The Escalade is about to get even fancier. Sure, the Escalade name needs no sprucing up, as it’s one of the most popular luxury vehicles on the planet. But the electric Escalade IQ is about to enter an entirely different realm of luxury, one typically reserved for the most prestigious automakers. Cadillac is now extending the “Curated by Cadillac” program, originally created for the $400,000 Celestiq, to the Escalade IQ. With it, customers can completely tailor their car in a way no Escalade customer has ever been able to before. It’ll cost you, though. To enter the program, you have to pony up an additional $54,995.
Vehicle customization isn’t anything new for the ultra rich. When Cadillac launched the Celestiq with this bespoke vehicle tailoring, giving customers the ability to choose from any sort of color, leather, or stitching they could dream of, some luxury customers were unfazed. Brands like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Aston Martin have long had such programs. And at the Celestiq’s nearly half-million-dollar price tag, such programs are to be expected. But in an Escalade?
Photo by: Cadillac
The entry-level Escalade IQ will cost you $130,300 after all is said and done. That’s a far cry from something like, say, the Bentley Bentayga’s roughly $230,000 starting price. So even if you add the $54,995, you’re still undercutting the Escalade IQ’s main competition and getting all of the customization you desire.
To be sure, Cadillac’s curation program isn’t quite as extensive as the ones you’ll see from a brand like Rolls-Royce. Cadillac offers more than 160 exterior colors—ranging from metallics, to frosts, to mattes—and 44 interior colors, all of which can be customized and combined for different rows of seats, the door trim, and even within the different parts of the seats themselves. That’s lovely and all, but Rolls-Royce will trim your dashboard in pure Chinese alligator skin, or paint it the color of your spouses eyes, if you ask nicely (and pay) enough. Will Cadillac go to such wild lengths for customers with bottomless pockets and endless imaginations? Cadillac told InsideEVs that Celestiq customers will be able to go above and beyond the expansive options list, but the Escalade IQ gets limited options within the program.
Cadillac Escalade IQ Curated by Cadillac
Photo by: Cadillac
To create your custom Caddy, you’ll work with a dedicated design concierge to build your bespoke vehicle. All Escalade IQs Curated by Cadillac will be hand-painted and hand-built at the Artisan Center in Warren, Michigan, given unique VINs, and wear serialized badges to show off their exclusivity.
Now, here’s Cadillac’s problem: Who buys the Celestiq? A Celestiq costs double what a Curated by Cadillac Escalade IQ, and it’s actually shockingly similar inside, with the exact same screens, technology, and steering wheel. With custom leather and trim options coming to the Escalade, I can’t see how the Celestiq can compete with its much cheaper SUV sibling. Plus, the Escalade is obviously far more spacious inside and one of the most comfortable vehicles I’ve ever driven. So if you can customize your ‘Slade to have similar, if not identical, levels of luxury, will Cadillac’s most famous luxury vehicle cannibalize the sales of its most expensive one?
