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Akerson says Cadillac will get a larger sedan within two years

It seems that during a recent affair showing off the 2014 Cadillac CTS, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson confirmed reports regarding a new Cadillac flagship sedan. According to USA Today, which Akerson was visiting, he said that a sedan larger than the XTS would debut within the next two years.
This matches up with what we heard earlier in the month about a Cadillac model that will go up against the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class (not a pricier, low-volume sedan also discussed in that article). But this is the first time a high-profile executive name has been attributed to such a report, and the first time a broad timeframe has been mentioned. This article adds that the unnamed car will be rear-, and all-wheel drive with a platform "loosely based" on the new CTS, with styling closer to that car than recent Cadillac concept vehicles. The XTS will continue production of course, as well.

Timely hole-in-one wins high schooler a Cadillac or $50,000

If it happens at all, many golfers knock in hole-in-ones in the quiet of a mediocre local course while three friends sit in their carts drinking Coors Lights. After dreaming of the moment for years, lucky golfers barely have time to process the tremendous achievement before it's followed up with a double bogey on the next hole. That wasn't the case for high schooler Jack Kyger, who drilled an ace during a golf outing, and in turn, won a Cadillac or $50,000. Kyger, a junior at Harper Creek High School in Battle Creek, Mich., says he wasn't even considering a hole-in-one when he stepped up to the tee on the fourth hole at the Battle Creek Country Club. A secondary prize, a TV, would be awarded to the golfer who came closest to the pin, so Kyger was simply trying to get it close to the cup. In front of his dad and Harper Creek Superintendent Rob Ridgeway, he stuck the shot just past the hole, and with some backspin, it rolled into the pin. It's the first time somebody has hit the bullseye at the Gene Lewis Hughes, Sr. Memorial Golf Outing, which has raised more than $150,000 for the Bronson Battle Creek Cancer Care Center throughout the years. By hitting a hole-in-one, Kyger won a $50,000 decision: take home a Cadillac or a big bag of $50,000 in cash. As a student preparing to go to college, it's not an easy choice. "I haven't made up my mind," Kyger said in a USA Today article. "But the way I think about it, no 17-year-old needs a brand new Cadillac to drive around in. I have a truck that gets me places. So, if I take the cash, I would probably put most of it away for college, but keep a little back to have a bit of fun, you know." Smart kid. We did notice a peculiarity about the prize. In the attached photo, the Cadillac at the event appears to be a Cadillac ATS-V. Those familiar with Cadillac's performance vehicles know that an ATS-V starts at significantly more than $50,000 - $68,790 to be exact. So we're not sure why they're calling it a $50,000 Cadillac, unless it's a lightly used vehicle or the Cadillac in question is in fact a different car entirely. No matter the price, it sounds like Kyger is going to take the cash. If he sticks to practicing his golf game, maybe he can earn some more money for college, too. News Source: USA Today Auto News Cadillac Performance

Cadillac adds torque-number badging to most new models starting in 2020

Few phrases describe huge swaths of America better than a phrase spotted on the back of a top-fuel dragster at an NHRA event: "You can never have too much horsepower or ammunition." If Cadillac CEO and wily Canuck Steve Carlisle has his way, the revised phrase would substitute "torque measured in Newton-meters" for "horsepower." Starting with the 2020 model year, America's luxury brand will add torque figure badges to CT and XT models, beginning with the XT6. The badge above kinda almost sorta represents the torque produced by the luxury crossover's 3.6-liter V6. That badge did not appear on the XT6 we photographed at the Detroit Auto Show. In U.S. parlance, twist in the XT6 comes to 271 pound-feet. Translated to Newton-meters, that's 367 Nm. Then round that up to the nearest 50, which Cadillac will do, and one arrives at 400. True, the rounding prevents a future of number jumbles like the 2020 XT6 367 vs. the 2021 XT6 419T. Nevertheless, we don't know why Cadillac is rounding to the nearest 50 instead of the nearest 25, since 50 Nm is about 37 lb-ft and could conceal a decent torque increase between model years. A "T" denotes turbocharging, and we imagine there'll be designations for hybrids and electric cars. We think most modern attempts at engine-based nomenclatures soon get as complicated as ciphers or come unmoored from their original scheme. And based on our experience with The Average Car Buyer, they don't care. A bigger number, no matter what that number represents, means more, which is the important thing. Because America, right? Maybe not. Carlisle said, "We're not talking about displacements any more," and the new badging will give consumers "a clear understanding of the power differences across the lineup." The brand believes torque provides a better comparison between ICE, hybrid, and EV powertrains and "the balance between fuel economy and performance." As for the immigrant unit of measurement, Carlisle told CNET, " It's metric, it's universal, it's global, we have to think about all the markets that we're doing business in." Oh, and, "Engineers certainly prefer Newton-meters." The new nomenclature will not be applied to V-series models or the Escalade, because the CEO holds that "special cars get special names." We should probably take a moment to reassure the CT and XT models that Steve Carlisle thinks you're all special, too. Just a different kind of special.