ALL AUTOCARS

The current SRX has been an interesting experiment in crossover/wagon hybrids, but as we have learned since last August at Pebble Beach, where the CTS Sport Wagon was revealed, and later at the Detroit auto show in January where the crested-wreath brand dropped the all-new SRX on the media, Cadillac is dividing and hopefully conquering the crossover SUV and wagon segments with two unique models this time around.

Look anywhere in China and there they are: Buick sedans, Buick station wagons, even Buick police cars. The old symbols are still there: the monuments, the uniforms, even the red flag. Six decades after the communist revolution, China has become the hottest capitalist engine on earth. And ironically, some of the most revered symbols of success in today’s China are Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet.

How Did This All Come About? In 1997, GM CEO Rick Wagoner and his then-boss Jack Smith made a gamble, betting $1.5 billion that GM could build and sell cars in China. Wagoner believed the Chinese were ready to trade two wheels for four, and he wanted GM to go along for the ride. 1.4 billion Chinese (long denied access to Western goods) would be starving for legendary brands like Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet.