2023 Cadillac Ct5 V-series on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM admits Cadillac ELR no real competition for Tesla Model S

Last year, then-CEO of General Motors, Dan Akerson, made it clear that the company lookouts at the Ren Cen had California automaker Tesla in their sights. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," he said. So, given the fact that the Cadillac ELR has a plug and sells for roughly the same price at the Tesla Model S ($75,000 vs $69,900, before incentives) and that Cadillac doesn't have any other electric vehicle on the horizon, you'd be forgiven if you thought that the way that Akerson wanted to challenge Tesla's EV success was with the ELR. Well, you'd apparently be wrong. "The ELR is a different car, it's a different price point. It's way-different technology." - GM's Mark Reuss Speaking yesterday in Detroit, GM's head of global product development, Mark Reuss, admitted that the ELR is not the Tesla competitor that Akerson promised. "People like to say the ELR is [competition for the Model S], but it's really not. It's a different car, it's a different price point. It's way-different technology." So, if we follow that logic to conclusion with Akerson's quote from last year, then the only way that Cadillac can eventually compete with Tesla is with a pure electric car, and that seems an outside chance, at best, for the foreseeable future. Through the end of July, Cadillac has sold 578 ELRs since it went on sale earlier this year. Tesla doesn't break out monthly US sales, but has sold 15,114 Model S EVs around the world in the first six months of 2014. For his part, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already said that GM is headed down the wrong path with plug-in hybrids like the ELR or the Chevy Volt. Speaking about the Volt last year, Musk said, Chevy "sort of created something that's a bit of amphibian," which resulted in a car that's, "Okay but not great."

Cadillac Escalade reportedly getting 200-hp bump from supercharger

Cadillac is preparing to supercharge the Escalade, according to a recent report. The body-on-frame General Motors SUVs that it shares its basic underpinnings with are allegedly in line to receive a big increase in power, too. Released for the 2021 model year, the fifth-generation Escalade eschewed downsizing and launched with a 6.2-liter V8 as its standard engine. It develops 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque when it's naturally aspirated, and Motor Trend learned from an anonymous source that the optional supercharger will increase the first figure to anywhere between 600 and 625. The eight's torque output will undoubtedly go up, too. The supercharged Escalade won't outgun the sold-out Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, which gets 710 horses, but it will pack a serious punch. It doesn't sound like the V8 will require significant modifications to handle the extra power because the supercharger kit will likely be installed by dealers, not on the assembly line. This strongly suggests that it's more of a bolt-on job than one that requires taking the engine out and apart to install stronger connecting rods and forged pistons, for example. ECU tweaks will be part of the package, too, and the fuel delivery system may require some upgrades. Interestingly, Motor Trend learned from Texas-based Hennessey that the SUV's ECU is locked to tuners, which adds credibility to the report. Motorists who want more power will need to go through official sales channels, then. Bigger brakes and a firmer suspension won't be part of the package — at least not yet. The same source outlined a true high-performance evolution of the body-on-frame behemoth that will be quicker and tighter to drive. Oddly, it's not being developed by the engineers in charge of Cadillac's V-branded models, according to the report. If the report is accurate, we'll learn more about the supercharged Cadillac Escalade in the coming months, and it might go on sale in time for the 2022 model year. Expect the supercharger to come with a four-digit price tag. Chevrolet's Tahoe/Suburban and GMC's Yukon/Yukon XL will reportedly be available with a supercharger, too.

Reuss says Cadillac CT6-based Buick could happen

Could the upcoming Cadillac CT6 and its Omega platform spawn a Buick variant? According to General Motors' product chief Mark Reuss, it could potentially be in the cards, but "not yet." "We're working on that," Reuss told Automotive News at the 2015 New York Auto Show. While there hasn't been a large, rear-drive Buick on dealerships since the Roadmaster in 1996, the company gave a big hint that it could head in that direction with the Avenir Concept, shown earlier this year at the Detroit Auto Show. As Automotive News explains, a rear-drive Omega-platform Buick could be a real hit in China, where consumers buy 13 Buicks for every one Cadillac. That move would be a big help to GM's bottom line, too, as it'd significantly increase the Omega platform's economy of scale. If a large Buick based on the CT6 were to head to China, though, it likely wouldn't be a simple case of badge engineering (thank God). Reuss hinted to Automotive News that while the mixed-material construction of the CT6 platform "is very flexible," doing an "identical version of that platform or not is a different conversation." What are your thoughts? Should Buick adopt the Omega platform for an Avenir-based sedan? Should that vehicle be sold here in the US, or should it be a China-only offering? Have your say in Comments. Related Video: