1962 Cadillac Deville Base Hardtop 2-door 6.4l on 2040-cars

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Cadillac says it made CUE infotainment a lot better

We've never been huge fans of CUE, the Cadillac User Experience infotainment interface. It's been around a few years now, and the best thing we can say for it is that it now supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, making it easy enough to replace most of the interface with a familiar smartphone-based system. Now Cadillac has made some big upgrades to the system that should address at least some of our concerns. First and foremost, the system is claimed to be more intuitive, with a more logical interface design. Cadillac has added a Summary View that gives an overview of the climate, media, navigation, and phone all at the same time. The system will also be able to receive over-the-air updates, allowing Cadillac to make improvements more often and push them out to owners' cars, mush like Tesla and other automakers already do. The 4G LTE connection will also be used to connect the car with the cloud, where drivers can store and modify their own personalized set of settings. This My Driver Preferences profile will include things like contacts, navigation preferences, and recent destinations, and will also follow them from one car equipped with the system to another. That should come in handy for anyone subscribing to the $1,500-a-month Book by Cadillac vehicle subscription service, which allows participants to swap between cars when they choose. The cloud connection will also carry over to a new available navigation function, which Cadillac claims has a more intuitive, smartphone-like interface. It uses its data connection to provide current destination info and is supposed to learn a driver's habits, such as their preferred routes and frequent destinations, which the system will then attempt to offer up predictively – so the car should be able to know that you're heading home at 5:00. Additional apps for the system will be available through Cadillac's new Collection app store. And it's still compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. One sore spot that appears to have been improved is the digital gauge package, although Cadillac hasn't offered details on that extension of the system. The current iteration's ability to over-customize the interface (our personal favorite is the option to display a total of four speedometers between the head-up display and the gauge screen; see video below) and unintuitive controls make it difficult to use and learn, while the simulated gauges don't look particularly realistic.

GM slashes prices in China as sales falter

Buying a vehicle from General Motors' stable of brands might be a lot cheaper in the near future – at least for customers in China. The effort comes as GM hopes to keep sales there growing, and the decision alludes to yet another sign that the Asian country no longer has the booming auto market of past years. GM and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC are slashing prices by as much as the equivalent to $8,700 on 40 models from Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac, according to The Detroit News. Across all of automaker's nameplates, the overall sales dipped in China in April by 0.4 percent to 258,484 vehicles. Among the drops, Buick was down 8.5 percent, and Chevy shrunk 5.6 percent. Caddy's numbers increased 4.6 percent for the month, though. Buick remains a popular brand in the minds of Chinese consumers, but according to The Detroit News domestic automakers there are starting to eat into the dominance of foreign companies in the market. The country remains important for GM, though. Late last year, it outlined a future strategy that included China as a major pillar, including a $14 billion investment to build five new factories and boost sales. News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Alexander F. Yuan / AP Photo Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GM Car Buying Car Dealers saic

J.D. Power customer survey of dealers counts Cadillac, Buick as big winners

Cadillac and Buick have taken the trophies in J.D. Power's latest Customer Service Index Study examining satisfaction with dealer service. Surveying more than 90,000 owners and lessees of 2009-2013 model-year cars, the study found that those with pre-paid maintenance packages were ten percent more likely to buy their next car from the same brand.
Dealer satisfaction scores have improved overall, Cadillac nabbed the luxury segment ahead of Audi and Lexus, taking the crown that Lexus held last year. Buick keeps the mass-market dealer satisfaction win in the family, finishing ahead of Volkswagen and last year's winner GMC. The study also found that service department use of tablets increased customer satisfaction, as did "best practices" like "providing helpful advice." Who knew?
You can find details on those and more findings in the press release below.