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Cadillac's Butler announces surprise departure

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Cadillac's vice president of global strategic development, Don Butler, has resigned. Butler has held the position since April, after a term as vice president of US marketing for General Motor's luxury brand.
As the report explains, the timing here is pretty unfortunate for Cadillac. Butler is the third high-profile member of Cadillac's brass to depart in recent months, following the firing of US sales boss Chase Hawkins and the pending departure of Susan Docherty. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told the Detroit paper, "Bob [Ferguson]," global boss for Cadillac, "and other leaders asked him to stay on. Don's here in the office today - and told our team that his decision is purely on a personal level. After three years of putting everything into Cadillac, he is stepping away for some personal time, and to consider new avenues in his life."
Butler says his decision is part of a decision to "recalibrate, reassess my priorities." Whatever the reason, it's an unpleasant surprise for Cadillac, which has been on a surge in 2013, with 30-percent jump in sales on the heels of the hot-selling ATS.

President Trump might get to start his administration in a new Cadillac limo [UPDATE]

(UPDATE: Jalopnik is reporting an unidentified source claimed the new limo would not be featured in today's inauguration ceremony. The source did say however that the limo would join the presidential fleet later this year.) A rumor is going around that President-Elect Donald Trump will have a brand new set of wheels the day he takes office. The Cadillac Presidential Limousine, nicknamed "The Beast," was last refreshed in 2009 and led President Barack Obama's second inauguration-day parade. Cadillac could not confirm any timeline for the new presidential limo, nor could it confirm any specifics about the car nicknamed Beast 2.0. That's as expected, because details on the presidential limo are closely guarded and considered matters of national security. The outgoing original "Beast" limo marked a switch to a custom-built vehicle based on a General Motors truck frame. Previous limos were based on the actual cars they looked like. As we've seen in spy shots, The Beast 2.0 limo looks more like an Escalade SUV or CT6 sedan but is reported to be roughly the same size and shape as the old Beast, which is built on a Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC TopKick medium-duty truck chassis. AutoWeek is reporting that the new limo is set to debut for Trump's inauguration, however those reports could not be confirmed for the reasons mentioned above. The new Presidential car is expected to accommodate seven passengers in conference-style seating in the back like the current version. The Beast isn't meant for road trips, as it is mostly used to ferry the President to and from Air Force One when traveling, or on short trips around Washington D.C. That's good, considering the current limo only gets 3.7 miles per gallon. Along with multiple screens for video conferencing, The next Beast will also definitely include advanced armoring and weaponry. For security reasons, it's impossible to know the extent of those systems, but any vehicle transporting the most powerful man in the world around has to be tough. The entire process of designing and building the Presidential limo is top secret, as the Secret Service figures the less everyone knows about the Presidential Limo, the better. The new Beast, we can safely assume, is likely the safest vehicle in the world. The Secret Service began taking bids on building a replacement in 2014 because integrating all of the required armor is technically challenging.

Cadillac XT4 crossover reveals its lighting

The upcoming Cadillac XT4 compact crossover has once again been spotted, this time with less camouflage and an update to its lighting. Specifically, the little crossover is sporting production lighting front and rear, and it's sure to make the luxury SUV one of the boldest-looking Cadillacs. Part of the reason for this comes from the taillights. As we suspected from the last set of spy shots, the XT4 will have highly distinctive lights that run the full height of the C-pillar. Though it's a similar design to that of the Escalade, it's made more interesting by the significant forward rake of the rear pillar. Not only that, but that pillar is quite thick, too. The look is actually reminiscent of the old CTS wagon. Moving around the side, the reduced camouflage reveals that the doors and quarter panels are fairly conservative and lacking in many creases or bulges. We can make out the edges of what will likely be black plastic fender flares and rocker panel cladding. Finally reaching the front, we see that the headlights are similar to those of many current Cadillacs, including the recently refreshed XTS sedan. The main part of the lamp starts high up and is slightly horizontal like the Escala concept, but they extend over the fenders and a strip of LEDs descends down the front. A previous report noted the XT4 will be built in Kansas on the Chevy Malibu platform. That means it will be a front-drive-based vehicle likely offering both front- and all-wheel-drive. Under the hood will probably be at least one turbocharged four-cylinder engine, with a second, more powerful upgrade option a possibility. We expect to see the fully revealed model to show up by the end of 2018. Related Video: Featured Gallery Cadillac XT4 spy shots View 15 Photos Image Credit: Brian Williams Spy Photos Cadillac Crossover SUV Luxury cadillac xt4 cadillac xt3