Cadillac Cimarron - Legacy

Legacy

The Cimarron accomplished at least some of what Cadillac hoped it would. Among early purchasers of Cimarrons, nearly three quarters had never owned a Cadillac before. It also helped bring younger customers to the brand. The average age of a Cimarron buyer was under 50 years old. However, one quarter of long-time Cadillac owners would never buy another Cadillac, instead switching to the new Japanese luxury marques like the 1990 Lexus LS 400. It has been said that the Cimarron did pave the way for the Cadillac CTS, another compact luxury sedan, that was credited with reviving the marque in the 2000s. Unlike the Cimarron, however, the CTS was a much roomier and more substantial vehicle with distinctive styling and performance, and upon its introduction, did not share a platform with any other General Motors brand.

Yet even years after the model was discontinued, the Cimarron's legacy remains negative. The car has become a staple of books and articles about bad cars. Forbes placed the Cimarron on its list of "Legendary Car Flops," citing low sales, poor performance and the fact the car "didn't work, coming from a luxury brand." Author Hannah Elliott explained that the Cimarron "appealed neither to Cadillac's loyal followers, who appreciated powerful V8s and Cadillac's domestic luxury edge, nor to buyers who favored Europe's luxury brands, whose cars out-handled and out-classed the Cimarron in every way." In 2009, CNN Money noted in "GM's junk heap" of unsuccessful nameplates that the Cimarron was, "In all important respects, a Chevrolet Cavalier. It also added thousands to the price tag. In all, it was neither a good Cadillac nor a good value. Even GM executives will readily admit today that this was a bad idea." According to Car and Driver, current Cadillac product director John Howell has a picture of the Cimarron on his wall captioned, "Lest we forget." TIME magazine named the car to its list of the 50 worst cars of all time, stating that the Cimarron represented "verything that was wrong, venal, lazy and mendacious about GM in the 1980s ... in flagrant insult to the good name and fine customers of Cadillac," and that the car "nearly killed Cadillac and remains its biggest shame." The magazine then went one step further, describing the Ford Mondeo-based 2001 Jaguar X-Type as "the English version of the Cadillac Cimarron, a tarted-up insult to a once-proud marque and a financial disaster for the company", although the X-Type received positive reviews from the motoring press and shared far fewer parts with its mass-market siblings that the Cimmaron did.

The Cadillac Cimarron, with mostly cosmetic changes from its lower market siblings, is cited as an example of what not to do when badge engineering a luxury car from a mass market variant. Other manufacturers have since produced badge-engineered luxury cars that have been successful, as these had distinct branding and style, high-quality interior materials, wide range of convenience features, and performance powertrains, attributes key to distinguishing them from mass market equivalents. Top-selling re-badged luxury cars following this trend include the Lexus ES, Acura TL, and Audi A3.