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Cadillac's Butler announces surprise departure

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Cadillac's vice president of global strategic development, Don Butler, has resigned. Butler has held the position since April, after a term as vice president of US marketing for General Motor's luxury brand.
As the report explains, the timing here is pretty unfortunate for Cadillac. Butler is the third high-profile member of Cadillac's brass to depart in recent months, following the firing of US sales boss Chase Hawkins and the pending departure of Susan Docherty. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told the Detroit paper, "Bob [Ferguson]," global boss for Cadillac, "and other leaders asked him to stay on. Don's here in the office today - and told our team that his decision is purely on a personal level. After three years of putting everything into Cadillac, he is stepping away for some personal time, and to consider new avenues in his life."
Butler says his decision is part of a decision to "recalibrate, reassess my priorities." Whatever the reason, it's an unpleasant surprise for Cadillac, which has been on a surge in 2013, with 30-percent jump in sales on the heels of the hot-selling ATS.

GM CEO Akerson calls out Tesla, says Cadillac will compete on EVs

Cadillac will be taking on Tesla Motors, the underdog EV manufacturer that's seen heaps of critical acclaim and stock market buzz with its most recent sedan, the Model S. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," Dan Akerson, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, told media in Washington, according to The Detroit News.
Akerson continued, telling The News, "We'll sell more Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they'll lose on the Model S." He also took time to point out that Tesla getting vehicles out to customers isn't a guarantee of success or permanence, using Fisker as an example, saying "Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone."
This strong talk from Akerson comes after Doug Parks, another GM exec, let slip that the Detroit-based manufacturer has an EV in the works that will cover 200 miles per charge and only cost about $30,000, a massive upgrade over similarly priced EVs that struggle to top 100 miles per charge. Until that vehicle arrives, though, GM is preparing the Cadillac ELR, a small coupe that, like the Volt with which it shares technology, uses a gas engine as a mobile generator to recharge the batteries. Akerson took aim at Tesla again, saying, "But I do think when the ELR comes out late this year, early next - it's certainly the same postal code as Tesla, but now we're going to move up. It's not going to be a mass-produced car."

Cadillac to expand V-Series but discontinue CTS-V and ATS-V

Cadillac said Tuesday it will expand its V-Series performance sub-brand with the arrival of the CT6-V sedan in 2019 ( formerly known as the CT6 V-Sport), with plans to add high-performance variants across its portfolio. The flipside to that expansion is the sunsetting of its two existing V-Series performance cars, the ATS-V (both coupe and convertible) and CTS-V sedan. Two new unspecified sedans will slot below the CT6 in Cadillac's lineup, a spokesman said. The CT6-V will arrive next spring, roughly a year after it bowed at the New York auto show. It will feature Cadillac's new "Blackwing" V8, a twin-turbo engine that displaces 4.2 liters and produces an estimated 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, sending it through GM's new 10-speed automatic transmission to drive all four wheels. A less-aggressive version of the engine will also appear in the CT6 Platinum model, offering 500 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. "Beginning with the debut of the CTS-V Sedan in 2004, the V-Series sub-brand sparked new life into Cadillac," Mark Reuss, executive vice president and president of GM Global Automotive Group and Cadillac, said in a statement. "As a result of the overwhelming response the CT6 V-Sport received when revealed in early 2018, we've decided to formally make it a V-Series, signaling the expansion of V-Series." View 61 Photos A Cadillac spokesman tells Autoblog the 2019 model year will be the last for the ATS-V and CTS-V. The ATS-V is powered by a twin-turbo 3.6-liter V6 that's good for 464 hp and 445 lb-ft of torque, an increase of 262 hp and 173 lb-ft from the base, four-cylinder ATS, which is also set to go to pasture at the end of the 2018 model year. The CTS-V, meanwhile, boasts a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 under its carbon-fiber hood that puts out 640 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque, good for a 3.7-second 0-60 mph time and a top speed of 200 mph. In a Quick Spin review last year, Autoblog Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore called the car "old-school muscle in an Esquire-approved suit. It's 'roids and cufflinks." As for what's next for an expanded V-Series, Cadillac has the new XT4 crossover, and already other companies are banking on performance versions of crossovers. Cadillac's also developing a less expensive luxury sports sedan called the CT5. It's also said to be planning a production version of the Escala concept starting in late 2021, so those could be possibilities.