2007 Cadillac Dts on 2040-cars

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Cadillac still planning for big things in China

Despite some hiccups, China remains the auto industry's great hope for new vehicle sales, with significant sales gains and a huge upside. Nowhere is that hope more fervent than at General Motors, which offers eight different marques in the Asian nation. China has been GM's single biggest market the last three years running, and is unlikely to give up that title anytime soon. Yet its premiere brand, Cadillac, has remained essentially stagnant, selling just 30,000 units in China last year. That's in a segment where sales of luxury vehicles has outpaced that of the larger Chinese market. So what gives?
According to Cadillac officials Autoblog spoke with in China this week at the Shanghai Motor Show, it's been a problem of product - they haven't had the right ones. Displacement taxation issues, import tariffs and currency fluctuations have all conspired to make the brand's products less appealing than they might otherwise have been. But GM is stepping on the gas with Cadillac, and executives are eyeballing 100,000 sales by 2016 - more than triple the Wreath and Crest's current volume. And the expectations for the brand only get more ambitious from there - they're shooting for 10 percent of the luxury market by 2020. Bob Socia, President of GM China, promises that there will be a new Caddy launched in the market each year from now through 2016 and most will be built in China. Characterizing the company's efforts to revive the brand's fortunes as a "relaunch" of sorts, Cadillac also figures to gain dealers as GM expands its sales outlet footprint westward.
New products like a made-in-China XTS sedan (with a market-specific 2.0-liter four-cylinder to avoid heavy displacement taxes) will help, and Socia hinted that the ATS sport sedan could be next in line for in-country production. The SRX crossover - currently the brand's best-selling model in China - will also likely get a long look for future local production when the next-generation model is introduced. In the meantime, Cadillac unveiled the Escalade ESV Hybrid (shown above) as its latest model addition to capitalize on the market's white-hot luxury SUV segment.

Spy photos show Trump's new Cadillac-badged rolling fortress

Development on the new presidential limo, oh-so appropriately nicknamed The Beast, is moving along at a GM proving ground. We got a brief glimpse of the Cadillac-badged rolling testament to safety and security late in February thanks to some clever drone work. We now have a new batch of ground-level photos that show the limo cruising around, presumably being put through the vehicle equivalent of boot camp. Currently, President Trump is making do with the first-generation Beast. While still likely safer than anything else on the road, it's starting to be a bit dated. In addition to the updated styling that makes it look like a comically oversized Cadillac CT6, The Beast v2.0 is likely packing a whole new suite of technology and safety equipment. That's just an assumption, as there's no press release with a full list of features. We can't imagine that the government would want everyone knowing what's beneath The Beast's skin. Expect Trump's ride to have reinforced doors, extra-thick glass, and even a filtration system that would protect against a biological attack. There's speculation that it's equipped with tear-gas cannons, similar to one of James Bond's rides. Even the relatively normal-looking tires are likely to be strengthened in some way, allowing them to still roll if punctured. Add up all of the extra reinforcement, and the truck-based ride is likely to have a mass that's equivalent to a small moon. All that tech doesn't come cheap. Expect The Beast to cost taxpayers somewhere around $1.5 million. Hey, it's still less than the new Bugatti Chiron. Related Video: Featured Gallery The Beast 2.0 spy shots View 10 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Spy Photos Cadillac GM Trump limousine limo president

2014 Cadillac ELR leases for $699 a month

Most Autoblog readers thought the $75,000 price tag on the 2014 Cadillac ELR was too high. If you can't swing the MSRP all in one go, how does a lease price of $699 a month sound? That's the amount that Cadillac is offering on the official ELR website, with some caveats, of course. First off, it appears that this lease price is for just for "current owners and lessees of all 1999 or newer GM vehicles." They will also have to pony up $4,999 at signing (all others will need $5,999). Second, the $699-a-month price is for a 39-month lease. Then, of course, "tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment [are] extra" and "each dealer sets own price." Also, it appears that this lease deal is only good until the end of January. Cadillac started shipping the ELR plug-in hybrid coupe to dealers last month. There are two things to note in the fine print. The most surprising is that the payments are based on "a 2014 Cadillac ELR with an MSRP of $76,000." That's $1,000 more than the official MSRP announced in October. Then we get to the real kicker: The lease limits you to a mere 32,500 miles, which is just 833.3 miles a month. Well, 'limit' isn't the exact word, since you can certainly drive more. All you have to do is pay 25 cents per mile for each mile over 32,500. Drive the national average of 13,476 miles in a year? That comes to 43,797 miles over 39 months, which is 11,297 extra miles and an extra $2,824.25.