I’ve been wondering lately, with the never-ending rise of luxuriousness and price of pickup trucks, if there isn’t a case to be made for a Cadillac pickup. I don’t mean an Escalade EXT SUV-truck thing, but a full-on pickup truck.
GMC has the Denali line on 1500, 2500, and 3500 trucks and they sell like hotcakes. Denali sells so well that GMC added an “Ultimate Package” option to increase the profit value even further. A new 2019 Sierra Denali 1500 with Ultimate Package and 6.2 V8 tops out around $70k MSRP. It can go even higher with additional accessories and dealer add-ons. There still seems room to go on the top-end of the luxury truck market.
Cadillac could market a new half-ton crew-cab short-bed 4WD truck with all of the luxury trimmings of the Denali Ultimate, plus some Cadillac premium features like ultra-high quality leather interior. Maybe some additional tech like Super Cruise and infotainment. They could give it a different exterior design with some distinctive LED lighting and bling to show everyone else you didn’t settle for the Denali (like the Escalade).
To really set it off, the Cadillac truck should offer the only way to get the LT4 supercharged 650hp V8 in a truck. Pair it with the new 10-speed transmission, and mandatory 4WD or AWD. This would give people a real reason to spend the extra money and step up from the GMC Denali. It would make the truck truly aspirational and the top of the luxury truck market. I could see a fully optioned Cadillac truck with the LT4 hit $100k. The Escalade Platinum is already there, and it doesn’t differentiate its powertrain from the Yukon Denali.
Now, what to call it? If Cadillac wants to stick to the alphanumeric scheme, I’d go with TK1 for the 1500. Or leverage a new real name that means the highest peak of truckness - “Everest” perhaps? Or leverage a historical name that recalls Cadillac luxury but also implies American ruggedness - Fleetwood. Not many new truck buyers today know what a Fleetwood was anyway.
What else would be better for Cadillac to offer the American market, where the German and Japanese competitors can’t or don’t compete. Plus they could easily add the Cadillac 2500 and 3500 pickup line with Duramax and LT4 options to create the ultra-high end heavy-duty luxury truck market.
