Automotive Design and Production

APR 2014

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39 he describes as having "an unusual proportion. It's not a class rear-drive design. It's got this modern, unique monospace shape to it that focuses on the technology." He also thinks that the ELR is "a special Cadillac"—"It should come in a jewelry box," he says, metaphorically. "It's not a car that you buy for yourself, but for someone else. It is like a rare, special jewel that you give to someone." It is the sense of specialness that seems to inform Smith's thinking about Cadillac. "I think uniqueness is an opportunity for us, as other brands democratize luxury." He suggests that what is truly important for luxury brands is to have something "slightly unobtainable," something that is special. "If you're buying a premium product and everybody has the same product . . . " But he emphasizes, "It doesn't mean that it is inaccessible"—after all, they're in the business of selling cars (something Smith understands, because his dad was a Holden dealer in Gilgandra)—"but it has to be special. There has to be some value to walking in and throwing your keys on the table and it has our crest on it. People go, 'You have a Cadillac, really? What's that car like?' That's a great place to be." "I spend a lot of time looking at older Cadillacs in the context of when they were released," Smith says. "They've always been forward-looking." Because they were confdent and optimistic, one can only assume. p "The frst-generation CTS is what I call 'frst read.' It is a very graphical car. Very angular, very deliberate lines. When you get to the second-generation CTS, which I've always liked a lot, it starts to think about things like stance. Its rear three quarters is a beautiful view, particularly the wagon, which I think is wonderful. It starts to get into bulging surfaces, so it's not just a graphic. Where we're at now with the CTS is that we have the frst read, simple graphic lines; the second read, about beauty and surface and performance; and the third read, about exquisite detail. Look at the hood of the current CTS: there is quite a bit of detail there, but it's not detail that's immediate or obvious." —Andrew D. Smith, executive director, Cadillac Design. 0414ADP FEATURE Cadillac.indd 39 3/18/2014 12:15:31 PM

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