It’s always exciting when news breaks that a vehicle many people already know and love will be getting a redesign in upcoming years. Some redesigns can ruin a car’s reputation if the designers don’t hit the right notes, but most redesigns give solid vehicles even more appeal to consumers. The Cadillac Escalade was already a great vehicle, but the 2021 refresh made it even better. Learn more about the upgrades that came with the 2021 Cadillac Escalade and other vehicles that made major improvements this year below. 

U.S. News’ most improved vehicles of the year

U.S. News is a trusted reviewing website, especially when it comes to vehicles. The reviewers at U.S. News recently revealed their picks for “The 6 Most Improved Cars of 2021“, and each of their picks came from a different carmaker. To make this list, reviewers looked at the 2021 versions of each vehicle and compared them to last year’s 2020 model year scores. Those with the largest score improvements made the list.

Up first is the 2021 Nissan Rogue, which went from a 7.3 all the way to an 8.2 in 2021. The Buick Envision jumped from 6.8 to 7.8 this year, and the Acura TLX received an 8.1 overall score, which was a 1.2 point change from last year. The GMC Yukon was given an overall score of 8.3, drastically better than last year’s 6.7. Still, the largest improvement overall was the 2.2 point gain from the Mitsubishi Outlander with a final score of 8.0. 

The Cadillac Escalade, already regarded as a great vehicle before 2021, improved by 1.8 points this year, and it has the highest overall score on the entire list. 

The Cadillac Escalade went from great in 2020 to amazing in 2021

The reviewers at U.S. News noted that the previous iteration of the Cadillac Escalade had an outdated design, and that put it toward the bottom of the luxury large SUV class last year. With a comprehensive redesign in 2021, it skyrocketed toward the top of its class this year. 

This is mostly due to a more stylish exterior, plenty of cargo capacity, incredibly comfortable seating in all three rows, and its smooth ride. One ding to the Escalade’s reputation in the past was its use of cheap-looking plastic materials, which is an utter no-no for luxury vehicles. This year, it’s nowhere to be found in the cabin, as it instead features plenty of high-quality materials that look and feel great. The Escalade hadn’t received any major changes since 2018, but this 2021 version is fantastic, to say the least. 

All of these improvements garnered an excellent overall score of 8.4 in 2021, making it the second-highest-ranking Luxury Large SUV on U.S. News, behind the 2021 Lincoln Navigator. 

An overview of the 2021 Cadillac Escalade

So, what makes the 2021 Cadillac Escalade so incredible, especially when compared to the 2020 version? For starters, the interior looks much more sleek and modern than last year’s iteration, featuring spacious and luxurious front row seats, twin captain’s chairs in the second row, and a roomy third-row bench to seat seven more than comfortably. If you need that eighth seat, you can switch out the second-row captain’s chairs for a middle bench. 

Unlike anything else on the market, the infotainment system has a three-screen digital display that provides about 38 inches. This triple-screen display comes standard, as does wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a 19-speaker stereo, a Wi-Fi hotspot, and so much more. If that’s not enough, you can add tri-zone climate control, a center console refrigerator and freezer, and rear-seat entertainment systems with touch screens. 

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade also has a whole host of standard safety features and optional advanced safety feature upgrades, and its predicted reliability score of 85/100 makes it a compelling choice for anyone looking to purchase a luxury full-size SUV in 2021.