SAN DIEGO, Calif. — While Ford may be built tough, Cadillac is known best for one thing: Swagger.

So when the company finally debuted its long-awaited connected-car solution in its fleet of luxury sedans, we knew it would be with style.

Cut to “CUE,” Cadillac’s touch-based, in-dash entertainment control system announced on Oct. 12 at the CTIA mobile technology conference in San Diego. It’s essentially a marriage of style and automotive applied science, fit snugly into the dashboard of GM’s most upscale line of automobiles.

The premise is simple: CUE — or “Cadillac User Experience” — builds on the...