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Lutz dishes dirt on GM in latest Autoline Detroit

Bob Lutz sits down for Autoline Detroit - Click above to watch video after the jump
Autoline Detroit recently played host to Bob Lutz, and, as is always the case, the former General Motors vice chairman dished out some great commentary. Lutz was promoting his new book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, and talk quickly turned to his role as it related to product development and high-level decision making at GM. While on the topic of brand management, Lutz revealed a few rather interesting tidbits about his former employer:
All Chevrolet vehicles were required to have five-spoke aluminum wheels and a chrome band up front, as part of the Bowtie brand's overall image.

2013 Cadillac XTS [w/video]

The Cadillac Of Stopgaps
As confusing as most alphanumeric car names have gotten in recent years, at least one constant has been that the letter "X" is generally indicative of a crossover. Then why did General Motors use this letter on its new 2013 Cadillac XTS luxury sedan? Well, for that, we'll have to look to the world of mathematics where "X" stands for an unknown variable or a placeholder. Now we're talking. The XTS is just an interim product sitting at the top of Cadillac's four-door food chain until the brand gets a true flagship in place. That sounds like a lot of resources to spend on what will likely be a one-and-done model, but the automaker needed to get something - anything - to replace the DTS.
So here you have the 2013 XTS. A big luxury sedan that was created to bridge the gap between Cadillac's recent past and its pending future. Going into our week with this XTS knowing that it was a stopgap measure proved to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, we know (or hope) that this car will act as a baseline for future high-end Cadillac models, but at the same time, we couldn't help but be mindful of past stopgap models, albeit in more entry-level segments, like the Cimarron and Catera.

Lansing builds its millionth Cadillac

Cadillacs are built at plants across North America. The Escalade is assembled in Texas, the SRX in Mexico and the XTS in Ontario. But the bulk of Cadillac's lineup - or the smaller members of the family, at least - are built in Michigan. And while the upcoming ELR will be built alongside the Chevy Volt at the Detroit/Hamtramck facility (which incidentally opened with the Cadillac Eldorado back in '86), the majority of those Cadillacs built in Michigan are handled by the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant.
In fact, Lansing Grand River just celebrated its millionth Cadillac built. The landmark millionth vehicle is a new 2014 CTS sedan in Red Obsession Tintcoat. The facility opened in 2001 and has built Cadillacs almost exclusively since then, assembling the CTS and ATS model lines, though in a couple of years it will also handle production of the Chevy Camaro.