Luxury auto boom leaves Cadillac behind (Boo hoo)

[Silent3]

27. Except for Tesla, is there much of anything in the "luxury" category that's energy efficient?

I realize that most luxury car buyers don't give a damn about that, so it's not going to figure into why Cadillac sales are down, but it's why I personally don't have much interest in luxury cars, even though I can afford one.

I just bought a Ford Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid. It's my first new car in about nine years, and it's more than luxurious enough. The bells and whistles that are now standard would have been luxuries a decade or two ago, if even possible with older tech, and I went for a few options beyond that. The plug-in hybrid option pushes the price tag into the same range as entry-level luxury cars, but I'd rather pay extra for energy efficiency than pointless extra horsepower and race car handling that I don't need. (I'll be getting a $3700 federal tax credit too, to offset some of that cost.)

In two months I've only filled up once, and I only stopped for gas that one time because I wanted a car wash - I still had more than half a tank. By the end of this week, I'll probably need a real fill-up for the first time, with over 2000 miles on the car. That's my kind of luxury.

While I'd like to see an American manufacture succeed over imports, my generally negative view of most luxury cars as environmentally unfriendly conspicuous consumption makes it hard for me to sympathize with Cadillac's troubles.