Comparison: 2010 Cadillac SRX vs. 2010 Lexus RX 350
Lexus is the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S., and the RX crossover is Lexus' best-selling model. It's the vehicle for everyone with money -- the practical people-mover for people with a multi-car garage full of exotics; the entry-luxury model for the upper-middle-class leasing slightly beyond their means; the wheels of choice for those who were lucky enough to get a second mortgage on their McMansions before the credit market imploded. This Lexus is for old money, too, its anonymous, transportation pod styling whispering, "We're too cool for a minivan."
Just imagine the profit margin for a model that starts a tad under $40k. In normal years, meaning before 2008, Lexus sold more than 100,000 RXes per year in the U.S. Lexus has been able to pour a lot of cash back into the relentless pursuit of beating less-reliable European crossovers into submission.
The 2010 Lexus RX 350 is the all-new Mk III model, following the 1999 Mk I and 2004 Mk II. It will continue to lead its segment and it will continue to be the best-selling Lexus. Big, body-on-frame SUVs may be so 2005, but crossovers are the latest thing, as if they've just been discovered.
They are a new discovery for Cadillac. The CTS aside, the GM luxury division's slow, decade-long comeback has rested on the back of its gargantuan Escalade body-on-frame sport/utility. The rear-drive Sigma-based SRX is classified as a crossover, but it's really more a tall, modern station wagon with optional all-wheel-drive. It's part of old, STS-Cadillac, not new, CTS-Cadillac. SRX sales were one-fifth of RX sales in 2007.
With the 2008 CTS giving New Cadillac renewed attitude, it's time to go after luxury's big kahuna. And so, the all-new 2010 Cadillac SRX switches to a front-drive platform, one using large bits of Epsilon II (Opel Insignia and 2010 Buick LaCrosse) and Theta (2010 Chevy Equinox/GMC Terrain) and shared with the upcoming Saab 9-4x (yes, production is still on).
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