What does GM have to offer someone shopping for an STi or a GTR?
If you want a nice Buick, move to Europe and buy an Opel.
OK, I'm a baby-boomer and therefore I don't get it. Say what?
Where is your next demographics?
Well, you could try the X-Games, that would be a good place to start looking for new customers.
What are they driving?
What do you have to offer for an alternative?
I would say that this is Cadillac's last chance to get it right.
I'll probably go blind and lose my licence before I see a Cadillac
that; "I always wanted one".
Sorry, this one is not on my bucket list.
GM hasn't succeeded in every niche, but nor has any other brand. STI buyers might not be Subaru buyers forever. The ATS has been the best effort from Cadillac in a long time to reach out to a different demographic. Lord knows it is far better than the Catera was.
You boomers are a hard group to peg anyway. There's no telling what you will buy. Cars like the Scion XB and Honda Element were meant for young people, but who actually bought them? Boomers. Maybe some to give to their kids, but not all. My granola eating boomer parents were looking at new Honda Fits and Ford Fiestas, then the next thing I know they go buy a low mile '11 4.0L Ranger in bright red because "Ford won't make them anymore" and the Tacoma "looks like it's for kids" (nothing but Prerunners with fender flares on the lots). They could buy an ATS, but any Cadillac is so far off their list it's just not going to happen. I think my parents actually associate Cadillac with "old" more than young people do now, because when they were young that's exactly what old people bought. On the other hand, my generation saw them in music videos, saw pro athletes driving them, etc. My parents could also buy a European car if they wanted to, but they owned them in the 1970s, and while the memories are fond, they think of them as high maintenance and aren't willing to deal with high maintenance vehicles anymore. Their fondest memories are of a little Ford truck they bought in the 80s, so the newest equivalent of that is what's in the driveway, next to a loved/hated Civic Hybrid that was bought before it even got off the boat.
Frankly, as a youngish person (26), I'd consider a Cadillac as much as I would consider a Euro car or Japanese car. I'd probably end up buying the car that I considered the least "throwaway." But that's not a segment I'm interested in right now. Buying new, I'd probably end up in a RCSB Silverado or Ram. At heart, I'm a Ford guy, but not for current Fords. On a new vehicle, my money would go elsewhere. One thing boomers definitely taught my generation, at least me, is that brand loyalty is very conditional. That gives Cadillac a chance if they don't f things up.