There was a time when premium car buyers were content with full leather upholstery, plenty of wood trim, plush carpets and a great sound system. That time is long gone. Nowadays the latest fad is infotainment systems.
Cadillac may have lagged in this department, especially when compared to its top rivals, but from next year, the Detroit company plans to more than make up for it.
Today, Cadillac unveiled the first interior shots of its DTS- and STS-replacing saloon, the upcoming XTS. However, contrary to standard practice, it didn’t focus on the quality or the abundance of space. Instead, it revealed its new CUE (Cadillac User Experience) infotainment, navigation and communication system that will launch in 2012 in the XTS, the ATS and the SRX crossover.
“CUE will transform personal transportation by simply and efficiently integrating luxury design and instinctive technology with unparalleled levels of customized connectivity”, said Cadillac’s vice president of marketing Don Butler.
Cadillac’s new system is based around an 8-inch LCD touch screen (a 12.3-inch screen is optional) located at the top of the center console that does away with the large number of buttons used by competitors’ systems: instead of around 20, it has only four.
CUE’s menu resembles that of a smartphone with large icons, and the system offers connectivity with up to 10 Bluetooth devices, USBs, SD cards, and MP3 players.
“It doesn’t replace your smartphone or your iPod”, explains Micky Bly, executive director of global electronic systems, infotainment and electrification. “Rather it allows consumers to securely store those devices and receive all information through a central port, keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
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