2007 Cadillac Cts on 2040-cars

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Cadillac's 560 remaining dealers ready to take on Tesla

DETROIT — General Motors' Cadillac brand is gearing up to challenge Tesla and other rivals in the luxury electric vehicle market with a new electric utility vehicle and nearly 40% fewer U.S. dealers than it had in 2018, the brand's global chief told Reuters. Cadillac has largely completed a restructuring of its U.S. dealer network and expects to have 560 dealers by the end of this year, compared with about 920 three years ago, said Rory Harvey, head of the global Cadillac brand. GM has booked a total of $274 million in costs during 2020 and 2021 related to the effort to buy out Cadillac dealers who were not prepared to invest $200,000 to $500,000 per store in the equipment and training to support the brand's shift to an all-electric vehicle lineup, planned by 2030. Cadillac will still have more U.S. dealers than other established luxury brands, and has opened new showrooms in New York City, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Atlanta. The marque's largest market is China, and there it has not had to restructure retail operations, Harvey said. Cadillac's sales in China were up 20% for the first nine months of the year to nearly 181,000 vehicles. In the United States, Cadillac has sold nearly 96,000 vehicles for the year through Sept. 30, up 11%. Electric vehicle leader Tesla has no franchised dealers and sells cars directly to customers. Other EV startups such as Lucid and Rivian are selling vehicles online. Cadillac has a virtual showroom called Cadillac Live, and Harvey said inquiries through the online showroom are rising. But Cadillac will continue to sell and service vehicles through dealers. Next summer, Cadillac plans to launch the first of a wave of electric vehicles, starting with a compact utility vehicle called the Lyriq. Harvey said Cadillac has received expressions of interest in the Lyriq from 216,000 people. "It far exceeded our expectations," he said. How many of those "handraisers" will turn into buyers will be key for Cadillac. Harvey said about 10% to 15% of people who show interest in an internal combustion vehicle ultimately buy one. Related video:

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Cadillac Cimarron

The General's Cadillac Division hit its all-time sales record during the 1973 model year, with 304,839 cars sold. Then the OPEC oil embargo in the fall of that year caused oil prices to triple, while simultaneously accelerating several negative trends in the American economy. In the aftermath, sales of imported luxury cars surged, the President resigned, the communists conquered South Vietnam, and Cadillac introduced a compact car based on the proletariat Chevrolet Nova. Sales of those Sevilles — which cost better than triple the price of their Nova siblings — proved strong, and so it seemed to make sense to create a Cadillac-ized version of the Nova's replacement: the front-wheel-drive Chevrolet Cavalier, which debuted for the 1982 model year. Thus was the Cadillac Cimarron born, and that's what we've got for today's Junkyard Gem. The Cimarron stayed in production for the 1982 through 1988 model years, but sales were strongest for the first few years and so the 1982-83 cars make up the bulk of my Cimarron junkyard finds. This very clean '87 in a Denver-area yard is a rare late-production car. Although the Cimarron was by far the swankiest GM J-Body ever made, its Cavalier ancestry was unmistakable. While the Nova-based Seville caused some grumbling over the cheapening of the Cadillac brand, the Cimarron inspired widespread anger and loathing among those who love cars. Even with a leather interior and nice audio system, the Cimarron still caused pain to its owners who saw cheapo Cavaliers (and Pontiac J2000s and Olds Firenzas) looking nearly identical at a glance yet costing far less. In 1987, the list price on a new Cimarron started at $15,032 (about $35,550 in 2021 dollars). The cheapest Cavalier listed at $7,255 that year, though the loaded Cavalier RS sedan with V6 engine started at $9,159. For 1982 through 1986, the base powertrain in the Cimarron consisted of a 1.8-liter or 2.0-liter four-cylinder — yes, the same double-digit-horsepower engines that went into Cavaliers — paired with a four- or five-speed manual transmission. The 2.8-liter V6, rated at 125 horses, was an option in those cars and became standard equipment in the 1987 and 1988 Cimarrons.

Best sport sedans for 2022 and 2023

SUVs dominate the car industry at every size and price level, but some people still prefer the looks, and more importantly, the performance and comfort, of the traditional sedan. With a lower ride height, lighter weight and generally smaller size, they often are much more fun to drive, and can even be more comfortable. Sport sedans of course lean harder on the performance side of things, and are among the best options for sheer speed and fun, thanks to those inherent characteristics. We've rounded up the ones in the segment that do the sporty dance better than any others in 2024 to give you a handy guide when you're shopping for one of your own. You'll find a wide array of cars here including gas, electric and hybrid powertrains. They'll have manual and automatic transmissions and drive the front, rear or all four wheels. Technically a few hatchbacks have slipped in, but they're close enough in look and feel that we wanted to include them. And excluding them means you might miss out on some of the best-driving options available. You wouldn't want that, would you? Alfa Romeo Giulia Why it stands out: Punchy four-cylinder; astounding power from Quadrifoglio; light and nimble character; awesome shift paddlesCould be better: Clunky infotainment; sub-par switchgear Read our Alfa Romeo Giulia review We start this list with one of the most predictable inclusions: the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Yes, it's a stereotype that the Italian sport sedan is fun to drive, but the fact is, well, it is. The Giulia comes standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 280 horsepower, making it one of the most powerful four-cylinders in the segment. It's paired with a snappy and smooth eight-speed transmission and either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive.  The engine is lively and torquey, if a little short of revs, and the chassis feels super-light. The steering is eager and the car jumps into corners. We also highly recommend getting a version with the enormous and superb aluminum paddle shifters that make clicking through gears much more entertaining. And on the topic of the interior, it's attractive, but the various switches and knobs feels a little cheap, and the infotainment system is clunky. Of course there's also the incredible Giulia Quadrifoglio at the high end. It gets a Ferrari-derived twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 making 505 hp, and it's rear-wheel drive only.