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How the demise of Lincoln's Town Car has kick-started a limo revolution

The deaths of the Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car have meant overhauls of three high-profile American fleets: police, taxi and livery car. Just as police fleets are more open to considering other options and a Nissan van is the new face of the NYC taxi, livery car companies are looking at replacements for the Town Car beyond The Blue Oval. Ford, via Lincoln, has made an MKT Town Car (pictured), but an article in the Detroit News claims "it has failed to win over most of the big limousine companies." The upstarts trying to move in include livery and limo editions of the Cadillac XTS, and livery specifications of the Toyota Avalon and Chrysler 300.
Each of those challengers, however, faces challenges. The Town Car was a workhorse, American, rear-wheel-drive sedan with plenty of rear legroom. Cadillac has been in the livery space before but with decontented models that were about selling the brand, not its luxury. It is taking the opposite approach with the XTS, pointing out that its livery edition is "contented in the upper half of the XTS range." Still, the CEO of Michigan's largest livery company says "it's quite a bit smaller than what we're used to," and he also prefers rear-wheel drive.
The Chrysler 300 is rear-wheel drive, and American, which matters to some companies, but Chrysler hasn't yet revealed the livery package for it. The livery Avalon marks Toyota's first time getting into that business in the US, a natural step after having done so well with taxi clients and with the Town Car out of the way. Still, the livery client is a different to taxi buyers, so the Avalon could face other soft-touch hurdles.

Cadillac prices the 2020 XT6 crossover from $53,690

Cadillac has announced official pricing for its new XT6 crossover, built in Tennessee. The three-row XT6, Cadillac's first big crossover, starts from $53,690 when it goes on sale later this spring. For that, Cadillac offers the "Premium Luxury" trim level model with front-wheel drive; AWD is optional. Above the Premium Luxury is the XT6 Sport, which comes standard with AWD and starts from $58,090. Both prices include destination charges. The sole engine at this point is the 3.6-liter naturally aspirated V6, which produces 310 horsepower and 271 lb-ft of torque; the transmission is a nine-speed automatic. The Premium Luxury and Sport differ visually, with the former offering more chrome and wood, while the latter has blacked-out trim in place of chrome and carbon trim instead of cabin wood. The wheel design is different between the trim levels, and the Premium Luxury has red taillights while the Sport version has clear tails. The Sport model has continuously adjustable shock absorbers. Both models have seven airbags as standard, as well as an HD rear camera, forward collision alert, automatic emergency braking and front pedestrian braking, front and rear park assist, lane change and blind spot alert, lane keeping assist and lane departure warning and rear cross traffic alert. The lighting is LED front and rear; inside, a heated steering wheel is standard, as is a power folding third-row seat and a remotely folding second-row seat. Seven-passenger seating is standard, and a six-passenger setup is optional with captain's chairs for the second row. There are option packages such as the Enhanced Visibility and Technology Package, which adds an eight-inch gauge cluster display and an HUD, both in color, HD surround vision with recording, and automatic parking assist with braking. The Driver Assist package adds adaptive cruise and enhanced AEB, and one can also specify night vision. The XT6 charges phones wirelessly and is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible as standard. It also has a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot with 3GB or three months' worth of data thrown in, and phones are paired via NFC. Cadillac is taking orders for the XT6 starting in March.

Weekly Recap: GM scales back as Russian auto market teeters

General Motors' extensive plans to scale back its Russian operations are the latest sign the automotive market in the former superpower is collapsing – and there are few signs of recovery. GM said Wednesday it will stop selling mainstream Chevrolets and shutter the entire Opel brand in Russia. The moves leave GM with a luxury-focused presence consisting of Cadillac and Chevrolet's Corvette, Camaro and Tahoe. The cutbacks will be completed by the end of the year. The automaker will also idle its factory in St. Petersburg and end a contract-assembly agreement with Russian manufacturer GAZ. "We had to take decisive action in Russia to protect our business," Opel Group CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann said in a statement. "We confirm our outlook to return the European business to profitability in 2016 and stick to our long-term goals." GM is the latest automaker to scale back in Russia as the economic conditions, volatile currency and uncertainty over the conflict in the Ukraine all have sandbagged new car sales. Last month, vehicle sales collapsed 38 percent in Russia to 128,298 units, according to the Association of European Business, which records sales. Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the AEB automobile manufacturers committee, didn't even feign optimism in a statement announcing the figures. "The market is entering a very difficult phase now, and February is only the beginning," he said. "Industry sentiment is the next few months will be extremely difficult and the market bottom has yet to be found." The dovetails with industry experts, who predict the Russian auto sector will remain in the doldrums. IHS said earlier this year it expects Russia's sales to slip to just 1.8 million units in 2015, which is a 40-percent drop from 2012. Other News & Notes Chief leads Jeep's Easter Safari stable Jeep is bringing seven attention-getting concepts to Moab for its annual Easter Safari off-roading celebration in Utah, but the Chief is perhaps the standout of the group. It salutes the 1970s Cherokee with a throwback appearance and surfer styling cues. The Chief has a custom modified razor grille made famous by the Wagoneer, and it rolls on 17-inch slotted mag wheels. The surf theme comes in with ocean blue paint, floral cloth and leather seats and a tiki-style shifter handle. Based on the Jeep Wrangler, the Chief has removable sides, a 3.6-liter V6 engine and a six-speed manual gearbox.