Cadillac Cts on 2040-cars

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Cadillac Celestiq previewed as a flagship luxury electric car

Last year, our Autoblog Green editor, John Beltz Snyder, got a sneak peik of GM's upcoming electric car roll out. No photos were given, but he described them in great detail. Now we finally get our own peek at one of those cars, the Cadillac Celestiq flagship sedan. Sadly, we don't get a particularly clear look, since Cadillac is only teasing the car at this point, but it's better than nothing, and better than most teasers. We get a top-down shot that reveals the car will share some key cues with the Lyriq crossover EV. Most obvious is the rear with the boomerang taillights and fastback roof, which is a glass unit separated into four pieces. Each piece can be individually adjusted for transparency, and it appears they can be illuminated as well. The front also appears similar to the Lyriq with a geometric grille covered in a transparent panel. The grille looks significantly larger, though. It also features illumination like the crossover. We also get a look at the interior, which prominently features a full-width screen for instruments and infotainment. There appears to be a screen in the center console/stack that can control functions including the roof panel illumination. According to Snyder, the interior also has extensive wood and metal trim intermingling with nifty ambient lighting. Cadillac didn't say much about the mechanical aspects except the basics. It will use GM's Ultium battery technology that will be shared with other products such as the aforementioned Lyriq and the GMC Hummer EV. It will also feature four-wheel steering as well as all-wheel-drive, undoubtedly courtesy of dual motors, one front and one rear. Cadillac previously confirmed that the Celestiq is headed for production. We also suspect that some of the fancy features such as the screens and multi-panel glass roof could make it to production. This is because it's meant to be a halo product showing off the ultimate in luxury and technology from the brand, and it could have a price tag larger than $200,000. We're expecting Cadillac to fully reveal the Celestiq in a few months, but it could be a while before the production version hits the road. The Lyriq isn't going on sale until late next year, and we would bet the Celestiq wouldn't come ahead of it. Related Video:

Ford Bronco, Bronco Sport, sub-Ranger pickup and GM EVs | Autoblog Podcast #618

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. Top of the list this week are the leaked photos of the 2021 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport. Then they talk about the possibility of a small Ford pickup based on the Focus, as well as all the electric vehicles Snyder saw in person at GM's "EV Day." The editors have been driving the Ram Power Wagon and Hyundai Sonata, and Palmer took Autoblog's long-term Subaru Forester to New Orleans. Finally, they help a listener choose a small luxury crossover in this week's "Spend My Money" segment. then, just as they're about to wrap up the show, they learn that the 2020 New York Auto Show has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Good times. Autoblog Podcast #618 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown 2021 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport leaked photos (and, just as we predicted, more photos) Ford shows its dealers the sub-Ranger pickup More details about everything we saw at GM's "EV Day" Driving the 2020 Ram 2500 Power Wagon Driving the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Driving our long-term 2019 Subaru Outback to New Orleans Spend My Money: Audi Q3, Volvo XC40 or Range Rover Evoque? 2020 New York International Auto Show postponed Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.