Fwd 4dr Performance Collection New Suv Automatic Gasoline Engine, 3.6l Sidi Dohc on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM invests $175 million to replace 3 Cadillac sedans with 2

We've already had confirmation that Cadillac is sunsetting the ATS compact sedan and strong hints that Caddy would discontinue the full-size XTS (pictured above) and midsize CTS, too. Now all three are confirmed, with GM saying it's investing $175 million to build two replacement sedans. GM has already begun installing new tooling at its Lansing Grand River assembly plant in Michigan. That will go toward building two new sedans, which reports suggest are likely to be called the Cadillac CT5 and CT4, or possibly the CT3. It's part of Cadillac's plan to introduce a new vehicle every six months by the end of 2021. A spokesman told the Associated Press that the new cars will debut within that time frame and that the changes won't affect staffing levels at the plant, which employs 2,000 people. Of the three, the XTS is expected to go away entirely, while the CT5 would replace the CTS, straddling the line between a compact and midsize four-door. The CT4 or CT3 would take the spot of the ATS and likely be smaller. That would leave the CT6 as the brand's largest sedan and leave Cadillac with three sedans starting with the 2019 model year. Meanwhile, Cadillac has only one model, its top-selling XT5, representing the all-important and red-hot luxury crossover segment. It's prepping a midsize XT4 crossover for sale later this year as a 2019 model. Cadillac's global sales rose 15.5 percent in 2017, thanks largely to growth in China, but sales in the U.S. fell 8 percent for the year to 156,440 vehicles. Sales of the ATS fell 39 percent, dropped 35 percent for the CTS and 27 for the XTS last year. Related Video:

2016 Cadillac ELR gets more power, $9,000 price drop

Cadillac has announced a series of updates to the ELR for 2016 that promises to make the plug-in hybrid luxury coupe a more desirable proposition. Perhaps chief among them is a price drop of $9,005 compared to the slow-selling 2014 model. The news follows an announcement yesterday that the Chevy Spark would get a $1,500 price drop. Cadillac is quoting a net price for the updated ELR at $58,495, which is obviously substantially less than the $75k it was asking for the previous version. But it's important to note that the new price is listed after US federal tax credits. The 2014 model came in at $67,500 after the full $7,500 tax credit, so math tells us that Cadillac has slashed the price on the 2016 ELR rather dramatically by about nine grand with a new MSRP of $65,995. One big upgrade on the performance front is a 25-percent boost in output from the hybrid powertrain that marries a pair of electric motors to a 1.4-liter inline-four gasoline-burning generator. The increase is said to be enough to drop 1.5 seconds off the 0-60 time, now quoted at 6.4 seconds. It'll travel for up to 39 miles on electric mode alone, but with the generator spooled up will go up to 330 miles before needing to stop. The engine management software has also been updated and the regenerative braking system reconfigured as well, but GM's luxury division didn't stop at the powertrain, fitting the 2016 ELR with a raft of other enhancements. Visually there's a new grille with the marque's latest emblem embedded. The suspension has been stiffened, the steering recalibrated and the brakes optimized for better feel. Cadillac is also throwing in the previously optional Driver Assistance package of active safety systems as standard, with adaptive cruise control available as an option. And the infotainment system comes with OnStar, 4G LTE connectivity and on-board Wi-Fi. There's even a Performance Package available with 20-inch performance tires offering 10-percent better lateral grip, four-piston Brembo brake calipers up front to help reducing stopping distances by 12 percent, recalibrated dampers and steering and a thicker-rimmed steering wheel. Because of the higher rolling resistance tires, however, the Performance Package kills four miles off of the electric driving range.

Cadillac says it made CUE infotainment a lot better

We've never been huge fans of CUE, the Cadillac User Experience infotainment interface. It's been around a few years now, and the best thing we can say for it is that it now supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, making it easy enough to replace most of the interface with a familiar smartphone-based system. Now Cadillac has made some big upgrades to the system that should address at least some of our concerns. First and foremost, the system is claimed to be more intuitive, with a more logical interface design. Cadillac has added a Summary View that gives an overview of the climate, media, navigation, and phone all at the same time. The system will also be able to receive over-the-air updates, allowing Cadillac to make improvements more often and push them out to owners' cars, mush like Tesla and other automakers already do. The 4G LTE connection will also be used to connect the car with the cloud, where drivers can store and modify their own personalized set of settings. This My Driver Preferences profile will include things like contacts, navigation preferences, and recent destinations, and will also follow them from one car equipped with the system to another. That should come in handy for anyone subscribing to the $1,500-a-month Book by Cadillac vehicle subscription service, which allows participants to swap between cars when they choose. The cloud connection will also carry over to a new available navigation function, which Cadillac claims has a more intuitive, smartphone-like interface. It uses its data connection to provide current destination info and is supposed to learn a driver's habits, such as their preferred routes and frequent destinations, which the system will then attempt to offer up predictively – so the car should be able to know that you're heading home at 5:00. Additional apps for the system will be available through Cadillac's new Collection app store. And it's still compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. One sore spot that appears to have been improved is the digital gauge package, although Cadillac hasn't offered details on that extension of the system. The current iteration's ability to over-customize the interface (our personal favorite is the option to display a total of four speedometers between the head-up display and the gauge screen; see video below) and unintuitive controls make it difficult to use and learn, while the simulated gauges don't look particularly realistic.