Lookin’ for luxe in all the wrong places? Well, allow us to spare you the search. For the best luxury vehicle of the current model year, look no further than the Cadillac Escalade. And that’s not just some off-the-cuff opinion: The Escalade earned its accolade as Cars.com’s Best Luxury Car of 2022 after much consideration and debate among expert reviewers and editors, beating out stiff competition like the 2022 Genesis GV70 and 2022 Ram 1500 Limited Longhorn. The honor is impressive, if not exciting, given that the Escalade was also last year’s top luxury pick.
In one of our most popular articles of the past month, judges in Cars.com’s Best of the Year 2022 awards break down how the Escalade escalated to the top among new luxury vehicles. The Escalade takes the term “luxury SUV” seriously and avoids watering down capability in favor of interior indulgence, boasting an 8,200-pound max towing capacity, seating for eight and plenty of cargo space. But it was technological innovations that put the Escalade over the top in the judges’ estimation — namely its massive span of screens on the dash.
“The showpiece of the Escalade’s cabin is three standard organic light-emitting diode screens, which together measure 38 inches diagonally and stretch across the driver’s half of the dashboard,” Cars.com judges explain. “The Escalade’s standard augmented-reality navigation and available night-vision systems both use the center instrument cluster screen. The Escalade has some of the same eye-popping tech European rivals debuted first, but its user interface is vastly superior.”
For more on the Escalade’s second consecutive year in the luxury limelight — as well as the judges’ thoughts on the competitors that ultimately didn’t make the grade — follow the link below to Cars.com’s No. 9 news story of the past month.
While the Escalade was good enough to get to the top among luxury rivals, it wasn’t enough to put it ahead of the redesigned-for-2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee on our monthly countdown. Coming in just ahead of the Escalade, in the eighth-place spot, is Cars.com reviewer Brian Normile’s comprehensive critique of the Grand Cherokee’s first major overhaul in more than a decade — and a successful one to boot.
The new Jeep mid-size SUV scores with an appropriately powerful V-8 engine, a nicely controlled ride, a luxuriously appointed front seat in the model’s top trim level, and the welcome addition of Uconnect 5 as well as more standard tech. Drawbacks include lackluster gas mileage, some ride harshness, backseat comfort that doesn’t make good on the promise of the front seat, as well as some annoyances with driver-assist features.
“Given its overall improvement without sacrificing its strengths, the new Grand Cherokee is worth a look from luxury shoppers,” Normile concludes in his review. “The factors that made the ultra-luxe version of the Grand Cherokee that I drove better than its predecessor are also present in lower trims, so it’s likely there’s a new Grand Cherokee worth looking at for all sorts of mid-size SUV shoppers.”
For Normile’s full take on the longer, taller, wider Jeep Grand Cherokee, follow the link below to Cars.com’s No. 8 article from the month of February.
Beyond that, we’ve got headlines on the Ford Maverick, Toyota Sequoia, Chevrolet Tahoe and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past month:
1. When Will Used-Car Prices Drop? 3 Things Car Shoppers Should Know
2. Best Electric Vehicle of 2022
3. Up Close With the 2023 Toyota Sequoia Capstone
4. How We Bought a 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid Without an Order
5. Best Pickup Truck of 2022
6. 2023 Toyota Sequoia vs. 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe: Comparing the Interiors
7. Best of the Year 2022
8. 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee Review: Grander Across the Board
9. Best Luxury Car of 2022
10. What’s the Best New-Car Deal for February 2022?
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Keyword: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Cadillac Escalade De-Escalated by Jeep Grand Cherokee