Official Thread: 2016 Cadillac CT6 Flagship Sedan

[Gecko]

PRESS RELEASE

Bose Introduces First-of-its-Kind Panaray® Sound System for First-Ever Cadillac CT6

Advanced automotive sound system integrates elements from home products

DETROIT, 2015-03-26 – Thirty-five years ago, Bose and Cadillac defined premium automotive audio, forever changing how people listen to music in a vehicle. Now Bose is introducing its most advanced and highest-performing automotive sound system – the Bose® Panaray® system, designed exclusively for the Cadillac CT6 sedan.

The 2016 CT6 is a first in its segment, combining the prestige and technology of a range-topping vehicle with the dynamics and efficiency of a smaller one. The Panaray system marks the global debut of Bose Automotive's new line of "Advanced Technology Series" sound systems, integrating technologies and design elements from Bose home entertainment and professional audio products to deliver unprecedented performance in a car.

"We asked Bose to create something truly special for this new vehicle: an unbounded sound system, providing an audio experience unmatched in any other luxury automobile," said Travis Hester, Cadillac CT6 executive chief engineer. "Cadillac CT6 customers will be elated by what they hear and feel when they switch on the Bose Panaray system."

The Bose® Panaray® system reproduces music with more clarity, precision and deep bass than any system preceding it. It combines advanced, proprietary Bose digital signal processing with 34 speakers – nearly all measuring less than four inches (100mm) in diameter – strategically positioned throughout the Cadillac CT6 cabin.

"There are no short-cuts to this kind of performance," said Marc Mansell, vice president, Bose Automotive Systems Division. "The Bose Panaray system uses a bold design architecture, and it was made possible by continuous, relentless research. That's how we established the category with Cadillac over three decades ago. We were obsessed with performance then, and we still are."

About Cadillac
Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. Today, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio featuring dramatic design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com. Cadillac's media website with information, images and video can be found at media.cadillac.com.

About Bose Automotive Systems
In the early 1980s, Bose engineers created the world's first factory-installed premium sound systems for General Motors luxury automobiles. Unlike conventional or aftermarket automotive systems, Bose® systems were designed and tuned for a specific vehicle -- and changed the industry.

Since then, Bose has developed proprietary speaker designs, advanced amplification and signal processing technologies, exclusive analysis and design tools, and technology for managing engine and powertrain sounds inside vehicles -- all based on a heritage of research and engineering.

Today, Bose automotive sound systems are recognized globally as the industry benchmark for performance and customer satisfaction. For more information, visit Bose.com/auto.

About Bose Corporation
Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, then a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, the company is driven by its founding principles, investing in long-term research with one fundamental goal: to develop new technologies with real customer benefits. Bose innovations have spanned decades and industries, creating and transforming categories in audio and beyond. Bose products for the home, in the car, on the go, and in public spaces have become iconic.

From the company's home entertainment systems and Wave® music systems, to high-quality audio and noise cancelling headphones, digital music systems, Bluetooth® speakers, and professional solutions, Bose has changed the way people listen to music.

34 speakers. Wow! The more that I hear about the CT6, the more intrigued I am. I wish Lexus was a good about teasing out different parts of a vehicle and holding interest for weeks leading up to a reveal.

 

[mikeavelli]

ML 4 speakers > Bose 789 speakers...

Lol

 

[RAL]

ML 4 speakers > Bose 789 speakers...

Lol

So true . . . best chuckle I've had for quite a while

 

[krew]

34 speakers. Wow! The more that I hear about the CT6, the more intrigued I am. I wish Lexus was a good about teasing out different parts of a vehicle and holding interest for weeks leading up to a reveal.

This is a very interesting strategy by Cadillac, teasing the technology in the vehicle. I like it, smart move -- keeps the conversation moving without chiselling away at the exterior design.

(Not to always bring it back to Lexus, but I'm surprised by the lack of details about the RX. I wonder if we're going to see a big information push before the reveal, or it it will actually remain a secret.)

 

[Gecko]

This is a very interesting strategy by Cadillac, teasing the technology in the vehicle. I like it, smart move -- keeps the conversation moving without chiselling away at the exterior design.

(Not to always bring it back to Lexus, but I'm surprised by the lack of details about the RX. I wonder if we're going to see a big information push before the reveal, or it it will actually remain a secret.)

Much agreed. I'd have like to see an interior teaser shot, or an announcement about powertrains, or a shadowy headlight teaser of some sort. I'm afraid that CT6, new Continental and others will overshadow the RX debut simply because those PR teams have done such a great job of building hype.

 

[Gecko]

Early leak:

 

[mikeavelli]

I don't think that is going to get many conquest sales at first glance. Grill lost the egg crate look oddly, overall the sides remind me of the current A8.. They needed a grand slam here so crossing fingers...

 

[krew]

Engine details from Car & Driver:

GM’s 2.0-liter turbo inline-four is the starter engine, making about 265 horsepower, and it’s followed bytwo all-new V-6s. The first is a naturally aspirated, direct-injected 3.6-liter pumping out 335 horses, and the second is a twin-turbo 3.0-liter unit spinning up 400 ponies and an equal helping of torque.

Having a 2L turbo as the base engine of an American flagship sedan is a ballsy move -- very surprised by Cadillac.

 

[mikeavelli]

Where is the V-8? Hyundai and Kia have one for crying out loud.

 

[CIF]

Yeah this seems very disappointing all around. Not feeling that front end, or the many-speaker Bose system. Speakers in the headrest? No thanks. It seems many luxury brands continue to struggle with their full size flagship sedans, with only a few exceptions.

 

[mmcartalk]

Much agreed. I'd have like to see an interior teaser shot,

From what I understand, this is what it will look like: Quite a bit different from the Continental Concept's over-chromed console and mid-dash.

 

[Gecko]

Interior is awful looking, IMO.

 

[mmcartalk]

Interior is awful looking, IMO.

While I haven't actually sat inside of it myself to see (and feel) the interior first-hand, just from the images, I agree that they could have done better with the CUE system on the center-dash and those somewhat gaudy-looking electro-gauges. Surveys consistently show that the CUE system is the chief customer and reviewer-complaint with newer Cadillacs.

 

[CIF]

Interior is awful looking, IMO.

I agree, that interior looks terrible for a flagship. It looks like a slightly premium Impala interior. I don't even get a Cadillac vibe from the interior at all. Amazing how downmarket that wood trim and shifter make the interior look.

 

[RAL]

Yep . . . it just don't cut it. You're right CIF . . . it's impala-ish. Ah, but doesn't it have 789 speakers LexFather?

 

[Gecko]

Cadillac’s Ellinghaus: “We Need More Interior Differentiation”, Own Switchgear

The last time we sat down with Cadillac marketing boss Uwe Ellinghaus, the idiosyncratic, outspoken German was calling Cad’s German competitors sterile, pronouncing that he didn’t care about customers who had left the brand, claiming that XTS buyers’ money was just as green as ATS buyers’, and put the kibosh on Route 66 in future Cadillac advertising.

Since then, Cadillac’s “Dare Greatly” campaign has launched, and the wraps have finally fallen from the long-awaited CT6, the sans-wreath-crest brand’s new range-topping four-door. We had a gander at it. We plopped ourselves down in the driver’s seat. We watched the Bose Panaray speaker array rise from the center of the dash. And we noted that GM is still foisting the same sort of Chevy-grade buttons and switches upon Cadillac. So we asked Ellinghaus about it. More pointedly, we asked if Cadillac would ever have its own switchgear.

“Yes,” the CMO candidly replied. “We need more differentiation in the interior and more brand separation. In the non-visible parts of the car, sharing components makes total sense. Where the customer doesn’t see it and it doesn’t matter, allowing us economies of scale. In the primary visibility area around the driver, it should say ‘Cadillac’ inside and out. I do admit that we’re not there yet, but we are working with our designers on both evolving the exterior Art & Science design language, but also creating an interior that is differentiated, luxurious, and even more contemporary. We think that our competitors are very, very conservative in their interior designs.

“We have eleven mixed materials that make up the lightweight structure of the CT6, that’s all fine. But I don’t think we should have a similar complexity in the interior. But the haptic impression is very, very important.”

While Cad’s interiors have improved significantly over the past few years—the ELR’s is one of the luxe-Volt’s few genuine highlights—they’re still not quite up to snuff versus the rest of the field, and it largely has to do with the feel of the buttons, knobs, and switches. The rubbery cup holder in the CT6 seems plucked straight from a Tahoe. The current issue, says Ellinghaus, is primarily cost. “[Premium vehicles] need to have an attention to detail that we do not find in non-luxury cars. And those interiors have gotten so much better that it costs really a lot to keep a luxury interior differentiated.

“There’s one element in development that explains why you see these things. If you do not meet a certain cost benchmark when you develop a car—and as ever, all benchmarks are never achieved—at the end of the development process, if you want to get back to the margin target that you’ve set, you can only save money into the interior, because billions already went into the engine, the drivetrain, and all the elements you cannot change a year prior to the start of regular production. So then the controllers come and say, ‘Where can we take out money?’ Which is flawed, because that’s what the owner and driver sees all the time.”

That the company recognizes that its switchgear is a problem and willingly admits it is refreshing. The question is whether GM will open the coffers to make it happen. And if so, when? Ellinghaus refers to the current period at Cadillac as one of “elevation.” But in today’s luxury market, actuating elevation requires a switch with just the right look and feel.

Source: http://blog.caranddriver.com/cadill...more-interior-differentiation-own-switchgear/

 

[mmcartalk]

And we noted that GM is still foisting the same sort of Chevy-grade buttons and switches upon Cadillac. So we asked Ellinghaus about it. More pointedly, we asked if Cadillac would ever have its own switchgear.

IMO, judging by what is (mostly) found in the new Impala, SS (a Holden product), Malibu, and Cruze, Chevy-grade switchgear itself is significantly better then it used to be. That was one area (among several) where older GM products routinely crapped out. Still, they have a point, though, that Cadillacs should be Cadillacs...on that, I don't disagree.

 

[Gecko]

I do think Chevy has gotten better, but Chevy competes with Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc.

Those materials aren't going to work against the S Class, A8, LS, etc.

That's the biggest glaring issue I see with the CT6... and that horrible steering wheel design!

 

[CIF]

Well... I don't even know where to start with that above article. There are plenty of short-sighted and ignorant statements, combined with obvious common sense sort of statements. So it's best that I simply leave that article alone .

 

[mmcartalk]

I brought back this rather old thread to add what I think are a couple of good show-static video-reviews. The second video, IMO, is especially good (better than the first), and features the car's Chief Engineer describing the car's design and construction in great detail.

I was not impressed with the former XTS at all, and eagerly look forward to seeing this car myself at the upcoming D.C. Auto Show in a few more weeks. I also hope to see what Buick finally does with this platform..but I think that is still in the planning stages.

2016 Cadillac CT6 Review - YouTube

2016 Cadillac CT6 In-Depth Look - Fast Lane Daily - YouTube