[PaulHoule]

A Cadillac is not just an expensive car, it is an expensive car to own. (Gas, repair bills, etc.)

If you are a W-2 worker you have to be at work at a certain time and you need a car that can start every morning so you can get to work on time.

Higher class people can afford multiple cars, take time off from work, take a cab, etc.

The Cadillac brand is appealing to many lower class Americans so you often see them in "bad" neighborhoods. Some would say the people there are not in a hurry to get anywhere.

[stcredzero]

Higher class people can afford multiple cars, take time off from work, take a cab, etc.

It's a pattern. People with money will deliberately show they can spend more money. Those wide, droopy sleeves you sometimes see in historical shows? Rich people simply bought clothes that used more fabric, just so they could show they could afford it.

The Cadillac brand is appealing to many lower class Americans

According to the actress who played "Snoop" in "The Wire" the appeal of Cadillac in lower class urban neighborhoods was entirely gone by the 2000's, and replaced by the Lexus.

[dgudkov]

>Those wide, droopy sleeves you sometimes see in historical shows? Rich people simply bought clothes that used more fabric, just so they could show they could afford it.

As far as I know it was to demonstrate that the owner of such clothes doesn't have to work. Because such clothes make it extremely difficult to perform any manual work.

[Sohcahtoa82]

> If you are a W-2 worker you have to be at work at a certain time and you need a car that can start every morning so you can get to work on time.

That has nothing to do with being a "W-2 worker". Being a W-2 just means you're not an independent contractor. I'm a W-2 worker, and if my car breaks down, I can just send an e-mail to my team and tell them I'll be working from home.

[bdcravens]

Puzzled why you would mention this brand, as it's never mentioned in the article.

[bilbo0s]

There seems to be a strange element of "smear the working class with themes tangent to whatever the discussion is" lately on HN. It's a bit troubling.

[PaulHoule]

I mentioned Cadillac because it's a textbook case of a brand that has gone through a long life cycle.

My grandfather, a retired bricklayer who immigrated from Poland, would drive nothing but a Cadillac in the 1980s and he was by no means rich. Many people his age drove them, particularly if they were from populations attacked by Germans in WWII such as Italian, Jewish, etc. A similar prejudice existed towards Japanese cars in the U.S. and in parts of Asia violated by Japan.

That was good for Cadillac for a while, but it became associated with old people and objectionable people (like my uncouth neighbors or my relatives who get the beat down from time to time in bars or parking garages)

GM has busted their ass and has had some success at keeping Cadillac successful despite that.

Thus Cadillac is a good base for a "theory of luxury car marketing," and calling a "BMW" a "Cadillac" is a bit like calling a "Pepsi" a "Coke".

[burger_moon]

Perhaps because Cadillac is a brand by GM, the manufacturer who also makes Chevy. Cadillac is the luxury brand of GM which would compete with luxury brands.

[bdcravens]

Ditto for Infiniti (Nissan), Acura (Honda), and Audi (VW).

I realize none of those brands are useful for making unrelated demographic-based comments, however.

[petschge]

For the Volkswagen group, I would list Bentley, Lamborghini or Bugatti as their luxury offerings. Audi is more middle class and sold in large numbers, at least in Europe.

[danans]

In the US, Audi, BMW and similar European brands are intentionally marketed as a mid to high luxury vehicles to preserve their brand mystique. None of these companies sell mass-market cars in the US in the same tier as mass-market cars by Toyota, GM, etc. Most of these brands do sell mass-market cars in Europe, though.

It's also worth noting that in the US, most families have had multiple cars due to the lack of alternative transit options, and so families of modest means buy lower cost vehicles as a result.

Only recently are multi-car households are seeing a big uptick in places like the UK [1], and in many developed urban areas of Europe, the car is used by families as a "weekend getaway" vehicle, not a daily commuter. When you only have to buy one car, you might be able to afford more luxury.

[1] https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/912000/two-cars-ho...

[PaulHoule]

It took me a long time (really seeing an awesome Audi with a V-10 motor) to perceive Audi as a luxury brand. For me it was mostly notable for self-driving accidents back in the 1980s. Yet another outpost of European Mediocrity like Renault, Fiat, Trabant, Lucus, etc.

Over time I learned more about the inline 5 cylinder engines that are common in Audis and many special characteristics but before I overcome my ignorance I had a wrong idea of the brand.

And that is the difficulty of branding luxury cars. Few of us experience a wide variety of luxury cars, so our brand image consists of some old news stories, word of mouth, seeing them on the road, etc.

[bdcravens]

In the US Audi is positioned alongside Lexus, BMW, etc. Those luxury brands you listed aren't the level the article was addressing.

[projektfu]

I assumed because of the other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19154864

[microcolonel]

> Higher class people can afford multiple cars, take time off from work, take a cab, etc.

Some can, the rest of the higher class people literally just drive Camrys, Accords, and Fusions because they need to be places just as much as the next guy.

[potta_coffee]

I have multiple beater cars. What class does that put me in?