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If Cadillac’s smart, the CT5 will be a CTS without baggage

Cadillac is, mercifully, about to rationalize its lineup, something that's been a long time coming. The CTS is one of those cars that gets admiration from reviewers, like us, for a concerted effort from GM to engineer an underlying platform that matches the Germans in terms of raw dynamics. From buyers, it gets not even a shrug as they, oblivious to its existence, walk right into BMW and Mercedes dealerships. The reasons for this have a lot to do with the sheer brand recognition, and the image, of the German competitors. You can't really lay that all at GM's feet, but what you can do is critique the uninspired drivetrain selection. The 3.6-liter V6 is a crude implement, making its 335 horsepower roughly. The BMW's equivalent inline six makes its power smoothly, with modern forced induction. There's no directly comparable E-Class sedan until you get into the V-Sport versus E43 situation, but the turbo four is smooth. And the interior? No question. The Mercedes is jaw-slacking. The story for the CTS's turbo four is largely the same. Some blame also has to be leveled at the first- and second-generation CTS sedans, which adopted an odd strategy: sell a slightly larger sedan to folks looking at 3-Series, A4, and C-Class, but at about the same price. Folks weren't interested in a larger car for the same money. Despite the third-gen CTS's growth into the 5-Series size class, the CTS still seems like an odd in-betweener in the sport luxury segment – psychologically, if not physically. CTS sales are in the toilet in 2017, and GM is smart to shake things up. So with the announcement that Cadillac head honcho Johan de Nysschen has finally been allowed to kill off underperforming models, the CTS is toast. (As is the ATS, and much more importantly, the XTS – a shambling dinosaur of a sedan.) What's next is the CT5, and that's what we're interested in now. Cadillac has until 2019 to figure out what the CT5 actually is. That isn't a lot of time, so our money is on it being a repositioned, rationalized CTS. The platform's not bad; it's heavier than the larger CT6, but it's fairly modern. Sadly, it's unlikely that any of the standard powertrain options will get a revamp, but maybe some additional sound deadening or an active engine mount system to reduce NVH will quell the V6's bad habits. View 32 Photos More importantly, Cadillac will get a chance to work on the interior look, almost certainly aligning it more closely with the much improved CT6. That'll help a lot.

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

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW to test autonomous cars, Korea bans sales of BMW, Nissan, Porsche models

BMW will test autonomous cars on public roads by the second half of 2017. The German automaker, with partners Mobileye and Intel, will operate a fleet of 40 self-driving vehicles using a "scalable architecture" that will be made available to other automakers. The partners plan to offer products ranging from key components to "a complete end-to-end solution" for autonomous driving. Since parting ways with Tesla, Mobileye also recently announced it would provide its technology to Lucid Motors. For BMW, it all leads up to its fully autonomous iNext model slated for introduction in 2021. See the video above, and read more in the press release from Intel. South Korea has banned the sale of certain models from BMW, Nissan, and Porsche over emissions cheating. Following an investigation, regulators determined emissions testing documents to be falsified. The country's Ministry of Environment has fined the three automakers a total of $5.9 million, and revoked the certification of 4,523 vehicles across banned 10 models. Six of the models were still on sale, while the other four have been discontinued. Read more from Automotive News Europe. China's prices for the Cadillac CT6 Plug-in are significantly higher than those announced for the US. The plug-in hybrid version of the luxury sedan recently went on sale with the two variants priced at RMB 558,800 and RMB 658,800. At the time of this writing, that's $80,420 and $94,812. Cadillac announced it would bring the CT6 Plug-In Í– which is built in China – to the US in the spring of 2017, starting at $76,090 before federal and local tax incentives. Hybrid Cars points out that China's own generous incentives could help to make it more competitive. The offering of a charger with free installation as well as an eight-year warranty on the electric powertrain should help, too. Read more at Hybrid Cars. A Connecticut court has ruled in favor of Tesla's gallery showroom in Greenwich. Last May, the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association brought the suit to block the showroom on Greenwich Avenue, which has now been dismissed by the Connecticut Superior Court. Tesla cannot offer test drives, sell cars, or operate a Supercharger at the location, but it can sell other branded items and educate the public about its vehicles. It's possible that the issue of Tesla's direct sales model could come up again this year in Connecticut state legislature. Read more at Teslarati .