2014 Cadillac Xts Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM extends vehicle production cuts into mid-March due to global chip shortage

DETROIT — General Motors said on Tuesday it was extending production cuts at three North American plants until at least mid-March due to the global semiconductor chip shortage, while vehicles at two other factories would only be partially built. GM, whose shares dipped 1% after the announcement, did not disclose the impact volumes or say which supplier and vehicle parts were affected by the chip shortage. But it said it would focus on keeping production running at plants building its highest-profit vehicles, full-size pickup trucks and SUVs. GM said it intended to make up as much lost production as possible once the shortage chip eased. "Semiconductor supply remains an issue that is facing the entire industry. GM's plan is to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products," GM spokesman David Barnas said. GM said it was extending downtime at its U.S. plant in Fairfax, Kansas, its Canadian factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, and its Mexican facility in San Luis Petosi until mid-March when it would reassess the situation, he said. In addition, GM would build but leave incomplete for final assembly vehicles at Wentzville, Missouri, and its Mexican plant at Ramos Arizpe. GM vehicles affected by the idled plants include the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, Cadillac XT4 SUV, Chevy Equinox, and GMC Terrain SUVs. Vehicles to be left incomplete for now included the Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon pickups and Chevy Blazer SUV. This week, GM had said it was idling the three factories where it has now extended downtime and said it would halve production at a plant in South Korea. The chip shortage has affected many automakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Ford, Renault, Subaru, Nissan, Honda and Mazda. Asian chipmakers are rushing to boost production but say the supply gap will take many months to plug. German chipmaker Infineon said the shortage would get worse in the near term. The chip shortage is expected to cut global output in the first quarter by more than 670,000 vehicles and last into the third quarter, IHS Markit said. AutoForecast Solutions estimated total lost production this year could reach 1 million vehicles. Honda and Nissan said on Tuesday they would sell 250,000 fewer cars in total this financial year due.

2020 Cadillac CT4 spied completely undisguised for the first time

A few weeks ago, Cadillac gave us our first look at its new small luxury sports sedan in the form of the CT4-V. This was a bit unusual considering the company hadn't shown us the regular one yet, and the reveal is still off in the not-too-distant future. But we were lucky enough to catch a normal 2020 Cadillac CT4 parked at a local gas station completely and totally undisguised. Based on what we know about other recent Cadillacs and their trim and design, this CT4 is probably a Luxury or Premium Luxury trim, since it has plenty of bright chrome and red taillights instead of dark gray ones. The differences from the CT4-V are subtle. The mesh grilles of the V are swapped for a main grille studded with small Cadillac badge shapes and the lower grille has simple slats. The little air intakes by the lower sections of the running lights are smaller than the ones on the V. This car also lacks the V's side skirts and wider canards on the edges of the front bumper. There doesn't appear to be a rear spoiler either. While we've had a good look at the exterior of the CT4, we'll have to wait until the car's full reveal later this year to know what's under the skin. We do know that it will continue to use the Alpha platform shared with the CT5, Camaro and the old ATS and CTS. We suspect the base engine will be the same 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 from the CT5, which makes 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Since the CT4-V uses a turbo 4-cylinder that makes 320 horsepower and 369 horsepower, there might not be a V6 option for the regular CT4. The CT5's twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 makes more power and torque, so that's out, and the old ATS's naturally aspirated V6 made 335 horsepower and 285 pound-feet of torque, which would be uncomfortably close the CT4-V's specs. But we could see a V6 of some sort in an even more potent V iteration of the CT4 later.

2016 Cadillac ATS-V brandishes 450 horses and 6-speed manual

Details about the hotly anticipated 2016 Cadillac ATS-V are tumbling out, and they look to be everything we could ask for in a high-performance Caddy coupe.
According to Road & Track, the ATS-V will use a version of the twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 from the CTS Vsport, but the wick will be turned up to 450 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque. In glorious news for driving enthusiasts everywhere, that potent mill will be available with either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic.
According to R&T, the engine has a heap of high-performance tech to let it make the extra ponies, including titanium connecting rods, two water-to-air intercoolers, titanium turbines for the turbos and an additional radiator dedicated to cooling the gearbox and electronically locking differential. Keeping it all planted are a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, and a suspension with 50 percent more roll stiffness.