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2021 Cadillac Escalade will get next-gen Super Cruise with auto lane-change

Super Cruise is getting its first big update since it was originally launched on the 2018 CT6 sedan. As that large car fades away, this new version of Super Cruise will be coming online in the 2021 CT5, CT4 and … the 2021 Escalade! Yes, ladies and gents, Cadillac is finally applying its advanced driver assistant to the iconic Escalade. The biggest change to this version of Super Cruise is a new feature called “Lane Change on Demand.” When Super Cruise is engaged, the driver can tap the turn stalk, and the car will execute a hands-free lane change if itÂ’s safe to do so. This kind of lane-change functionality is similar to that offered by other manufacturers' systems (i.e. Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, BMW). However, like the rest of Super Cruise, the car is able to complete the task with the driverÂ’s hands completely off the steering wheel so long as the driver monitor can tell that youÂ’re paying attention. Further improvements abound. “This is our most extensive update weÂ’ve made to Super Cruise since its debut,” said Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer. “We have made a number of improvements to make Super Cruise more intuitive, better performing and more accessible for our customers. In addition to the automated lane change functionality, weÂ’ve made improvements to the user interface and hands-free driving dynamics.” Cadillac says that it has gathered richer map information to make the lane change function possible and also to make turns and highway interchanges smoother. The software was also improved with the aim of gaining “better steering and speed control.” Cadillac also made the system easier to engage. It did this by allowing the operator to switch the Super Cruise system on, and then get the vehicle in a proper lane position — it automatically activates once the vehicle is positioned. Previously, the driver had to get the vehicle centered in the lane properly, and then you were allowed to switch the system on. The auto lane changing function operates similarly to other systems like it. When driving, you can either tap or fully depress the turn signal stalk. The car then looks for an acceptable opening in the indicated lane. Once found, the car begins its lane change. Within the gauge cluster, there are animations that keep the driver apprised of the lane change at all times. Once the vehicle has moved into the new lane, itÂ’ll shut the turn signal off and continue driving along.

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Cadillac Catera

GM's Cadillac Division was having a tough time in the early 1990s, with an onslaught of Lexuses and Infinitis pouring across the Pacific to steal their younger customers while high-end German manufacturers picked off their older customers. Flying an S-Class-priced model between assembly lines in Turin and Hamtramck hadn't worked out, so why not look to the European outposts of the far-flung GM Empire for the next Cadillac? That's how the Catera was born, and I have found a rare first-year example in a North Carolina car graveyard. Across the Atlantic, GM's Opel and Vauxhall were doing good business with prosperous European car buyers by selling them the sleek rear-wheel-drive Omega B (whose platform also lived beneath the Holden VT Commodore in Australia). Here was a genuine German design that competed with success against BMW and Audi on their home turf! So, the Omega B was Americanized and renamed the Catera. Opel wasn't a completely unknown brand to Americans at the time, since its cars were sold here with their own badging through Buick dealerships from the middle 1950s through the late 1970s (for a much shorter period, American Pontiac dealers attempted to sell Vauxhalls). Even after that, plenty of Opel DNA showed up in the products of U.S.-market GM divisions. The Catera was by far the most affordable Cadillac for 1997, with an MSRP starting at $29,995 (about $59,113 in 2024 dollars). Being a genuine German car, it looked much more convincingly European than the DeVille ($36,995), Eldorado ($37,995) and Seville ($39,995). Inspired by the ducks on the Cadillac emblem (they were really supposed to be martlets, mythical birds with no feet and occasionally lacking beaks), Cadillac's marketers went after youthful car shoppers with a whimsical animated duck named Ziggy. For the 21st century, the birds were removed from the Cadillac emblem in order to attract California buyers under 45 years of age. As we all know, the Catera flopped hard in the marketplace. What sold well in Europe turned out not to translate so well in in North America, especially when bearing the badges of such a historically prestigious brand. The Catera's engine was a 54-degree 3.0-liter V6 rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet. Just as had been the case with its predecessor, the Allante, no manual transmission was available.

Cadillac moving back to Detroit after four years in New York City

After four years in New York City, The Wall Street Journal reports that Cadillac is moving its headquarters back to Detroit. This comes about four months after former head Johan de Nysschen was ousted from the automaker for a variety of reasons, including slumping sales and a product line not in concert with consumer tastes. It's also months after a Cadillac spokesperson told The Detroit Free Press that "It's 100 percent that we're staying [in New York City], that was never a question." Let's be clear about this, the move to New York was not Cadillac's biggest issue. As contributing editor James Riswick reminded us this morning, "the decision to sell three similarly sized large sedans, a variety of obsessive BMW-fighting cars, and only one crossover was not done while they were in New York." That was all planned years ago, before de Nysschen ever joined the company. He may not have righted the ship, but he didn't set it on its course. Note that the XT4, Caddy's second crossover after the SRX-replacing XT5, is just now hitting the market. The move to Manhattan was meant to give Cadillac more autonomy and put its leadership in a place where they could get a sense of what a luxury car buyer wants and needs. Detroit is great, but it can be an echo chamber, especially in a company as large and storied as General Motors. The problem is that Cadillac still relies heavily on Detroit and that poor communication was slowing development, according to the report. Steve Carlisle, a long-time GM employee, took over the brand after de Nysschen was let go. He and more than 100 others work in New York. Related Video: