1971 Cadillac Sedan Deville on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Question of the Day: Worst year of the Malaise Era?

The Malaise Era for cars in the United States spanned the 1973 through 1983 model years, and featured such abominations as a Corvette with just 205 horsepower (from the optional engine!) and MGBs with suspensions jacked way up to meet new headlight-height requirements. There were many low points throughout this gloomy period, of course. The horrifyingly low power and fuel-economy numbers for big V8s during the middle years of the Malaise Era make a strong case for 1974 or 1975— the years of Nixon's resignation and the Fall of Saigon, respectively— as the most Malaisey years. But then the GM-pummeling debacles of the Chevy Citation and Cadillac Cimarron could make an early-1980s year the low point. 1979, the year of the ignominious Chrysler bailout? You choose! Related Video:

Cadillac partners with Saks Fifth Avenue for limited-edition ELR

There's no softening the blow with this one - this is the limited edition 2014 Cadillac ELR Saks Fifth Avenue Edition, and it costs $89,500, including $995 for destination. The special model, limited to just 100 units, is part of a holiday season collaboration between Cadillac and luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue. In addition to the ELR, there will also be a special "Frozen Escalade" window display at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store near Rockefeller Center in New York City, which will feature the 2015 Escalade with functioning LED running lamps that, as the automaker says, "appear embedded and breaking through a wall of ice."
But back to that ELR. This Saks edition plug-in hybrid coupe commands a surcharge of $14,500 over the $75,000 base model that over 85-percent of Autoblog readers polled already feel is overpriced. For that extra coin, you get an ELR wearing exclusive (to this car) White Diamond paint matched with either a jet black or light cashmere interior. Buyers will also receive an upgraded 240-volt charging station complete with professional installation, and the cars come with Cadillac's ELR Concierge service - representatives "trained in white-glove customer care" that serve as an additional point of contact beyond the dealership when it comes to topics like like battery care, charging, service scheduling and news updates.
Folks who order the Saks Fifth Avenue ELR are expected to receive their cars in March of next year. Price aside, we're sure it'll look great parked alongside the Neiman Marcus Aston Martin Vanquish Volante in owners' garages. Scroll down for Cadillac's official press blast.

Cadillac president de Nysschen says electrification coming 'across the spectrum'

We like to pick on new Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen for his insistence, many years ago, when he was president of Audi of America, that plug-in vehicles are for idiots. Listening to him give the keynote address at the Washington Auto Show today, you wouldn't know he ever said anything negative about an electric vehicle. Instead, he sounds something like a EV-angelist. De Nysschen said that Cadillac will be able to benefit from GM's considerable expertise in plug-in technology, which he said would be "applied across the spectrum of our portfolio." GM's electric committment will help in "making electrification commonplace." With the plug-in ELR already on the road, de Nysschen said that the company's next step in advancing powertrains will be the introduction of stop/start technology – which de Nysschen called an "important system to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions" – into a Cadillac for the first time later this year. Without giving any specific details, de Nysschen said that Cadillac will introduce eight new models (not necessarily plug-ins) by the end of this decade, including five that "will take Cadillac into market segments where the brand is not even present today." These new vehicles will likely be much lighter than today's vehicles, de Nysschen said, because "weight reduction today is critical to automotive design, it helps to improve fuel efficiency and contributes to desireable vehicle dynamics." The key is to reduce weight without compromising safety or comfort and to use the right material – steel, aluminum, carbon fiber – in the right place at the right time. It was a not-so-subtle jab at Ford and its new aluminum F-150. "In the pursuit of weight reduction, some manufacturers have also opted for abandoning steel and have gone for an all-aluminum approach," he said. "At Cadillac, we believe that different materials each present particular advantages in specific applications. There is no single material that represents the optimum balance of the conflicting objectives of every single application." Related video: