2015 Cadillac Escalade – it’s still big, bold & brash

America’s default luxury SUV – the Cadillac Escalade – has been re-invented for the 2015 model year, but it’s still very much an American SUV.

The Cadillac Escalade SUV is not a car you see much in the UK, but it is loved by footballers, Rappers and those who deal in less than legal substances.

It’s really too big, too brash and too flashy to ever have a hope of making real sales in the UK or Europe, but in America it’s the default luxury SUV of choice for even the most staid of buyers.

So they won’t be disappointed that the 2015 Cadillac Escalade (which we would think of as a 2014 Escalade, as production starts next spring) is still huge and brash, even if it does seem to have gone up a notch or two in quality.

There’s the usual cosmetic tweaks, with a new front end with LED headlights and a new back end with full-length LED tail lights.

Big 20″ alloys come as standard and Cadillac will fit 22″ if you want (and after market suppliers will go bigger still) and the interior has been given a makeover to make it look and feel more upmarket (but not exactly Range Rover upmarket).

The new Escalade, which will be built in Texas (where else?) comes not just in standard, huge, guise, but in an extended-length version that adds an outrageous 14″ to the wheelbase and 20″ to the length, just in case something the size of the Albert Hall just isn’t big enough.

Under the bonnet lurks a lazy 6.2 litre V8 with 420 horses and 460lb/ft of torque, and engine that doesn’t really get up and go but which suits the lazy, laid-back style of the Escalade.

It’s supposed to be more economical than before, comes with two or four-wheel drive, a six-speed auto ‘box, better suspension and Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control with both Tourer and Sport settings. Not that Sport will come close to making the new Escalade sporty.

It’s a perfectly good update of an American motoring icon, but it’s no more relevant to UK buyers than before.