Continuing their downward spiral, the 1996 Cadillac year proved to be rather difficult on the Cadillac industry. The long run of bad luck continued with the recall of over 500,000 vehicles for faulty computer chips was one misfortunate event, as well, were the changing of hands, the former general manager, John Grettenberger was replaced with John F. Smith.
As a last ditch effort to bump sales, the early introduction of the
1997 Cadillac Catera was introduced in early 1996. This mid-size luxury sedan was much plainer and simpler than other elaborate Cadillac’s, built and manufactured in Germany, this joint venture of Cadillac and the European Opel was thought to intrigue the younger and well heeled buyers.
Although, the big news for the 1996 year was the early intro of the 97
Catera, Cadillac did still offer its drivers much more advanced options and
standards on the old Cadillac favorites like the DeVille, Eldorado, and Seville.
Major improvements were made on the handling and braking systems, along with
upgraded performance components that improved the overall ride of the vehicles.
Options for the year included a new Delco Electronics Active Audio System that
was factory installed in the trunk with a compact disc changer, as well, a voice
activated cell phone package was also available on high end luxury models.
The Seville, which served as Cadillac’s rival amongst international luxury vehicles, was upgraded this year, as well. One such feature that was seen on the
STS was the new automatically activated wipers, this feature known as the Rain sense Wiper System, utilized sensors to detect rainfall on the windshield, as a result the wipers would activate without the driver ever touching a single button.
This year also marked the end of the Brougham name for Cadillac, the famed package was discontinued after 1996, leaving only the Lincoln Town Car as the only full size luxury sedan made in the United States.
