2015 Cadillac Escalade Targets Wilde Autumn Debut

Photographer/director Autumn de Wilde—best known for her work with musicians including Elliott Smith, Tegan and Sara, the Raconteurs, and Sonic Youth—now has focused her attention on the 2015 Cadillac Escalade. The result: A unique collection of works that provides an alternative expression of the state of automotive artistry—and helps support the launch of the all-new Escalade, of course.

That happens on Oct. 7, 2013, in New York City, where the all-new 2015 Cadillac Escalade will make its public premiere, along with a series of Escalade portraits by de Wilde that, according to the brand, “highlight the sophistication, luxury, and iconic nature of the Escalade.” At the same time, the brand also will release a film that follows the artist as she finds inspiration for her images in the Cadillac design process.

“I immerse myself in the world of my subjects. I suppose it’s not unlike a method actor’s approach sometimes,” said de Wilde. “My job is to give the audience even more of a reason to form a crush on this person or this object.”

Or, in this case, on the 2015 Cadillac Escalade.

Now, for those who aren’t able to make it to NYC for the event, you can still make reservations to watch all three new works of art—the portraits, the film and the vehicle itself—being introduced live in New York by visiting the brand’s Youtube channel at www.Youtube.com/Cadillac. The action is set to start at 7:30 p.m. (EST), with Cadillac’s Jordana Strosberg “expecting the livestream to be very consumer friendly.”

Why the big fuss over Cadillac’s big SUV? Although it doesn’t get quite the buzz it used to, it’s still getting plenty of sales relative to its segment and it’s also worth noting that the 2015 Cadillac Escalade actually will play two roles for the brand. Naturally, the new Escalade will take on the dwindling number of body-on-frame lux SUVs on the market, but it also has to compete against a growing range of full-size, three-row crossovers being offered by other premium brands. The 2014 Cadillac SRX, as readers may recall, is a five-seat entry.

Then there’s the matter of sales ….

Cadillac Escalade: Checking the Sales Leaderboard

The current Cadillac Escalade remains a strong seller against rivals from both SUV and crossover camps, as shown by how it fits in on the sales leaderboard for bigger premium entries after first eight months of the year:

Mercedes-Benz GL-Class—19,833 sales; +27.2 percent

Cadillac Escalade—14,789 sales; +0.3 percent

Audi Q7—9,386 sales; +49.2 percent

Infiniti QX80/QX56—7,972 sales; -4.9 percent

Land Rover Range Rover—7,712 sales; +40.5 percent

Lexus LX570—2,643 sales; -22 percent

Lincoln Navigator—5,137 sales; +3.2 percent

Lincoln MKT—4,244 sales; -14.9 percent

Toyota Land Cruiser—1,967 sales; +11.3 percent

When you further consider that the GL-Class is all new for the 2014 model year, which certainly helps lift sales, it’s clear that there’s still plenty of interest in the Escalade family. 

Speaking of which, GM helpfully breaks out sales for each member on the roster, and the numbers through the first eight months of the year tell an interesting tale: While the Cadillac Escalade proper and the extended-length Escalade ESV have combined to see a slight drop in year-to-date sales, delivering 13,267 units and a 2.2 percent decline in demand for the open-bed Escalade EXT has fairly exploded. In fact, with a 31.2 percent advance in sales through August, albeit on just 1,522 sales, if the premium pickup were placed by itself on the above list, it would have the second-highest growth rate on the roster.

Finally, after our friends at the Hybrid Cars Dashboard reported 21 August sales of the Cadillac Escalade hybrid, the brand has delivered 324 units of the most fuel-efficient full-size SUV on the market, representing a 31.2 percent decline in deliveries of a vehicle that may not survive the jump to a next-generation platform. Which would be too bad, since it manages to achieve EPA marks of 20 mpg city/23 mpg highway/21 mpg combined.