Chevrolet’s trucks will always be important, specially in North America, for the tradition carried by names like Silverado and Suburban, while their GMC counterparts earn their share of buyers due to the refined image it was built around them through the last years: their increased luxury is paired to more elegant looks and a much more discreet image, which isn’t exposed at hundreds of countries or shared with models as small as Spark. However, Escalade attracts so much more attention because it became an icon of today’s popular culture. Definitely not in the way a company whose past includes vehicles like Eldorado and Fleetwood would’ve chosen in the first place, but since it converged into great sales…
The truth is, appearing at so many music videos, receiving so many tuning customizations (regardless of whether they’ll look good or not) and being chosen by so many recent celebrities helped to place Escalade apart from its brothers at the public opinion. Besides offering even more luxury than Yukon, Cadillac’s SUV ended being seen differently for emotional matters, not only rational ones such as the increased price. And this is precisely what every luxury division of a big automaker group seeks, actually. While Lincoln distinguishes itself from Ford by its flamboyant design language and Chrysler from Dodge by being more conservative, Cadillac seems to have decided to go “viral”.
Image-management strategies aside, the new Escalade turned into a very interesting intersection between GM’s latest truck architecture and Cadillac’s most recent design language. Some might claim the front grille became too big but, like with almost every car, it needs to be analyzed as part of a set. The front fascia uses six elements which are visually connected like three bigger ones. The only way such arrangement wouldn’t look exaggerated would be placing them a little far from each other, and this is exactly what is seen: the first attention goes to the upper grille and slides to the vertical headlights inspired on CTS. Later, you’ll notice that the lower lights follow these lines and that their L-shape redirects you to the lower grille.
Like always, the sides reveal Escalade’s genetics: the entire sheetmetal is shared with its brothers, both in short and long-wheelbase versions – the latter’s extension is noticed at the stretched third windows. However, the rear brings some other interesting surprises: since the trunk lid needs to be as wide as possible, the only way to have different tail lights would be working on the vertical. And this is precisely what you’ll see at the pictures: their height goes from the spoiler to the bumper, covering the D-pillars. Between them, the fifth door has a chrome line above the license plate spot, holding the brand logo. Such big elements help the overall styling to look more solid, which is always suitable for a big SUV.
Another great surprise comes opening the doors. Cadillac dropped Yukon’s interior parts in favor of exclusive dashboard and door panels, which gave Escalade a much nicer design. There are more elegant lines and shapes, which combine leather with aluminum and wooden accents and hold the typical technology kit of any upscale car of nowadays: besides of the CUE infotainment system, the gauge cluster is represented by a 12.3” LCD screen, which can be customized to show whatever other informations the driver would want to see, instead of speed and fuel level. The internal space’s increase gave more legroom for the front seats and the ability to recline even for the third-row ones.
Besides, Escalade’s standard equipment list could be comparable to Yukon Denali’s, but it’ll also have standard, Luxury and Premium trim levels. Talking about technical characteristics, GM’s unique Magnetic Ride Control suspension appears once again, as well as all the constructions improvements seen at this SUV’s pick-up and SUV siblings. The improved small-block 6.2L V8 develops 420 hp and 460 lb-ft, which comes in handy to deal with the 100-lb increased weight from the previous generation. Expected to arrive in the next North American spring, the new Escalade will use only a six-speed automatic transmission.