1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, 50k, Dk Calypso Grn, Hardtop, Mint Mint on 2040-cars

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Cadillac sales chief Peffer resigns amidst slow sales

Cadillac continues to hemorrhage executives, as it's just seen its fourth high-level departure in the past year. Vice President of Global Strategic Development Don Butler (who defected to Ford) and European President and Managing Director Susan Docherty both left the company of their own volition, while Chase Hawkins, Cadillac's vice president of sales and service, was fired following a "violation of policy" in July of 2013. Strangely, it's Hawkins' replacement, Bill Peffer (shown above), who has handed in his papers this time around.
"Bill left to pursue other interests. Kurt McNeil replaces him, effective immediately," spokesman David Caldwell told Autoblog via email.
McNeil last held the VP of sales and service position back in 2012. He's currently the vice president of US sales for all of General Motors. According to The Detroit News, McNeil will take on the post in what is likely an interim capacity.

We really want to use an eCrate to restomod an old GM car. Here's what we'd build

You hopefully saw the news today of GM's introduction of its Connect and Cruise eCrate motor and battery package, which effectively makes the Bolt's electric motor, battery pack and myriad other elements available to, ah, bolt into a different vehicle. It's the same concept as installing a gasoline-powered crate motor into a classic car, but with electricity and stuff.  This, of course, got us thinking about what we'd stuff the eCrate into. Before we got too ahead of ourselves, however, we discovered that the eCrate battery pack is literally the Bolt EV pack in not only capacity but size and shape. In other words, you need to have enough space in the vehicle to place and/or stuff roughly 60% of a Chevy Bolt's length. It's not a big car, but that's still an awful lot of real estate. There's a reason GM chose to simply plop the pack into the bed and cargo area of old full-size SUVs. Well that, and having a rear suspension beefy enough to handle about 1,000 pounds of batteries.  So after that buzz kill, we still wanted to peruse the GM back catalog for classics we'd love to see transformed into an electric restomod that might be able to swallow all that battery ... maybe ... possibly ... whatever, saws and blow torches exist for a reason.  1971 Buick Riviera Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: If you’re going to build an electric conversion, why not do it with style? ThatÂ’s why IÂ’m choosing a 1971-1973 Buick Riviera. You know, the one with the big glass boat-tail rear end that ends in a pointy V. Being a rather large vehicle with a big sloping fastback shape, IÂ’m hoping thereÂ’s enough room in the trunk and back seat to pack in the requisite battery pack. That would likely require cutting away some of the metal bulkhead that supports the rear seatback, but not so much that a wee bit of structural bracing couldnÂ’t shore things up. The big 455-cubic-inch Buick V8 up front will obviously have to go. Remember, this was the 1970s, so despite all that displacement, the Riviera only had around 250 horsepower (depending on the year and the trim level). So the electric motorÂ’s 200 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque ought to work as an acceptable replacement.   1982 Chevrolet S10 Associate Editor Byron Hurd: OK, so the name "E-10" is already taken by a completely different truck, but let's not let labels get in the way of a fun idea.

2020 Cadillac XT6 Sport Drivers' Notes | We have many mixed opinions

The 2020 Cadillac XT6 is Cadillac’s long-awaited answer to the numerous three-row luxury crossovers that have been on sale for years. It is not a shrunken Escalade. Instead, GM decided to pull one of its other well-used platforms for duty, with the XT6 being most similar to the GMC Acadia underneath. That means the Cadillac is rolling with similar running gear, too. Under the hood is a 3.6-liter V6 making 310 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque, mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard, but our Sport model has an upgraded all-wheel-drive system. It also has some other special mechanical bits to make it better than the standard XT6. For example, the Sport trim has continuously variable dampers that stiffen in Sport mode. That upgraded all-wheel drive system adds twin clutches on the axles to facilitate torque vectoring. And the steering ratio is changed to 15:1, as opposed to the 16:1 ratio used on Premium Luxury trim models. This XT6 Sport also features some exterior and interior finishes not seen on other XT6 models. Black trim dominates outside, headlined by a large, black mesh grille. Then on the inside, we get real carbon fiber trim. There are plenty of cool features like CadillacÂ’s Night Vision and the rear camera mirror, but Super Cruise still isnÂ’t available as an option on this Cadillac. GM has promised a wider adoption of Super Cruise for its lineup in the future, but weÂ’re not there yet. Before options, our XT6 Sport came in at $58,090, including the $995 destination charge. The $3,700 Platinum package adds semi-aniline leather seats, a suede headliner and premium carpeting throughout the cabin. A $2,350 Enhanced Visibility and Tech package brings us the eight-inch instrument cluster digital display, a head-up display, rear camera mirror, rear pedestrian alert and an automatic parking assist feature. Then, a $1,300 Driver Assist package adds adaptive cruise control and enhanced automatic emergency braking, including rear braking. Our car also has the $750 Comfort and Air Quality package, which adds heated rear seats, cooled front seats and an air ionizer for the cabin. The pretty Red Horizon Tintcoat costs $1,225, and the fancy Night Vision option adds another $2,000. That brings us to our grand total of $71,190.