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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

Hot Wheels partners with Gucci for a diecast 1982 Cadillac Seville. Wait, what?

Hot Wheels is partnering with Italian fashion brand Gucci for a limited-edition toy car. And not just any toy car, but a 1982 Cadillac Seville. Wait, what? At first this trio of names may seem completely incongruous, but the collaboration is actually brilliant on so many levels. Out of the three, the one readers are probably most familiar with is Hot Wheels. The purveyor of $1 diecast cars has been around since 1968 and started out making 1:64 scale versions of muscle cars, hot rods and sports cars. In the 1980s, though, perhaps reflecting the 1:1 scale American automotive landscape, some of their castings choices began to get weird. Among cars like the Dodge Aires Wagon and Chevy Citation was the US of A's Mercedes-fighter, the bustle-butt '82 Cadillac Seville.  Fast-forward to present day, and Hot Wheels are hot collectibles. The little metal cars aren't just coveted by kids and adult car enthusiasts, but hypebeasts whose entire raison d'etre is to acquire limited edition stuff. Add to that an explosion of quasi-ironic interest in '80s cultural signifiers and you have the perfect market conditions for a $120 toy car printed with the mirrored G logo. But while totally uncool jokers quickly bought out the Hot Wheels and Supreme collab featuring the hypebeast car du jour, the E30 BMW M3, the Gucci Caddy is actually far more clever. That's because there is real-world precedent, when in 1978, a Miami-area dealer partnered with Aldo Gucci to create the "Cadillac Seville designed by Gucci". The car featured the luxury brand's signature green-red-green stripes throughout, a quarter-roof padded vinyl carriage top with the trademark "GG" print, and several real 24K gold emblems that were were quickly stolen. Oh, and it came with a five-piece set of Gucci luggage. However, there was also a lesser-known Gucci Seville in 1984 based on the front-wheel-drive second-generation (the one the Hot Wheels car is based upon). There is far less information on them than on the first-generation, but they seem to have followed a similar formula. Very few seem to have survived in tact, but one did make it overseas and resides today at the Museo Gucci showroom in Florence, Italy. It's pictured above. In any case, Hot Wheels never made a 1976-79 Seville, but the '82 was one of the most memorable castings of the era.

Cadillac CT6 to be lighter than CTS, get PHEV model

Cadillac is suddenly one of the most talked about automakers in the US with Johan de Nysschen taking control. The brand claims that it eventually wants to become, once again, the standard of the world. One of the first vehicles to actually prove whether that's possible is its upcoming CT6 flagship sedan. We still don't know what the production version looks like undisguised, but other important details are falling into place. The latest big news sheds some light on the Caddy's powertrain and some estimates of its weight and size.
General Motors product chief Mark Reuss dropped the details at the automaker's Global Business Conference. According to The Detroit News, he revealed that the CT6 would use a twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission, and a plug-in hybrid would be an additional option. He reportedly claimed it would be the most "powerful six-cylinder gas engine in the segment" and said the hybrid could get around 70 miles per gallon.
Reuss also revealed that the CT6 would be about 53 pounds lighter than the current CTS, despite being about 8 inches longer, according to The Detroit News. If that's the case, the new flagship is about 203.5-inches long, which is 1.5-inches more than the XTS.