1989 Cadillac Coupe Deville on 2040-cars

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Will attaching the electrodes re-animate Cadillac?

This announcement last week from General Motors —"Cadillac will be GM's lead electric vehicle brand"— followed quickly by the surprise reveal Sunday night of a Cadillac EV crossover, leads one to wonder whether this is a case of GM pulling out the defibrillator and hoping a full-on jolt of electricity will revive Cadillac from its ongoing diminution in the market. In 2018, Cadillac U.S. sales were 154,702 vehicles, which was down from the 156,440 it had sold in 2017. And the 2017 sales were down significantly from the 170,006 vehicles delivered by Cadillac in 2016. And that is down from the 175,267 sales of 2015. Sure, part of Cadillac's problem — one shared by some other OEMs — is that its sedans aren't selling. But if we put those to the side, realize that in 2018 sales of the venerable Escalade were down by 2.2 percent. Admittedly, that rig is a little old in the grille, and it's suddenly gotten strong competition from the Lincoln Navigator, so a sales decline isn't too surprising. But the XT5, the compact lux vehicle that was launched in 2016 as a model-year 2017 product, had an 11.3 percent decline in a segment that is doing nothing but growing. This is not promising. Although the argument at GM HQ might be that Cadillac can reinvent itself as a Tesla fighter, one of the things that isn't often noted about Tesla vis-a-vis other OEMs is that while sedan sales are generally down, Tesla, which had an estimated 2018 sales volume of 197,680 (according to Cleantechnica.com), made its numbers primarily with the Model 3 and Model S, both sedans, as it has just the Model X crossover. So it isn't just about vehicle architecture. It is going to take more than an electric SUV to change Cadillac's performance. But here's where circumstances can fall in Cadillac's favor. Scale can be highly beneficial to Cadillac versus Tesla. The Chinese market, even though it is weakening of late, will be largely predicated on "New Energy Vehicles," which means electrified and fully electric. And while Tesla only just now broke ground on a factory in China, LMC Automotive reports that as of December 2018, SAIC GM is already well-established there and is the third-largest vehicle manufacturer in China (behind SAIC Volkswagen and FAW Volkswagen). Cadillac is going to be able to take advantage of GM's global efforts in developing EVs, so soon the Cadillac showroom could be filled with an array of luxury EVs that may make even Tesla loyalists take another look.

2020 Cadillac CT5 loses the fake scoop

Well folks, the inevitable has happened. The 2020 Cadillac CT5 luxury sports sedan prototype has shed its hood scoop. Yes, we're as disappointed as you are that instead of being outrageous and brash, Cadillac is still going to try to be classy, understated and luxurious when it comes to its mainline models. And yes, we're being sarcastic here ... but there's a part of us that would kind of like to see the scoop survive. Anyway, the good news is that the scoop is only one of a few bits of fake bodywork and camouflage that the CT5 has shed. As such, we get our best look yet at the new Cadillac sedan, and it looks pretty good. The grille is very wide and not nearly as tall as the prominent prows of current Cadillacs. It actually doesn't even look as tall as the grille of the Escala concept that inspired the CT5's design. The profile of the CT5 isn't too radically different from existing Caddies, with a long hood and a short trunk. It is still a conventional sedan, though, and not a sedan-like hatchback like the Kia Stinger and Audi A5 Sportback and A7. This is evident by the open trunk lid our spy photographer caught. The taillights also continue to be slim and vertical, though we can't quite tell if they will have a horizontal elements at the bottom like on the XTS and XT4. The car also has very bold and thick angular exhaust tips. We expect the CT5 will go into production in 2019 as a 2020 model, and it will likely take the place of both the CTS and ATS, but not be much smaller than the CTS. It will likely use versions of existing Cadillac engines including the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V6, and twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. We wouldn't rule out the 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8 for a potential CT5-V in the future. Related Video:

Cadillac Elmiraj sedan RWD flagship finally caught testing

While we still have no insight as to it being named Elmiraj, STS or some other permutation of the -TS nomenclature ("LTS" has apparently been registered by GM, as well), new spy shots give us proof positive that Cadillac is indeed hard at work on a rear-wheel-drive flagship model. Spied for the very first time in some north country testing, these shots provide a first look at the upcoming range-topper from Cadillac.
Impressively long and large bodywork ride atop new General Motors' corporate Omega rear-drive architecture here. Heavy cladding over camouflage may discourage finding any details, but the overall, sharp-edged and blocky design is clearly reminiscent of what we've seen on the new CTS and the recently debuted ATS coupe. A strong, wheels-at-each-corner stance helps emphasize the length of this stretched Caddy, and everything about the proportions seem spot-on for a new fullsize flagship for the brand.
It's quite possible that Cadillac will ultimately festoon this large sedan with detailing reminiscent of the original Elmiraj coupe, though thus far we've only seen prototypes wearing four-doors.