凯迪拉克新XTS瞄准奔驰和宝马

    凯迪拉克（Cadillac）旗下的车型名称一向十分拗口，连凯迪拉克的营销副总裁唐•巴特勒都受不了。为了把名字起得简单些，他采用了星巴克（Starbuck）给咖啡杯命名的法子（如小杯、中杯、大杯、超大杯等等），按尺寸给新产品命名。于是凯迪拉克的新车型按身材依次唤作ATS、CTS还有尺寸最大的XTS。

    通用汽车（General Motors Co.）把凯迪拉克新XTS的竞争对手定位为奥迪（Audi）A6、宝马（BMW）528i和奔驰（Mercedes）E350等豪华轿车。入门版XTS的价格为44,995美元，与41,700美元的奥迪A6、46,900美元的宝马528i和50,490美元的奔驰E350相比，还是显得相当有“性价比”。不过巴特勒表示，如果把所有可选配置都加上，顶级配置版XTS的价格可能会上升到6万美元以上。

    虽然凯迪拉克已经和海外竞争对手摆开了抢夺顾客的架式，不过它更在乎的可能是那些老款凯迪拉克的车主。凯迪拉克STS旅行车刚刚停产，此外早先已经停产的DTS轿车也有一批车主，通用希望确保这些车主不会被吸引到别的品牌那里去。密歇根州诺斯维尔市IHS公司的高级分析师亚伦•布拉格曼表示：“XTS最重要的任务就是确保现有客户不会流失。”

    凯迪拉克XTS搭载了一台3.6升304马力的V6发动机，排量比同级的奥迪A6和宝马5系都要大得多。另外它还的卖点还包括一系列安全性配置，比如车道偏离警示系统，以及所谓的“凯迪拉克用户体验”系统，简称CUE。CUE是一个安装在仪表盘上的人机交互系统，它的界面与智能手机很相像。用户只需通过使用触屏、操作多功能方向盘或使用语音控制就可以使用导航、听音乐或激活安全设备。

    凯迪拉克的高层们意识到XTS的仪表盘上的确搭载了不少新技术。在这方面，福特（Ford）的教训可以作为前车之鉴。福特的MyFord Touch仪表盘在面世之初故障连连，让福特损失不小。为了帮助车主迅速上手，装备了CUE的XTS轿车还随车附送一个苹果iPad，它提前预装了一些应用程序，可以展示汽车的各项配置是如何工作的，其中一个应用还可以编辑和播放数码音乐。

    凯迪拉克的品牌复苏旅程已有十年之久，期间由于通用2008年的财务困难和2009年的破产危机，XTS的研发屡次遭到干扰和拖延。XTS是凯迪拉克DTS和STS大型轿车的替代车型。在XTS上市后，凯迪拉克今夏还要继续推出尺寸更小的ATS轿车，以在轿车的三大细分市场都保持存在。

    The tongue-twisting alphanumeric names for Cadillac's vehicle lineup had gotten so baffling that Don Butler, vice president of marketing, borrowed Starbuck's drink sizes to simplify them. Tall, grande, venti. Small, medium, large. ATS, CTS and XTS, Cadillac's newest large sedan.

    General Motors Co. is banking on U.S. car-buyers considering the new XTS when shopping for luxury vehicles like the Audi A6, BMW 528i and Mercedes E350. The $44,995 price-tag for the entry-level version of the new Caddy makes the car a "good value," in Butler's words, against the $41,700 A6, $46,900 BMW and $50,490 Mercedes. With all available options, the XTS' price can rise to just above $60,000.

    To be sure, Cadillac's goal is to steal customers from its foreign rivals. But a perhaps more important target are current Cadillac owners. GM wants to ensure customers trading in now-discontinued STS touring sedans or the discontinued DTS sedans aren't poached. "The most important mission for XTS is to make sure it doesn't lose the ones it's got," affirms Aaron Bragman, a senior analyst with IHS Inc. in Northville, Michigan.

    The comparable Audi and BMW sedans come equipped with much smaller engines than Cadillac's 3.6-liter, 304 horsepower V6. Cadillac is also counting on an array of safety features, including lane departure warning and CUE or Cadillac User Experience, a high-tech graphic dashboard interface with similarities to a smartphone. CUE will allow the driver to navigate, listen to music and activate safety devices using touch screen icons, steering wheel controls or voice commands.

    Cadillac executives realize they're cramming a great deal of new technology into the XTS's instrument panel. Ford Motor Co. (F) was burned when its MyFord Touch controls initially experienced glitches. To head off confusion while adding a sweetener, GM is distributing an Apple (AAPL) iPad with each vehicle equipped with CUE. The iPad will be preloaded with apps that explain how various features work, including one which organizes and displays the user's digital music. (Another luxury car, Hyundai's Equus, distributed 2,000 $500 iPads before discontinuing the practice with the 2012 model.)

    Cadillac's decade-long brand resurgence was derailed by GM's financial troubles in 2008 and the 2009 bankruptcy, which disrupted and delayed the XTS' development. The XTS replaces the Cadillac's DTS large sedan, as well as STS. With the new model's debut, GM's luxury division still has to roll out the smaller ATS the summer to gain representation in the three key sedan size categories.