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Why does this Cadillac fob seem to be for a mid-engine roadster?

Is GM bringing back its Caddied-up Corvette sibling, the Cadillac XLR — only this time based on the mid-engine Corvette? That's the question posed by photos of a wedge-shaped Cadillac key fob someone provided to The Drive. The buttons show a trunk — and also a frunk. So, mid-engine, unless the fob goes with an EV that has its motors and other electrical bits scattered to the wheels and elsewhere. Also, there's a button to operate a droptop. And the car profile on the fob is Corvette-like. All of which makes for some pretty great speculation. Except that Cadillac's way back from the failures of its sedan-centric lineup was thought to be through SUVs such as the new XT4 compact crossover, the XT5 and the somewhere-in-testing three-row XT6. Plus, the XLR, which was produced between 2003 and 2009, hit its sales peak in 2005 of just 3,730 cars, or about one-tenth the sales volume of the Corvette. So it's hard to imagine there's a vast untapped market out there for the luxury roadster — plus the XLR's demographic of well-to-do grandpas is dying off, or at least thinks it is. So a resurrected XLR would seem to be an unlikely savior. A lot's happening with GM's luxury brand — the debut of the XT4 at long last, a new boss, a thinning of the sedan herd but expansion of the V's, a backtrack to Detroit after its New York sojourn, the cash-cow Escalade under direct assault from the fine new Lincoln Navigator, and the impressive performance of its Super Cruise technology. But an XLR? So what is this fob's story? The Drive speculates it's a universal test fob and the buttons don't necessarily mean a thing, or that somebody stuck a Caddy emblem on it just to yank our chains. Who's to say. What would you like it to mean? Related Video:

Cadillac SRX likely to see next-gen built in China

Here's some shocking news to no one: People love crossovers, including those living in China. Since introducing the Cadillac SRX there in 2009, the model's sales have gone through the roof. Now, the brand is considering moving some production of the next-generation model in China to eliminate import tariffs and make it an even bigger player in the market.
According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, the crossover is leading Cadillac's Chinese growth, despite its US-equivalent price of over $67,000 after the country's high import tariffs. The CUV's sales are up 23 percent there so far this year, and it's responsible for over 40 percent of the brand's sales. John Stadwick, General Motors' VP of sales, service and marketing in China, told the WSJ that GM could "very possibly" build the next-gen model there.
The SRX is Cadillac's golden goose in China, and it just keeps pushing the brand's sales forward. "It's the vehicle that took us out of being a small niche in the market," said David Caldwell, Cadillac Communications Manager, to Autoblog. Before the CUV, Caddy was selling a little over 20,000 cars a year there, but partially thanks to the crossover's success, the brand sold 50,000 vehicles last year and could reach 60,000 this year. "The SRX is the most popular Cadillac in that market," he said.

GM to add 1,200 workers at 2 Michigan factories

DETROIT — General Motors is adding 1,200 jobs at two Michigan factories to build midsize SUVs and two new luxury sedans. GM said Friday that its Lansing Delta Township plant will get a third shift and 800 more workers to build the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave SUVs, which have three rows of seats. The Lansing Grand River plant will get a second shift and 400 more workers to build two new Cadillac sedans, the CT4 and CT5. Employees laid off at other GM factories will fill the new jobs first, then workers will be added, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The company has not determined yet how many new people will be needed, he said. Both additional shifts will start working sometime between April and June, the company said. Lansing Delta Township now employs about 2,500 salaried and blue-collar workers, while the Grand River plant has 1,400. GM sold more than 147,000 Traverse SUVs in the U.S. last year, a 0.4% increase from 2018. Enclave sales were up 3% to just over 51,000, according to Autodata Corp. Related Video: