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Confident new Cadillac marketing boss ready to take on Tesla, BMW

When there's a former BMW executive heading Cadillac's efforts to boost sales of its only plug-in, it's a pretty safe guess that the marketing emphasis won't be on environmental friendliness and tree-hugging tendencies. The General Motors luxury brand has appointed ex-Bimmer executive Uwe Ellinghaus to be its marketing chief late last year, and the German-born Ellinghaus is now saying that he's targeting potential customers of Tesla Motors, in addition to BMW, for potential growth in sales of the Cadillac ELR extended-range plug-in. Appointed to Cadillac's head of marketing last November, Ellinghaus recently told Advertising Age that GM needs to highlight the Cadillac's looks and performance. He complimented Tesla for putting more emphasis on those attributes in the Model S than on its lack of emissions or lack of refueling costs (but Tesla hasn't shied away from highlighting the EV's savings). Ellinghaus says that trying to gear advertising "for people who are tree-huggers and green-wash an entire brand" won't be successful. You don't say. So far, the ELR hasn't made much of a dent in US car sales. Through May, Cadillac, which spent about $280 million on all of its US marketing last year, sold 293 units, whereas Tesla had been approaching the 11,000-unit figure for the Model S. With that in mind, Cadillac may be working on a sportier version of the ELR, as spy shots of a test vehicle from May revealed larger brakes and wheels. You can read our First Drive impressions of the ELR here.

Takata air bag recall list

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed yesterday that 33.8 million vehicles with Takata airbags are going to be recalled. It's the largest recall in automotive history. The already record-breaking rate of automotive recalls this year shows no signs of slowing down, especially since millions of cars with defective airbags made by global supplier Takata are under ongoing scrutiny. The federal government is warning owners that inflator mechanisms in the air bags can rupture, causing metal fragments to fly out when the bags are deployed. The faulty air bags have already been blamed for multiple deaths. How do you know if your vehicle is safe? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released an updated list of vehicles under recall. Sometimes however, the government's website will crash and the list may not be complete. Check your VIN at the NHTSA website to make sure. The list of cars affected by the recall has not been released, but seem to span multiple models over the years for many of the automakers.

Pure black BMW i8 hydrogen fuel cell prototype on the track

Largely coated in matte black paint with just a few touches of dark blue contrast, the BMW hydrogen fuel cell-powered i8 prototype looks stealthy just sitting still. Now, that ninja-like styling is taking to the track in this video to prove that its performance doesn't come with much noise. The quiet hum of the tires and an odd whir from the rear are all that you hear coming. As this i8 prototype picks up speed around the circuit, the sounds that the drivetrain makes just get weirder. When moving slowly, you can pick out the usual whine that's expected from conventional electric vehicles. However at higher velocities, the coupe almost makes a noise like its constantly exhaling. Along with the recently unveiled BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo hydrogen-fueled concept, this sneaky looking i8 is part of BMW's technological push to become a greener automaker. The company is also prototyping a turbocharged engine with water injection and new plug-in hybrid powertrains. Although this low-slung coupe is by far the most attractive of that bunch. We might not be too far away from actually seeing this tech on sale on models bearing the Bavarian brand's roundel, either. Thanks to collaboration with Toyota, the company wants to have fuel cell components ready by 2020, and sales could start early in the decade. Hopefully all of the company's FCEVs look as menacingly great as this i8 by that time, though.