1955 Cadillac Deville on 2040-cars

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Cadillac follows Lincoln in going back to proper names

Who else is excited for the 2025 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham? Right, don't all excitedly jump up and down at the same time. May make Earth wobble. In an interview with multiple outlets (and brought to our attention by Reuters and CNET Roadshow) that mostly covered Cadillac's electrification plans, Cadillac President Steve Carlisle indicated that the brand's Euro-style alphanumeric naming strategy will mercifully be coming to an end. CNET indicates it'll correspond with the rollout of new EV models, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it happen even earlier. Lincoln's similar decision has already proven to be successful, and it's always seemed like a matter of time before Cadillac followed suit given the two brands' similar history and market segments. The current naming convention of CT(number) for cars and XT(number) for crossovers was hatched in 2014 and is widely credited to former Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen, who had previously transformed Infiniti's naming convention into something similarly Germanic. That the man previously worked at Audi should be a surprise to no one. While people have generally been confused by the switch, we can't say it's any worse than the old CTS, XTS, ATS and SRX business that came before. At least de Nysschen's system had a hierarchy. Yet, for a brand once known for grand, stately cars and equally grand, stately names like Eldorado, Seville and, yes, Escalade, a European-style alphanumeric strategy never seemed right. It was at least indicative of Cadillac's constant attempts to emulate German brands rather than setting its own, uniquely American course (as Lincoln has done recently). That the most American and successful of its lineup, the Escalade, hung onto its name through thick-and-thin speaks volumes. So, will we really be seeing that '25 Fleetwood Brougham? That does seem rather doubtful. Beyond Eldorado, there's not a lot out there in the back catalog that doesn't reek of crusty old country club luxury. Or was garbage. Perhaps sampling from Cadillac's concept car file with something like Elmiraj? Whatever it comes up with, though, how could it be worse than simultaneously selling an XT5 and XTS? Cadillac Future Vehicles Luxury

Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R named Road & Track Performance Car of the Year

With a 526-horsepower, 5.2-liter V8 that roars to 8,250 rpm, it's really hard to consider the 2016 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R an underdog in any fight. However, the Shelby held the lowest as-tested price and was only middle of the pack in terms of power in Road & Track's 2016 Performance Car of the Year challenge. The 'Stang's numbers clearly didn't tell the whole story about the potent coupe because Ford's muscle car grabbed the title in this year's test. A model needs to be new or significantly updated to be eligible for the honor, and R&T found an impressive slate of eight candidates this year. The challengers included the Bentley Continental GT3-R, Cadillac ATS-V Coupe, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper ACR, Mercedes-AMG GT S, and Porsche Cayman GT4. The Ferrari 488 GTB was the most expensive of the bunch with an as-tested price of $347,942, which is five times more than the Shelby. Once the group was together, R&T hustled them over curving roads and on the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. There was a lot to love about the Shelby, even in this impressive crew. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," editor-in-chief Larry Webster said in the announcement of the results. The GT350R joins some great company. Past winners include the Porsche 911 GT3 last year and the Corvette in 2013. For some fantastic photography and the complete appraisal of these performance machines check out R&T's website for the full story. Related Video: ROAD & TRACK NAMES THE FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT350R THE 2016 PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR New York, NY (November 9, 2015) – Road & Track today named the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R the 2016 Performance Car of the Year, beating out seven of the world's best new sports cars. The article appears in the December/January issue, on newsstands November 17, and on RoadandTrack.com. "With a flat-plane crank and Sport Cup 2 tires, the GT350R is a Mustang turned up to 11," said Larry Webster, editor-in-chief of Road & Track. "Not only does the car have soul and harness so much firepower with such ease, but the real achievement here is that it's so approachable. It's a car you can't help but love." The Mustang Shelby GT350R was the winner by a runaway vote.

Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.