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GM's Reuss explains why Cadillac is heading to New York

"We're going to take it to a place [New York] to change the way that we do business around the brand of Cadillac." - Mark Reuss
General Motors product chief Mark Reuss elaborated Tuesday on Cadillac's move to New York in 2015, saying it will "elevate" the brand and allow it to reach new customers.

2020 Cadillac CT4 revealed in non-V form

We got our first look at the 2020 Cadillac CT4 when its V variant made its debut a few months ago. Now the company is officially showing off the regular CT4 luxury sport sedans. They actually don't look all that different from the V, though - especially the CT4 Sport trim. The Luxury and Premium Luxury trims are distinguished by less aggressive ground effects and a grille studded with chrome pieces shaped like the Cadillac logo. The interior is similar, too, complete with an 8-inch touchscreen. Super Cruise will be made available on the CT4 later in 2020, including on the V model. Really, the big news is the powertrain as V6 engines have been dropped entirely from Cadillac's compact sedan. The base CT4 engine available in Sport or Luxury trim cars is a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Coupled to either rear- or all-wheel drive, it features cylinder deactivation and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Unlike in the old ATS, a manual transmission is not available. One notable mechanical difference between trims is the Sport trim gets standard Brembo brakes. Moving up from the 2.0-liter engine is the turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder introduced on the CT4-V. Available on the Premium Luxury trims, its output is downgraded to 309 hp and 348 lb-ft of torque from the CT4-V's output of 325 hp and 380 lb-ft. It too has cylinder deactivation and can be had with either rear- or all-wheel drive. The only transmission offered is a 10-speed automatic. The V model also gets Brembo brake upgrades, and with rear-wheel drive includes Cadillac's magnetically controlled adaptive suspension. Cadillac will start taking orders for the CT4 later this year, but pricing has not been announced yet.

About 150 Cadillac dealers would rather leave the brand than sell EVs

Dealerships might hamper GM’s plans to electrify its cars. Wall Street Journal tipsters claim that roughly 150 GM dealerships in the United States have decided to drop the Cadillac brand and accept a buyout (ranging from $300,000 to over $1 million) rather than spend about $200,000 to upgrade the dealerships with charging stations, repair hardware and other equipment needed to sell EVs. Many of these dealerships only sell a few Cadillacs per month versus more for Buick, Chevrolet and GMC, but itÂ’s still a significant blow when GM has 880 Cadillac dealers in the country. Cadillac brand leader Rory Harvey confirmed to the WSJ that GM was offering buyouts, but didnÂ’t say how many dealers took them or how much they were worth. The exodus underscores the challenges for conventional car brands as well as the potential advantages for alternatives like Tesla. As brands like GM are heavily dependent on dealerships, they have to please owners to have a chance of strong sales — and thatÂ’s difficult when theyÂ’re not certain about demand, even without the pandemic. Tesla and other direct-to-customer EV makers arenÂ’t bound by physical stores and already have the infrastructure in place for service centers. Dealers might not have much choice in the future. California is banning sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035, and that will likely force automakers to electrify no matter how dealership owners feel. The buyouts now arenÂ’t necessarily temporary, but we wouldnÂ’t rule out some shops having a change of heart as the effective EV deadline approaches. Related video: