American luxury cars used to be known for their massive interiors, acres of sheet metal, and comfortable suspensions that glided down the road like a magic carpet behind a powerful 8-cylinder engine. But times have changed, and American luxury cars have been transformed to regain their competitive edge with the rest of the world's premium vehicles without sacrificing their individual character. Today, there are American luxury cars in almost every niche, giving buyers with different budgets and driving preferences the opportunity to join in on the domestic game. Let's take a look at 10 American luxury cars that help define the segment.
When General Motors needed a brand to design and build its luxury and high-end vehicles, they chose Cadillac. Cadillac is a division of General Motors with an established presence in the United States, Canada, and even China. Cadillac models are found in 34 markets around the world. In the United States, Cadillac vehicles are at the top of the luxury car scale.
In the world, Cadillac is one of the first automotive companies. However, they are fourth in the United States, behind Autocar, Oldsmobile, and Buick. Cadillac was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the famous founder of Detroit, Michigan. The logo used by Cadillac is also based on his coat of arms. Before being purchased by General Motors in 1909, Cadillac was already a well-known brand in the American luxury car sector.
Have you ever wondered how cars come with interchangeable parts? Well, look no further. Cadillac was designed with precision interchangeable parts, which formed the basis for modern mass production techniques. Cadillac has always been a leader in technological innovations. They introduced fully electrified systems, a shockless system for manual transmission, and a steel roof.
The company's V8 engine became a gold standard in the American automotive industry, as well as two other engines. The interchangeability of precision parts allowed Cadillac to win the Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom. This made them the first car brand in the United States to win this prestigious award. The 1912 award was made possible by the incorporation of electric start and lighting into their production vehicle. The new design philosophy quickly became dominant in models like the CTS and XLR roadster. From then on, Cadillac models were predominantly rear-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles, including sedans, roadsters, crossovers, and full-size SUVs.
The only exceptions were the compact executive Cadillac BLS and front-wheel drive Cadillac DTS. Surprisingly enough, the Cadillac BLS was not sold in North America. It was simply a rebranded version of Saab's 9-3 that was developed in Trollhattan, Sweden by Saab Automobile AB. The BLS was offered as both a sedan and pickup truck. STS stands for Seville Touring Sedan and SLS stands for Seville Luxury Sedan. The Cadillac STS received an upgrade to its Northstar system over time, including its DOHC L37 Northstar V8 aluminum engine.
To compete directly with BMW's M5 model, Cadillac introduced its second-generation CTS-V.Now let's take a look at one of Cadillac's most iconic luxury offerings: The Escalade. The Escalade was Cadillac's first flagship vehicle manufactured for the SUV market and is a full-size luxury SUV produced by General Motors. The name Escalade comes from a war tactic used during sieges involving climbing defensive walls using ladders or siege towers. The Escalade is manufactured in Arlington, Texas and despite delays caused by the pandemic General Motors maintained plans to supply dealerships ahead of launch.
To increase publicity ahead of launch they also unveiled their vehicle using their recently released 3D visualizer and featured their new AKG audio technology which uses 36 high-end speakers in its cockpit. Ford established Lincoln as its luxury brand for American luxury car brands as direct competition to General Motors' Cadillac models. The 1940 Lincoln Continental made Lincoln a well-established brand in personal luxury car category which also gave prominence to personal luxury car category. Just after World War II Ford paired Lincoln with its mid-range brand Mercury to improve its competitive advantage.
The Continental Mark II badge introduced in 1956 gave rise to Lincoln's famous four-pointed star logo which was modified in 1980 and remains to this day. Lincoln currently has luxury vehicles ranging from crossovers to SUVs and has even produced limousines that were adopted as official vehicles for presidents of United States and are also sold in China and South Korea so Lincoln is not an American luxury car brand limited to shores of North America. Ford wanted to keep Lincoln brand different from its offerings so ensured that Lincoln had separate teams for design product development and sales then progressed to capture market for luxury customers who only wanted luxury car for themselves. Lincoln further expanded and completely set new levels of equipment for its products which were Premier Select and Reserve those names are quite catchy among American luxury car brands.
It was based on Ford Escape and became first car exclusively produced by Lincoln with four cylinder engines it had imposing presence browser had massive redesign exterior interior redesigned. Lincoln chose 3.5 L twin turbo V6 engine used in F 150 as standard engine for navigator wow navigator without V8 engine it had completely new design philosophy came with rectangular grille Lincoln introduced black label program extended it all its vehicles with Continental black labels were Lincoln's flagship trim levels exterior interior designs were top notch had one most personalized customer services tailored personal preferences.
