FORD ESCAPE
Ford’s 2013 Escape is a brand-new vehicle and replaces the boxy, truck-based SUV with a new car-based chassis and a design that is far more modern and aerodynamic. The interior gives the same international feel that the Focus introduced last year, which is far better than the last generation. Pictures on the Internet don’t do this vehicle justice — it is far better looking in person. That said, the base model looks like a base model, so I would expect most people to opt for mid-level or higher trim levels. The radio is a corporate panel like most of Ford’s new radios, so a dash kit for a radio upgrade will be quite an investment like many other new vehicles nowadays.
One important thing to note is that Ford also offers the older-style Escape as a 2013 model, so a quick chat with your customer about whether it is the “new” style or not, or a quick look at the vehicle during your sales pitch, will be required to ensure the right parts and costs are sold for an install.
CADILLAC CUE
Cadillac put a fully interactive display for its new Cadillac User Experience, or CUE, to good use, allowing people to sit in a mock XTS interior while the company demonstrated the functions and features of the system. This new interface for the vehicle’s audio and multimedia features will revolutionize the user experience in vehicles and set a standard by which others will be judged. The system features full connectivity to Pandora, access to 3-D maps, full voice recognition, customized apps, as well as a unique display that removes buttons and other non-necessary information as you pull your hand away from the screen, and then reapplies them as you bring your hand closer again. This makes the screen very easy to read. This is a feature that
could reduce driver distraction and help promote a cleaner look and feel to the entire center console and dash area. In addition to the unique interface for the radio, the gauge cluster is made of a 12.5x5-inch LCD, which the driver can reconfigure to show any assortment of gauges, information or statistics about the vehicle or its usage, as well as icons, information and even maps from the entertainment system. This can be configured via buttons on the steering wheel, or you can simply swipe an icon or information from the radio interface in the direction of the gauges and it automatically slides over — a very cool trick, and one that brings a familiar look and feel to the system when compared to tablets and smartphones that offer similar features for the icons and information being placed where the user wants on different home screens and menus. Cadillac representatives said the CUE will launch on the 2013 XTS, which will hit the streets this spring, then the 2013
ATS, which will hit the streets in early summer. It will eventually become standard on all Cadillac models by the end of the 2014 model year. HD Radio will be standard on all models with CUE, and the XTS and ATS models we saw all had Bose audio systems.
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