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Cadillac CT6 V-Sport wants to take prisoners with 550-hp 4.2L TT V8

With the refresh of the Cadillac CT6 for 2019, Cadillac welcomes the first CT6 V-Sport as well as a new trim strategy. The changes at the front for the CT6 lineup don't appear substantial viewed head-on, one needs a side view to appreciate the greater three-dimensionality. Thinner headlights and a thinner bumper above a slightly larger lower front intake emphasize the mesh grille, and the vertical LED DRLs make more dramatic statements thanks to those narrower headlights. By angling the main units back toward the rear of the sedan, the CT6 now has a certified, sculpted snout. The rework appears to add substantial overhang, but overall length only increases by a tenth of an inch, to 204.1 inches. What's under the V-Sport's probing hood is just as interesting as the redesign and the sporting thrust: A clean-sheet design of a 4.2-liter DOHC twin-turbo V8. In the V-Sport, the engine produces 550 horsepower and a Bentley-esque 627 pound-feet of torque. As an optional engine elsewhere in the CT6 range, the same engine produces 500 hp and 553 lb-ft. The displacement, specs, plus the fact that "each engine will be hand-built at the Performance Build Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky" indicate this was one of the rumored powerplants for the mid-engine Corvette. The coming sports car was tipped to get a 4.2-liter and 5.5-liter DOHC twin-turbo V8. Based on the position of the turbos in this engine vs. their positions in the previous CAD drawings, we assume the drawings represented the 5.5-liter. (Note: Cadillac said Corvette will not get the new 4.2-liter twin-turbo engine.) The 4.2-liter item features an aluminum block, heads, and pistons, direct injection with a 9.8:1 compression ratio, cylinder deactivation, cylinder oil jets, and a variable-pressure oil system. The twin-scroll turbochargers capable of 20 pounds of boost sit in the 90-degree vee, working alongside twin water-to-air intercoolers, twin throttle bodies, and twin electric wastegates. Cadillac says 90 percent of torque arrives at 2,000 rpm and loiters through 5,200 rpm. Power gets sent through GM's 10L90 ten-speed automatic transmission and on to the standard all-wheel-drive system. Cadillac didn't list 0-to-60-mph times in its press release, but engineers have track-worthy alacrity in mind for the CT6 V-Sport.

Cadillac sales chief fired over policy violation

Amidst a good year for Cadillac, which is experiencing higher sales gains than any other US brand this year, the US sales chief has been fired over a policy violation, Automotive News reports.
The sales chief, Chase Hawkins, "has left effective immediately," GM spokesman David Caldwell told Automotive News. Caldwell went on to say that Hawkins' replacement would be chosen soon.
Hawkins became the US sales chief in June 2012, and before that was the regional sales director for Cadillac in the Northeast US, overseeing 168 dealerships.

Johan de Nysschen tells his side of the story

Automobile snagged time with ex-Cadillac, Infiniti, and Volkswagen of America boss Johan de Nysschen. General Motors decided to part ways with de Nysschen on April 18, 2018, after the German spent four years in charge of America's luxury brand. The longtime auto exec is a polarizing figure for enthusiasts, who seem to take a mostly negative view of his work at Infiniti and Cadillac. However, there's no denying de Nysschen is frank, and in the Automobile interview he puts an insider's perspective on a big bag of issues we can only speculate on. One of the biggest bombshells in the interview was that it wasn't de Nysschen's idea to move Cadillac to New York: "When I was recruited, I was informed that the company would relocate to New York," he said. Previous GM CEO Dan Ackerson had made the decision before hiring de Nysschen, then Ackerson let his new hire make the announcement. The big change came only two years after de Nysschen had taken over Infiniti after insisting Nissan's luxury brand move to Hong Kong. De Nysschen explained Cadillac's NYC move with the same rationale as Infiniti's Hong Kong move, so everyone assumed the new guy was doing his usual. He explains in the interview that after the move, "Folks who rooted for Detroit felt betrayed. Cadillac had an enemy." And that became a problem. He has nothing bad to say about GM or Cadillac, believing on the contrary that "GM is in a good position going forward." But he brought clarity to some of Cadillac's struggles. Among the issues was GM's "very vigorous" post-bankruptcy test for green-lighting a project. Another was the lack of specialization for the luxury arm. "Engines were generically developed with the Chevy brand in mind," he said, "and, then, 'Okay, well, yeah, it's good enough for Cadillac.'" That carried over into haphazard technology rollouts. "GM didn't have a specific technology roadmap aligned to particular brands," he said. "The process was, as they were developing new technologies, they would look at what product's launch date would be aligned with the maturation date and market readiness of a technology and go with it, whether Buick, Chevy, or what have you." De Nysschen worked to end such generalized approaches, which is how we get Cadillac taking the GM lead on technology and electrification.