2014 Cadillac Cts Luxury Awd on 2040-cars

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Cadillac chief marketer admits ELR is 'a big disappointment'

During the Cadillac XT5 global launch in Dubai, Automobile interviewed Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus and got the CMO to touch on just about every major issue affecting the brand and the industry. After two years on the job, having come from 15 years at BMW, Ellinghaus naturally started with the "passionate Cadillac customers" and "iconic brand" spiel, then they got into a top-down look at where America's preeminent luxury brand stands. Ellinghaus said Cadillac is in a period of transition, lately focused on smaller and more performance-oriented vehicles, which has alienated a chunk of veteran customers and left others trying to figure out what Cadillac is about. He believes that "for a few more years, the products will probably be stronger than the brand," while he does his work of conveying what the company has to offer. But the brand had to make the switch, because "Generation X and Y will make 80 percent of all actual buyers in the next five years..." On top of that, he'll be working on making sure the customer and dealership experiences are where they need to be. Speaking of dealers, Ellinghaus thinks the future will not be brick-and-mortar shops, but digital pickup-and-delivery services. "Nobody wants to go to a dealership for service and maintenance," he says. He said the ELR has been "a big disappointment," but it has taught Cadillac that converting its existing line-up to plug-in hybrids is a better way forward. However, he characterized the plug-in hybrid as "the next all-wheel drive," in that everyone's going to offer it soon, so it will be "an entry ticket into luxury automobiles rather than a differentiating aspect." The CMO thinks the CTS is suffering because of the decline in the US midsize luxury sedan market in general thanks to the SUV and crossover craze, so the brand really needs another small SUV. Head over to Automobile for more of Ellinghaus' intriguing answers, like "I do believe that very long-term hydrogen is really the way," and "it's time to get real" in Europe. Taking a dig at Volkswagen on that last matter, he also said, "I think the absence of the diesel is not as much of an issue as it was eight weeks ago." Related Video:

Super Cruise’s failsafes

Even though Super Cruise is not a fully autonomous system, it incorporates redundancies like those used in aircraft to ensure failsafe operation. Before taking off on a 700-mile, 11-hour test drive of the system — and putting my life in its hands without my hands on the wheel — I sat down with Daryl Wilson, lead development engineer for Super Cruise, to get a deep dive into the system and its critical safety backups. Autoblog: First, what makes Super Cruise different from similar systems? Wilson: The key differentiator for Super Cruise is hand-free driving. It's an industry first in that respect. Our competitors require the driver at minimum to place their hands on the wheel with some frequency to ensure that the car knows that the driver is there. We don't. Two key technologies allow us to do this. One is our Driver Attention System, which is our methodology for making sure the driver is engaged with the vehicle and engaged with the road. This is a driver assist system, not a fully autonomous system. So it requires driver engagement. We use an infrared camera that constantly monitors the driver's face to determine the direction they're looking. We're looking for the driver to be what we call on-road — not on the center stack, not to left or right or down. That's all done by the tracking of the face. We also track that the eyes are open. It's infrared because at night you need to illuminate the face and you can't be shining a light into the driver's face. Then we have our lidar mapping that provides a foundation for control and redundancy to ensure safe performance. Autoblog: How does the mapping act as a redundant feature? Wilson: This system is only for use on divided, controlled access highways. What I mean by a divided highway is something more than a painted line between you and oncoming traffic. Whether that's a grassy area in between the lanes or a concrete barrier, anything that separates you from oncoming traffic. That's the divided highway part. The controlled access part is entrance ramps and exit ramps. Not with roads that cross at grade, with traffic crossing at the same level. To do that we geofenced these roads to ensure that operation is only allowed in these conditions. We don't just recommend you use it there; we ensure that you only use it there.

Cadillac CT6 loses the entry-level 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder

General Motors continues its engine rationalization among product lines. A few days after Chevrolet dropped the old-generation LTG 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from the Traverse, Cadillac has jettisoned the new-gen LSY 2.0-liter turbo four from the CT6 range. Given a look at the dealer ordering system, Cadillac Society said the 2.0-liter option shows "built out" or "no longer available," and the online configurator at the Cadillac site confirms the omission. The retired engine can be had in the XT4 crossover, rated at the same 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. This means a couple of things for the big sedan. The CT6 entry price was $50,495 before destination, but fitted with the now-base 3.6-liter six-cylinder, the entry price has gone up to $55,495. The other change is that rear-wheel drive is no longer available; the three remaining engine choices come with all-wheel drive. Those engines are the NA 3.6-liter V6 with 335 hp and 284 lb-ft of torque, a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 with 404 hp and 400 lb-ft, and coming in a few months, the detuned 4.2-liter Blackwing twin-turbo V8 with 500 hp and 574 lb-ft, down from 550 hp and 627 lb-ft. Cadillac Society thinks one of the possibilities for making the move could be that GM is having a hard time meeting demand for the 2.0-liter. That might be, but we think no matter the reason, the result puts more logical pricing between the midsize CTS/CT5 and the full-size luxury flagship. We don't know how Cadillac will price the coming CT5, but there's now an $8,005 difference between the CTS and the CT6, instead of the $4,000 gap when the 2.0-liter was a CT6 option. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, puts a $12,000 gap between the C-Class and the E-Class, a $38,000 gulf between the E-Class and the S-Class. There's a $19,000 difference between an Audi A4 and A6, a $25,000 difference between an A6 and an A8. It isn't clear if this will affect every other market where the CT6 is sold. The Canadian, Mexican, and French Cadillac site configurators don't list the 2.0-liter turbo, but the Chinese Cadillac site does.