Question of the Day: What’s your pick for American luxury, Cadillac or Lincoln?

Posted: Feb 12, 2010
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Founded in 1902 as the Cadillac Automobile Company, the brand we’ve come to know today was purchased in 1909 by General Motors, eventually becoming America’s premier luxury car maker. Lincoln, which today is Cadillac’s crosstown rival, was founded in 1917 by Henry M. Leland (Leland named the brand after his longtime hero Abraham Lincoln) and acquired by FoMoCo in 1922.

Even today, there are a couple of things that truly differentiate one from the other. Here are some things we came up with:

  • Lincoln offers a 7-seater crossover with the MKT – Cadillac doesn’t.
  • Cadillac offers a sporty sedan with the CTS – Lincoln doesn’t.
  • Cadillac offers a sporty coupe with the CTS Coupe – Lincoln doesn’t.
  • Lincoln’s MKS is much more appealing than the Cadillac STS and DTS (both long overdue for a redesign).
  • Cadillac offers a “hybrid” with the Escalade – Lincoln has no hybrid in its lineup.
  • Cadillac offers high-performance luxury with the CTS-V Sedan and Coupe – Lincoln doesn’t.
  • Cadillac is working on a BMW 3-series rival with the ATS – Lincoln has no plans for the segment.
  • Cadillac is working on a large-luxury sedan with the XTS – Lincoln’s Town Car desperately needs upgrading.

With those facts out on the table – it seems like Cadillac is leaning more towards competing with dynamic European luxury while Lincoln is staying true to its American roots.

So, with that in mind, if you were to purchase an American luxury vehicle today, what brand would you shop? Let us know in the comments section below.

- By: Omar Rana


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  • Pat

    I'm going with Cadillac. CTS-V owns almost every American car. and the CTS Coupe and CTS-V Coupe… lincoln is for old people still

  • http://www.webreakitdown.com EhabM

    Lincoln. Its the last name of my favorite president. Oh how his speeches used to move me.

  • Cartech

    Cadillac by far! Lincoln is mostly pointless.

  • BENNYC

    Cadillac with their edgy styling! I do however like the Lincoln MKS but Cadillac owns this by far espically with all their new vechiles coming out.

  • J Man

    You also forgot to mention the CTS sport wagon, which Lincoln does not offer.

    I am going with the Caddies.

  • Paul Richards

    I would shop Lincoln and as a matter of fact, I definitely plan to buy a Lincoln MKS for the 2011 model year. Right now, that is THEE car to own!

  • Jay

    Cadillac rules Lincoln. I will admit Lincoln has stepped up their game in the last couple of years.

  • bhicks

    I thought Leland actually started both, Caddy first then Lincoln after selling Caddy to GM. Anyway I think that they are after 2 different crowds. Caddy is after the driver oriented Euro Brands and Lincoln seems to be chasing the Asian luxury brands, namely Lexus. They do have 2 products in common, the “CHUNKY BUT FUNKY” (rapper Heavy D) SRX and MKX. along with the stupid “TLA” naming strategy.

  • GMfan87

    caddy is lightyears ahead of lincoln. the CTS is a world class car and now that they're building off of its success, the gap will only widen.

  • TBONE

    FORD FORD FORD LINCOLN LINCOLN LINCOLN: DO NOT BUY A GM GOVERNMENT MOTORS CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Peter Pan

    Cadillac styling is sick. That Cadillac xts is amazing and with the little ats on it's way and all the cts love that's going on at the moment for the sedan, the wagon, coupe, v series sedan and the v series coupe cadillac has the edge. The Escalade is on another level over the Navegator which is looking old at the moment. The srx is stunning much sexeir the the mkx.

  • j man

    T Bone, Ford mortgaged everything they own, including the logo to get money. So they are basically in debt past their eye balls. Rather than getting money from the gov't they just owe everyone else.

  • moosecouture

    1) lincoln vs caddilac… seems a little unfair. Lincoln is competing against asian luxury… does Lexus have any real performance luxury… 2) lincoln should be compared to buick as buick is the luxury car that GM owns that (attempts to) compete against Lexus and Acura (just alone by watching the commercials) while Caddilac is supposed to compete against Mercedes, BMW, and Audi… and in that case Cadillac does not beat all other luxury brands in its class… and Lincoln does due to MyTouch, Sync, Keyless entry, SecuriCode Door Keypad and Quiet tuned cars… 3) Hybrid technology is essentially useless on large automobiles because of the fact that it only takes 1-2 mpgs better compared to the increased price tag. 4) the town car cannot be compared to a XTS. DTS is the closest thing to the Town Car except the Town Car is still Full Frame which makes it much more appealing to Limo upgrades but still in desperate need for an update. 5) MKS with ecoboost AWD is supposed to be a sporty sedan obviously not as intense as the CTS but still… It seems like this is a little one sided.

    The main focus is first go to Lincolns website and check what cars it compares to the most (which cars are first in the comparisons)… Caddilac only puts the cars that they beat in the comparison though they really are looking to compete with the Germans… I think I remember the commercial showing the Germans dancing in a ball room and the cadillac breaking up the party (burn outs, donuts and such) and the announcer saying “party's over.”

    Oh and by the way Ford is nowhere near in as big a trouble as GM just because they mortgaged everything, since they mortgaged everything well before the recession. So the bills have been well into being paid… I think it was back when they started the 2004 Bold Moves campaign if I remember correctly. So J Man… you are silly… they did not avoid bankruptcy during the global recession by mortgaging everything… they avoided bankruptcy by producing a better product and having already prepared for a recession before the actual recession.

    But I agree Cadillac has the best styling out of the two. Though I love the taillights on the MKX.

  • j man

    Wether or not they build a better product is all a matter of opinion. Everyone (almost) says Toyota builds the best cars and look at the situation they are in. Every company has it's good cars and bad cars. A girl I know, her husband worked for Ford as some sort of rep. In a years time he went through 6 cars, all had quality issues. A former co worker of mine had a trans go out on her Impala with less than 50k miles. At the same time I have a Impala with 110k miles and have not had a single problem. A few years ago VW was having quality issues with some of their cars but I now see them making a comeback.

    I also did not say that is why they avoided it, I just stated that is what they did to keep from taking the money. Personally I do not think they are 100% safe as they face the same issues that GM and Chrysler do. In some aspects they are in better chape in others they are behind the other two.

  • Mia

    CADILLAC!

  • dillbert

    Mercury!