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Hottest Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V rumored to offer manual transmissions

We recently received one large detail to fill in the picture of the hottest versions of the Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V, the sedans maybe or maybe not called Blackwing. As you know, due to a platform switch caused by cost cutting at parent GM, the 4.2-liter twin-turbo Blackwing V8 won't figure in the equation because it won't fit in the engine bay of either sedan. The new, gone-too-soon engine is too wide and too tall. The hottest V models will turn to stalwarts in the range, the CT4-V appearing to get the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 used in the departed ATS-V, the CT5-V working with the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 also put to use in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and C7 Corvette Z06. But all of this could mean good news for three-pedal enthusiasts; both engines have been paired with manual transmissions previously, and Muscle Cars & Trucks says both of the coming flagship V models will get manual transmissions. We've expected a manual in the CT4-V. Not only did GM President Mark Reuss say, "Cadillac will make manuals in V-Series" during the launch of the milder V variants, but spy video of the CT4-V from last summer captured a camouflaged CT4-V looking and acting like a car with a manual gearbox. However, no one surmised that the CT5-V would get a manual, too. None of the bigger sedan's competition is sold with a stick shift, and the retired CTS-V with the same 6.2-liter supercharged V8 was only sold with an eight-speed automatic, while just one aisle over the Camaro ZL1 offered a six-speed manual and the Corvette Z06 a seven-speed manual. The last time Cadillac put a row-your-own in the midsize luxury scorcher was the second-gen CTS-V — the one that came in a wagon bodystyle, too — which paired a supercharged LS9 V8 derived from the C6 Corvette ZR1 and a six-speed Tremec manual. MCT doesn't cite any sources, so take this as rumor for now. It's possible to read Reuss' statement in line with this rumor, though. The assumption has been that the plural "manuals" referred to multiple stick shifts going into multiple CT4-V sedans, whereas he could have meant there will be two manual-equipped sedans in the V-Series range. We'll hope for the best and see what pops out of the transmission tunnels on both sedans when they debut later this year. Related Video:

Saturn Vue ignition switch leads to new group of GM recalls totaling 312k

General Motors has another spate of recalls to announce. This time they cover 312,280 vehicles worldwide, including 269,041 of in the US, in a total of six campaigns. In 2014, the automaker has recalled 29,079,765 vehicles worldwide, with 25,754,356 of those in the US.
The largest among them covers 215,243 units of the Saturn Vue from 2002-2004 model years worldwide, 202,115 in the US. It's possible for the for the key to be removed even when the ignition isn't in the OFF position. The company knows of two crashes and one injury caused by this problem. Dealers are checking the parts and replacing the ignition cylinder and key set, if necessary.
Next is 72,826 models worldwide (48,059 vehicles in the US) of the 2013 Cadillac ATS four-door sedan, 2013 Buick Encore and 2013 Chevy Trax in Canada. It's possible that the for lap belt pretensioner to retract but not to lock, which could increase occupant movement during a crash. Both front, outboard lap belt pretensioners are being replaced, and a stop-sale is in effect on unsold models until the problem is repaired. There are no known crashes or injuries, though.

Genesis cars win accolades, offer value — so why are sales so bad?

My high-school buddy Brent Cormier was so smitten with the Genesis G80 when he saw it at an event I hosted at SXSW in 2016 he bought a used 2013 Hyundai Genesis a short time later and fell in love with the car. "It surpasses my every expectation," said Cormier, a self-described "renaissance man" who owns and runs a real estate agency with his wife Laura, is a food service executive chef and part owner of Austin-based Thin the Herd Guitars. "I was locked into Mercedes and Audi for 10 years," he added. "And felt trapped in an endless pit of maintenance costs." After owning the Genesis over the past two years — including using it as an Uber and Lyft driver to earn extra cash — Cormier learned what some frugal luxury sedan buyers and a handful of car reviewers have discovered: Genesis offers great bang for the buck compared to other premium brands and can compete with the best in terms of performance, features and comfort. Hyundai's luxury brand also earned a prominent third-party endorsement last week when for the first time Genesis topped J.D. Power's 2018 APEAL study, surpassing German luxury-performance icon Porsche. The APEAL study (which stands for Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) "measures owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement across 77 attributes," ranging from performance to comfort, and asks nearly 68,000 owners of new 2018 models to score vehicles on a 1,000-point scale. In its second year ranked as a stand-alone brand, Genesis earned an APEAL score that bumped it up 15 points to 884 and helped push it past Porsche — and past BMW, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, Land Rover and Lexus, in order of ranking. Last month, Genesis also topped J.D. Power's Initial Quality Survey (IQS) for the first time this year. And both its models were awarded Top Safety Pick Plus ratings by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, among 11 Plus ratings in all for Korean vehicles. Despite high J.D. Power rankings and great reviews, Genesis U.S. sales were off 50 percent for the first six months of 2018 compared to 2017, and in June Genesis sold only 796 vehicles — the first time U.S. numbers dropped below 1,000 in a month. Part of Genesis's APEAL and IQS success can be attributed to its small product lineup: just two models, the G80 and G90 sedans, with a third, the 2019 G70, launching later this year. And while those numbers may help in J.D.