2021 Cadillac Escalade vs 2022 BMW X5

Youthful aspiration often translates into adult acquisition. When the first Cadillac Escalade went on sale and quickly became an American popular culture icon, the oldest Millennials were just getting their driver’s licenses, and the youngest weren’t born yet. Today, this “digital native” generation raised on rap music is turning 40, moving to the suburbs, and raising families. Plus, it is poised to inherit a reported US$68 trillion globally from Baby Boomers by 2030, the largest wealth transfer in modern history. Despite suffering through the Great Recession and now a global pandemic, will Millennials spend their passed-down windfalls on a six-figure full-size SUV that burns almost 15 litres per 100 kilometres? Some will, and in so doing, they’ll get a mighty impressive and technologically sophisticated, fifth-generation Cadillac on 22s.