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De Nysschen says Cadillac will be ready for a $250,000 model in 15 years

Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen has some very, very lofty goals for the American luxury car manufacturer. That's according to a new report from Reuters, where the former Audi and Infiniti exec says that Cadillac is only 15 years away from selling a $250,000 car. "It is too early today for a $250,000 Cadillac," de Nysschen told Reuters at the LA Auto Show. "Fifteen years from now, it won't be." Now, provided de Nysschen doesn't envision a future of hyper-inflation, where an ATS rings up at $200K and a CTS at $225,000, the idea that Cadillac could sell a car worth a quarter-of-a-million dollars in just 15 short years is the very definition of ambitious. That's doubly true when you realize that, at present, Cadillac's most expensive vehicle is the Escalade ESV Platinum, which costs no more than $97,940, while de Nysschen said the upcoming CT6 sedan will be priced "in the 70s." What do you think? Could a Cadillac that costs well over twice as much as the brand's most expensive current vehicle be a reality in the distant future? Or is de Nysschen aiming too high too soon? Let us know what you think in Comments. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Jae C. Hong / AP Cadillac Luxury cadillac ct6

Cadillac chief marketer admits ELR is 'a big disappointment'

During the Cadillac XT5 global launch in Dubai, Automobile interviewed Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus and got the CMO to touch on just about every major issue affecting the brand and the industry. After two years on the job, having come from 15 years at BMW, Ellinghaus naturally started with the "passionate Cadillac customers" and "iconic brand" spiel, then they got into a top-down look at where America's preeminent luxury brand stands. Ellinghaus said Cadillac is in a period of transition, lately focused on smaller and more performance-oriented vehicles, which has alienated a chunk of veteran customers and left others trying to figure out what Cadillac is about. He believes that "for a few more years, the products will probably be stronger than the brand," while he does his work of conveying what the company has to offer. But the brand had to make the switch, because "Generation X and Y will make 80 percent of all actual buyers in the next five years..." On top of that, he'll be working on making sure the customer and dealership experiences are where they need to be. Speaking of dealers, Ellinghaus thinks the future will not be brick-and-mortar shops, but digital pickup-and-delivery services. "Nobody wants to go to a dealership for service and maintenance," he says. He said the ELR has been "a big disappointment," but it has taught Cadillac that converting its existing line-up to plug-in hybrids is a better way forward. However, he characterized the plug-in hybrid as "the next all-wheel drive," in that everyone's going to offer it soon, so it will be "an entry ticket into luxury automobiles rather than a differentiating aspect." The CMO thinks the CTS is suffering because of the decline in the US midsize luxury sedan market in general thanks to the SUV and crossover craze, so the brand really needs another small SUV. Head over to Automobile for more of Ellinghaus' intriguing answers, like "I do believe that very long-term hydrogen is really the way," and "it's time to get real" in Europe. Taking a dig at Volkswagen on that last matter, he also said, "I think the absence of the diesel is not as much of an issue as it was eight weeks ago." Related Video:

The syrupy sweet tale of the Pink Cadillac Margarita

In our last installment of the irregular and irreverent series on drinks loosely connected to – or named after – automobiles, we sipped a Taxi cocktail, which in its original form tasted a bit like a margarita infused with Blackjack chewing gum , except worse. This time, we explore mythos behind a drink so pink it usually doesn't make you stop and think. But that's what we're going to do. And, as always, enjoy cocktails (and reading about them) while you're not behind the wheel. Our brother lives in Detroit, where old American cars go to not die. On the streets of the Motor City, you will see all manner of holey-mufflered, salt-rotted, spring-sagging Big Three iron plowing along shoddily. Our brother's next-door neighbor is a connoisseur of such vehicles, and thus populates his driveway with a cache of Malaise Era Cadillacs. (His dog lives in one.) His latest addition, which our brother texted us a photo of recently while we were eating fish tacos in Los Angeles, is a Desert Rose 1977 Coupe DeVille (seen below). Since we're always thinking about cars or drinking (or both), and we were eating Mexican, this put us in mind of a cocktail our cousin's trashy bridesmaid made us try at her wedding in Charleston: the Pink Cadillac Margarita. Suddenly, we were thirsty. The Pink Cadillac Margarita is, quite obviously, a pink drink – a somewhat cloying, if deliciously chuggable concoction colored with a spritz of Ocean Spray, or Chambord liqueur if you're classy. Pink drinks get a bum rap. Blame it on the Cosmopolitan, and everyday misogyny, but many people find pink drinks frivolous. As expert drinkers, and drink experts, we would counter that the consumption of alcohol is, at its essence, about being frivolous. Never mind that the chemical is a depressive; Consuming it is about putting on your rose (or rose) colored glasses, and getting ready to make some mistakes. The Pink Cadillac is apparently so named not just because of its signature color and the irresistible musical connection between Cadillacs and pinkness (see: Aretha, Springstein, Natalie Cole). The moniker also derives from the quality of the ingredients – drawing on the historical expression "The Cadillac of..." to signify something top-shelf. "It's difficult to know quite how that name was derived," says Melody Lee, Cadillac's director of brand strategy.