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Cadillac boss says small SUV 'at least four years away'

Since Johan de Nysschen's takeover as brand president, there's a lot of buzz around Cadillac. Now, the brand's leader is now giving a little more clarity about when we might see some of the company's future vehicles, including its compact crossover. "Product development life cycles being what they are, I don't have a date in mind but I would estimate it is at least four years away," said de Nysschen about a small Cadillac CUV. The comments were made to Reuters during the Washington Auto Show. The vehicle is part of Cadillac's eight-model, $12 billion reinvention through 2020. Interestingly, de Nysschen told Autoblog at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show that he estimated the compact luxury CUV to arrive by early 2018. The boss also indicated that Cadillac would get a sedan to slot below the ATS some time in 2017, and the previously spied SRX replacement, possibly called the XT5, would debut in 2016. In the meantime, the company's flagship CT6 is being unveiled at the 2015 New York Auto Show in April. The wait for a luxury compact CUV makes Cadillac one of the later entries into the segment. The space is already filling with vehicles like the BMW X1, Audi Q3, Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class, Lexus NX and Lincoln MKC. Small crossovers in general seem to still be growing in sales. While building a better brand in the US, de Nysschen also wants to grow Cadillac in Europe in the future. He told Reuters that he wants diesel vehicles ready for 2019 to appeal to customers there. Some might even be offered in the US. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images Design/Style Cadillac Crossover Diesel Vehicles Luxury de nysschen

How the demise of Lincoln's Town Car has kick-started a limo revolution

The deaths of the Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car have meant overhauls of three high-profile American fleets: police, taxi and livery car. Just as police fleets are more open to considering other options and a Nissan van is the new face of the NYC taxi, livery car companies are looking at replacements for the Town Car beyond The Blue Oval. Ford, via Lincoln, has made an MKT Town Car (pictured), but an article in the Detroit News claims "it has failed to win over most of the big limousine companies." The upstarts trying to move in include livery and limo editions of the Cadillac XTS, and livery specifications of the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.
Each of those challengers, however, faces challenges. The Town Car was a workhorse, American, rear-wheel-drive sedan with plenty of rear legroom. Cadillac has been in the livery space before but with decontented models that were about selling the brand, not its luxury. It is taking the opposite approach with the XTS, pointing out that its livery edition is "contented in the upper half of the XTS range." Still, the CEO of Michigan's largest livery company says "it's quite a bit smaller than what we're used to," and he also prefers rear-wheel drive.
The Chrysler 300 is rear-wheel drive, and American, which matters to some companies, but Chrysler hasn't yet revealed the livery package for it. The livery Avalon marks Toyota's first time getting into that business in the US, a natural step after having done so well with taxi clients and with the Town Car out of the way. Still, the livery client is a different to taxi buyers, so the Avalon could face other soft-touch hurdles.

2021 Cadillac Escalade will get next-gen Super Cruise with auto lane-change

Super Cruise is getting its first big update since it was originally launched on the 2018 CT6 sedan. As that large car fades away, this new version of Super Cruise will be coming online in the 2021 CT5, CT4 and … the 2021 Escalade! Yes, ladies and gents, Cadillac is finally applying its advanced driver assistant to the iconic Escalade. The biggest change to this version of Super Cruise is a new feature called “Lane Change on Demand.” When Super Cruise is engaged, the driver can tap the turn stalk, and the car will execute a hands-free lane change if itÂ’s safe to do so. This kind of lane-change functionality is similar to that offered by other manufacturers' systems (i.e. Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, BMW). However, like the rest of Super Cruise, the car is able to complete the task with the driverÂ’s hands completely off the steering wheel so long as the driver monitor can tell that youÂ’re paying attention. Further improvements abound. “This is our most extensive update weÂ’ve made to Super Cruise since its debut,” said Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer. “We have made a number of improvements to make Super Cruise more intuitive, better performing and more accessible for our customers. In addition to the automated lane change functionality, weÂ’ve made improvements to the user interface and hands-free driving dynamics.” Cadillac says that it has gathered richer map information to make the lane change function possible and also to make turns and highway interchanges smoother. The software was also improved with the aim of gaining “better steering and speed control.” Cadillac also made the system easier to engage. It did this by allowing the operator to switch the Super Cruise system on, and then get the vehicle in a proper lane position — it automatically activates once the vehicle is positioned. Previously, the driver had to get the vehicle centered in the lane properly, and then you were allowed to switch the system on. The auto lane changing function operates similarly to other systems like it. When driving, you can either tap or fully depress the turn signal stalk. The car then looks for an acceptable opening in the indicated lane. Once found, the car begins its lane change. Within the gauge cluster, there are animations that keep the driver apprised of the lane change at all times. Once the vehicle has moved into the new lane, itÂ’ll shut the turn signal off and continue driving along.