Here’s The All-New 2015 Cadillac Escalade

The all-new 2015 Cadillac Escalade was revealed last night in New York City, which sports an entirely new design yet is instantly recognizable. Much of the story of Cadillac’s redesigned flagship SUV is on the interior, where new levels of luxury combine with the latest technology.

“Cadillac’s growth provides the ideal stage for the all-new Escalade to take a major leap forward,” said Bob Ferguson, senior vice president, Global Cadillac. “The 2015 Escalade is completely new and elevated in design and technology, inside and out. The clear objective is to once again assume the leadership position among luxury SUVs.”

You can read the official press release for all of the details, but we’ll give you an abbreviated overview of what’s new and noteworthy in the new Escalade.

Exterior / Interior

As you can see from the photos, the exterior features crisp, new and more sophisticated surfaces, accented by dramatic LED lighting. Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about it just yet. The front-end treatment (grille & lights) looks very sterile and futuristic. Fine details have been replaced with big blocky lines. It’s odd.

The new interior features real wood combined with premium cut-and-sewn materials and sueded accents, along with ambient lighting, were designed to add elegance to the interior design. Tight tolerances of the instrument panel and door panels, precision controls and triple-sealed doors were engineered and designed to reinforce a feeling of quality. The new interior is dramatically quieter, too, thanks to a stronger new body structure, new and enhanced acoustic material, and Bose Active Noise Cancellation technology.

It’s nice to see GM finally focusing on the interior of cars, first in the new Corvette, and now here.

Technology

Technology is integral to the Escalade’s driving experience. New and enhanced features help make what already was one of the industry’s most-connected vehicles more intuitive.

For the first time, Escalade will feature CUE standard. The eight-inch center screen uses capacitive touch technology and gesture recognition, enabling tapping and swiping common to smartphones and tablets. CUE uses proximity sensors to activate common options and controls as the user’s hand approaches. An expanded “favorites” section offers quick access to phone contacts, navigation destinations – even digital music – in the same one-touch form as traditional radio presets.

The instrument cluster features a standard, reconfigurable, high-resolution 12.3-inch digital driver information center display paired with Cadillac’s CUE infotainment system. Key data also is displayed on an available, full-color head-up display. Along with vehicle systems information, the color driver information center also provides details on the audio, Bluetooth phone and navigation systems, and they can be easily adjusted via steering wheel controls.

Performance

The 2015 Escalade is powered by an all-new, more efficient 6.2L V-8 engine rated at 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque – Nearly 5% more horsepower and 10% more torque than the outgoing model. The greater torque delivers an enhanced feeling of power on demand, particularly from a standstill and at low speeds.

The new 6.2L engine features state-of-the-art technologies designed to make the most of power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions. More precisely controlled combustion enables the Escalade to run with a higher compression ratio, which delivers greater power and greater efficiency.

The engine is matched with the Hydra-Matic 6L80 six-speed automatic transmission with enhanced TapShift control.

Here’s a quick video showing you the 2015 Escalade in action:

Production of the 2015 Cadillac Escalade begins next spring in Arlington TX, with the product line consisting of the standard Escalade model as well as the extended-length ESV edition.

No word yet on pricing or fuel economy numbers, but when we learn those numbers we’ll be sure to share them with you.

What do you think of the all-new 2015 Cadillac Escalade?

Photos courtesy of General Motors