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Cadillac goes white-out on social media as prelude to Oscars announcement [w/video]

Cadillac appears to be in a very odd place at the moment. On one hand, Johan De Nysschen is pushing the company towards a much more luxurious image that includes converting 700 dealers into boutiques, and a blitz of new products is also supposed to be on the way in the coming years. However, at the moment sales aren't necessarily keeping pace with production, and there are reportedly heavy incentives available on some models. Now, we're seeing the earliest hint at the next strike in the brand's strategy as its social media presence goes white across the web. Go check out Cadillac's official pages on the major social media hubs, and all you can find is blank space. There's just a period on Twitter, a blank box on Facebook, another one on Instagram and the company logo is even gone from Pinterest. Perhaps most bizarre is YouTube, where Caddy is showing five minutes of absolutely nothing (embedded below) with no sound at all. The video description is only a period. All of this nothingness is supposed to be a lead-up to Cadillac unveiling a completely new advertising campaign during the Oscars on February 22. This method of blanking everything out beforehand could suggest a minimal, to-the-point message in the future. While it wouldn't be shocking for a few teasers to come out in the meantime, Caddy is keeping quite a secret before the big reveal.

Canada opens probe into 250,000 GM pickups, SUVs over brake performance

Transport Canada, the auto safety regulator, has opened a probe into braking issues in nearly 250,000 General Motors full-size pickups and SUVs after U.S. officials launched a similar probe last year, the agency said on its website. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in November into 2.73 million U.S. 2014-2016 model year SUVs and pickups after receiving 487 reports of hard brake pedal effort accompanied by extended stopping distance that were attributed to deterioration of the engine-driven brake assist vacuum pump. Transport Canada's probe covers 249,700 2015 through 2017 model year vehicles including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon as well as 2014-2017 Chevrolet Silverado LD and GMC Sierra LD vehicles. The U.S. agency said it had reports of nine incidents of vehicles incurring damage as a result of colliding with another vehicle or fixed object at low speeds and reports of two injuries. NHTSA said if the pump fails to operate, the amount of brake power assist can be significantly reduced, extending vehicle stopping distance. The NHTSA sent GM an information request in a Feb. 7 letter. A GM spokesman said he had no update on the investigation. Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis

President Trump might get to start his administration in a new Cadillac limo [UPDATE]

(UPDATE: Jalopnik is reporting an unidentified source claimed the new limo would not be featured in today's inauguration ceremony. The source did say however that the limo would join the presidential fleet later this year.) A rumor is going around that President-Elect Donald Trump will have a brand new set of wheels the day he takes office. The Cadillac Presidential Limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," was last refreshed in 2009 and led President Barack Obama's second inauguration-day parade. Cadillac could not confirm any timeline for the new presidential limo, nor could it confirm any specifics about the car nicknamed Beast 2.0. That's as expected, because details on the presidential limo are closely guarded and considered matters of national security. The outgoing original "Beast" limo marked a switch to a custom-built vehicle based on a General Motors truck frame. Previous limos were based on the actual cars they looked like. As we've seen in spy shots, The Beast 2.0 limo looks more like an Escalade SUV or CT6 sedan but is reported to be roughly the same size and shape as the old Beast, which is built on a Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC TopKick medium-duty truck chassis. AutoWeek is reporting that the new limo is set to debut for Trump's inauguration, however those reports could not be confirmed for the reasons mentioned above. The new Presidential car is expected to accommodate seven passengers in conference-style seating in the back like the current version. The Beast isn't meant for road trips, as it is mostly used to ferry the President to and from Air Force One when traveling, or on short trips around Washington D.C. That's good, considering the current limo only gets 3.7 miles per gallon. Along with multiple screens for video conferencing, The next Beast will also definitely include advanced armoring and weaponry. For security reasons, it's impossible to know the extent of those systems, but any vehicle transporting the most powerful man in the world around has to be tough. The entire process of designing and building the Presidential limo is top secret, as the Secret Service figures the less everyone knows about the Presidential Limo, the better. The new Beast, we can safely assume, is likely the safest vehicle in the world. The Secret Service began taking bids on building a replacement in 2014 because integrating all of the required armor is technically challenging.