the RDX crossover. Like Audi, Acura's insistence on maintaining ties to the small-engine market may now pay dividends if luxury-car consumer preference markedly slants towards efficiency concerns. Acura also has said it will introduce a four-cylinder diesel for its lineup next year.
A rundown of who does and doesn't have a four-cylinder play in the U.S. luxury market:
• Japan
Acura: TSX, RDX
Infiniti: none
Lexus: none
• Europe
Audi: A3, A4, TT
BMW: none (except Mini)
Jaguar: none
Mercedes none
Porsche: none
Saab: 9-3, 9-5
Volvo S40, V50, C30
• U.S.
GM-Cadillac: none
GM-Buick: none
Ford-Lincoln: none
Ford-Mercury: Milan, Mariner
Photo by GM
Cadillac BLS in Europe uses four-cylinder power exclusively, but also is front-wheel-drive.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 9:37 AM under Analysis , Featured , GM , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
re: Cadillac going 4 cylinder.
It's ostensibly a logical move, but in the scheme of things at GM, it really doesn't make that much sense.
Conventional wisdom is that Cadillac needs a new flagship STS/DTS sedan, so that should be a priority for the long-term positioning of that brand. If GM wants to sell 4 cylinder luxury cars, it has the err...luxury of owning SAAB and can therefore develop and sell an excellent product under that brand name.
While other luxury brands like BMW and Lexus may have to suffer over making the decision to "stoop" to the level of making 4-cylinder cars, GM shouldn't have that dilemma. They can make their 4 cylinder luxury car and sell it without "contaminating" the Cadillac brand with such an offering.
Posted by: thriftytechie | August 28, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Wake up and smell the coffee. The days of V-8s are numbered. Cadillac has done a great job changing its image, but, if it is going to survive and thrive, it needs to educate and validate its customers. As baby boomers pass away, new generations—lacking a memory of the winged excesses of the Eisenhower era—are quite open to the idea of 4-cylinder engines. A veritable generational gap is showing. Cadillac should be congratulated for reacting appropriately to changes in its customer base.
Posted by: bubusdad | August 29, 2008 at 6:16 AM