Cadillac on 2040-cars

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New presidential limo spotted in use for the first time

It has been a long lead-up to the new presidential limousine, but now it appears General Motors has "The Beast" in working order for President Donald Trump. The new limo was spotted in public for the first time this weekend in New York City in Trump's motorcade, reportedly on its way to Trump Tower. Said to have been in development since 2013, the $15.8 million armored Cadillac is making its debut as Trump's ride to the U.N. General Assembly this week. The grille suggests looks along the lines of a Cadillac CT6 V-Sport, but the similarities don't go much beyond that. If you look closely, Trump appears to be in the second "Beast" of the twin truck-based Cadillacs that go by in the video. The limo has a diesel engine to propel its near-20,000-pound self down the road, but we couldn't detect much of an oil-burner sound over those gigantic truck tires. This week in NYC will showcase motorcades and fancy presidential limos from around the world, all coming in for the big annual meeting at the U.N. Trump's presidential limos get shipped around the world too because they have their own plane: a C-17 Globemaster cargo carrier. There's no shortage of cool features on the new limo, and we detailed those here. While some of the awesome defense mechanisms are public knowledge, we're sure there are plenty that remain classified. New model presidential limo noticed awaiting Pres Trump at Wall Street heliport. Photo by @stevebruskCNN pic.twitter.com/lEytRcJ9rt — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) September 23, 2018 Featured video:

General Motors could turn Hamtramck into its electric pickup, SUV hub

Electric off-roaders could revitalize the Detroit-Hamtramck factory that General Motors previously announced it will close. While official details remain shrouded in secrecy, analysts believe the plant will be re-tooled to manufacture at least three electric models due out during the early 2020s. The plant's scheduled closure was one of the grievances the United Auto Workers (UAW) union cited when it embarked on a 40-day strike in September 2019. General Motors agreed to keep it open without shedding much light on what it planned to build there. Analyst at LMC Automotive told the The Detroit News they believe an often-rumored electric SUV that will resurrect Hummer's name, image, or both will be one of the models assigned to the Hamtramck plant. Battery-powered variants of the GMC Sierra and the Cadillac Escalade will be made there, too, as will an enigmatic van. LMC Automotive's Jeff Schuster believes the van will come first; it could enter production as early as 2021. The Hummer — which might also be offered as a pickup — will follow before the end of 2022, while the Sierra and the Escalade will both arrive in 2023. We're taking this report with a grain of salt, though, because only one of the aforementioned models has been announced by General Motors. Rumors of a Hummer resurrection emerged in the summer of 2019, just a few weeks before we heard unverified reports of a battery-powered variant of the next-generation Escalade. General Motors confirmed plans to enter the burgeoning electric pickup truck segment, which Ford, Rivian, and Tesla also have their sights on, but it hasn't detailed how or when. The van is a mystery. General Motors refused to comment on the report. It previously announced it will keep Hamtramck open, and invest $3 billion to build electric vehicles there. The investment will create 2,225 jobs. Inaugurated in February 1985, the Hamtramck factory has churned out a diverse selection of models over the past 34 years, including Cadillac's Eldorado, Seville, and Allante, the Oldsmobile Toronado, the Buick Riviera, and more recently, gasoline-electric Chevrolet Volt. General Motors announced plans to close Hamtramck in 2018, but it quickly backpedaled and extended its lease on life until 2020 by keeping the Chevrolet Impala and the Cadillac CT6 around for a few additional months.

Cadillac follows Lincoln in going back to proper names

Who else is excited for the 2025 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham? Right, don't all excitedly jump up and down at the same time. May make Earth wobble. In an interview with multiple outlets (and brought to our attention by Reuters and CNET Roadshow) that mostly covered Cadillac's electrification plans, Cadillac President Steve Carlisle indicated that the brand's Euro-style alphanumeric naming strategy will mercifully be coming to an end. CNET indicates it'll correspond with the rollout of new EV models, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it happen even earlier. Lincoln's similar decision has already proven to be successful, and it's always seemed like a matter of time before Cadillac followed suit given the two brands' similar history and market segments. The current naming convention of CT(number) for cars and XT(number) for crossovers was hatched in 2014 and is widely credited to former Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen, who had previously transformed Infiniti's naming convention into something similarly Germanic. That the man previously worked at Audi should be a surprise to no one. While people have generally been confused by the switch, we can't say it's any worse than the old CTS, XTS, ATS and SRX business that came before. At least de Nysschen's system had a hierarchy. Yet, for a brand once known for grand, stately cars and equally grand, stately names like Eldorado, Seville and, yes, Escalade, a European-style alphanumeric strategy never seemed right. It was at least indicative of Cadillac's constant attempts to emulate German brands rather than setting its own, uniquely American course (as Lincoln has done recently). That the most American and successful of its lineup, the Escalade, hung onto its name through thick-and-thin speaks volumes. So, will we really be seeing that '25 Fleetwood Brougham? That does seem rather doubtful. Beyond Eldorado, there's not a lot out there in the back catalog that doesn't reek of crusty old country club luxury. Or was garbage. Perhaps sampling from Cadillac's concept car file with something like Elmiraj? Whatever it comes up with, though, how could it be worse than simultaneously selling an XT5 and XTS? Cadillac Future Vehicles Luxury