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Cadillac's de Nysschen takes aim at Porsche 911, Cayenne

Johan de Nysschen has big plans for Cadillac. He's moved the brand from Detroit to New York, revamped its model nomenclature, and planning a raft of new models for the near future – including a $250,000 luxury sedan to take on the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley. But the veteran executive of luxury automakers has some more performance-oriented machinery in mind, too. Speaking with Car and Driver at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, de Nysschen suggested Cadillac could be ready to launch a flagship sports car sometime in the next decade. The halo model would take aim at the Porsche 911 and do for Cadillac what Audi did with the R8, Mercedes is doing with the AMG GT and Acura once did (and is aiming to do again) with the NSX. Just what form it would take remains a big unknown, but de Nysschen indicated that the brand would need to be built up further before the sports car would be launched, lest it emerge too detached from Cadillac's image. The last time Cadillac delved into that territory was with the Corvette-based XLR, of which it sold only 15,000 or so examples – far below initial targets. The 911 rival isn't the only performance model de Nysschen has in mind, however. He plans to further expand the V series into a more substantial sub-brand to include a crossover to take on the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 M and all those many AMG-tuned Mercedes utilities. The idea of an entry-level model to slot in below the ATS was mooted as well. A range of diesel engines are slated to help Cadillac break into overseas markets in similar fashion to how Maserati has expanded its market reach with oil-burning versions of the Ghibli and Quattroporte. And we wouldn't be surprised to see Cadillac get in on a new flagship SUV being launched by Opel in Europe, either.

Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen expands on brand's future

Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen chatted with journalists at a recent roundtable, expounding on everything from domestic racing to Chinese manufacturing. The brand's been doing a slow burn on rolling out new products and increasing sales, but admittedly, there was a lot of work to do. After closing out last year 0.8 percent down in the U.S., the domestic luxury brand is more than 5 percent up so far this year, thanks to healthy double-digit bumps for the ATS and Escalade, and increased fleet sales. Globally, the brand's doing 21 percent better. The XT5 still outsells everything, though. Asked about slow sedan sales, de Nysschen cited a few reasons, one of them "energy prices," which are low enough to fuel the crossover craze. You can also read that as another admission that Cadillac doesn't have enough crossovers to please the crowds, a fact the XT4 will soon address. Yet de Nysschen also pegged the sedan malaise on "younger consumers who really are less tuned into dynamics and handling and all of those things that used to excite enthusiasts. It's more about the way cars complement and enable their lifestyle now." He topped that with a take on U.S. roads, saying, "I also have to say it may also be influenced a little bit by the decay of America's infrastructure. When roads no longer support high-performance sport sedans and ultra-low-profile rubber, people are going to respond to it." Those latter takes seem wide of the mark. Yes, BMW is the established leader, but the Munich carmaker sold 8,806 3 Series' so far this year in all variants, compared to 2,543 ATS coupes and sedans. Mercedes-Benz has sold 8,366 C-Class models so far in all variants. As for infrastructure, yes, it's a mess, but AMG sales rocketed up nearly 50 percent in the U.S. last year, nearly 10 percent of overall Mercedes sales, and the Three-Pointed Star expects that to rise again this year. People are buying sedans and performance models. They simply aren't buying enough of them with Cadillac badges. Cadillac has no plans to go racing in Europe since the brand doesn't have the kind of presence there to justify the investment. De Nysschen said they'll stick with the Daytona Prototype International formula in the U.S. domestic scene, and continue with the tech transfer from race to road.

Alonso's Cadillac team wins 2019 24 Hours of Daytona

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso won the rain-shortened 24 Hours of Daytona, overhauling Felipe Nasr two laps from the eventual finish on Sunday. The Spaniard became only the third Formula One champion to win the race, joining Phil Hill (1964) and Mario Andretti (1972). "It's amazing," Alonso told NBCSN. "Just an amazing experience with this team, from the test and now the race –- a perfect execution of the race. "Very different conditions and we've been competitive in everything –- dry, wet, night and day. Really happy for the team and all the guys." Alonso, who retired from Formula One racing after the 2018 season, said the victory would rank very high among all his accomplishments. "To win this kind of endurance racing at iconic places like Daytona means a lot," he said. "With zero experience and background in endurance before (last year) it's quite a big thing." Already the winner of last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 37-year-old Alonso will attempt to complete the Triple Crown of motorsports by capturing the Indy 500 in May. Driving the Wayne Taylor Cadillac DPI, Alonso took command of the race for keeps when Brazilian Nasr failed to navigate turn one and drove into deep water, losing a 1.5-second advantage. By the time Nasr had things under control, Alonso was 12 seconds ahead. Kamui Kobayashi, Jordan Taylor and Renger vanDer Zande teamed up with Alonso for the victory in his second try in the 24-hour race which was twice red-flagged because of rain and water on the track and was halted 10 minutes early. "With all the rain, I've never seen a race like this," Team Penske boss Roger Penske told NBCSN. Alexander Rossi was the only other driver to finish in the lead lap. He took third. Italian Alex Zanardi's return to endurance racing 17 years after he lost both legs in a horrific race wreck got off to a bad start 90 minutes into the race, At the beginning of his first stint driving, Zanardi encountered a problem with his steering wheel. The 52-year-old was using a special wheel with hand controls for the car, and the connecting pins were damaged when he attempted to connect it as the car was dropped from the jack. His No. 24 BMW Team RLL team finished 32nd overall and ninth in class. Full results. Related Video: Featured Gallery 24 Hours of Daytona 2019 View 20 Photos Motorsports Cadillac daytona