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Cadillac Escala Concept shows off a softer side of American luxury

When Cadillac announced that it would be appearing at Monterey Car Week with a stunning, new concept, the news sent a rush of blood to the head. Would it be a CT6 Coupe? A new V-series model? A follow-up to the show-stopping Elmiraj? Tonight, at the beginning of a weekend of festivities to tantalize automotive enthusiasts and aficionados, Cadillac instead showed off a glimpse of reality: the Escala four-door coupe concept. It wasn't behind a flat-white background, but at a futuristic yet modern home nestled in the hills that Cadillac president Johan De Nysschen introduced the Escala as a "point of inflection" for the brand. Keen observers will note that "Escala" is nearly "Escalade," but any similarity between the two vehicles ends there. De Nysschen noted that the four-door is meant to "relentlessly drive this brand back to its place at the pinnacle of premium." "Nothing less will do," de Nysschen said. The Escala is neither as bold as some recent Cadillacs to take the stage, nor as brash. From a distance, it has a wide, muscular stance wrapped in a tailored suit. Up close, it almost resembles a four-door Camaro — perhaps a nod to the work of former Holden design chief and incoming General Motors director of design, Michael Simcoe. De Nysschen described the Escala project as an "opportunity for designers to flex their creative muscle." The Escala seems to have a footprint mirroring that of a Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, but it feels wider and smaller at the same time. Is the shape derivative? Perhaps, but the Escala's design is less a reflection of a future, incognito Cadillac, and more of a chance for the brand to show off the details that might soon become icons. The Escala's shape may not be earth-shatteringly different, but the truth is in its details. The mirrors are as thin as designer spectacles. The C-pillar offers an opportunity to show off Cadillac's latest take on the Hoffmeister kink. A glass roof adds visual airiness. And a simple "GM DESIGN" badge sits below the side doors, in deference to the stylists who labored to make the Escala different. The most defining element of the concept is the way it utilizes light. There isn't anything blinding about its lighting, but that means you can focus on the shape and appreciate the ambience. The depth of the LED tail lights adds visual length to the Escala and shows where Cadillac's designers placed the most importance. It's contrast and beauty at once.

GM CEO Akerson calls out Tesla, says Cadillac will compete on EVs

Cadillac will be taking on Tesla Motors, the underdog EV manufacturer that's seen heaps of critical acclaim and stock market buzz with its most recent sedan, the Model S. "If you want to compete head-to-head with Tesla, and we ultimately will, you want to do it with a Cadillac," Dan Akerson, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, told media in Washington, according to The Detroit News.
Akerson continued, telling The News, "We'll sell more Volts and lose less money on the Volts than they'll lose on the Model S." He also took time to point out that Tesla getting vehicles out to customers isn't a guarantee of success or permanence, using Fisker as an example, saying "Does anybody even remember Fisker? I mean, there were a number of them; they are all gone."
This strong talk from Akerson comes after Doug Parks, another GM exec, let slip that the Detroit-based manufacturer has an EV in the works that will cover 200 miles per charge and only cost about $30,000, a massive upgrade over similarly priced EVs that struggle to top 100 miles per charge. Until that vehicle arrives, though, GM is preparing the Cadillac ELR, a small coupe that, like the Volt with which it shares technology, uses a gas engine as a mobile generator to recharge the batteries. Akerson took aim at Tesla again, saying, "But I do think when the ELR comes out late this year, early next - it's certainly the same postal code as Tesla, but now we're going to move up. It's not going to be a mass-produced car."

Mark Reuss: GM can't afford product 'misses,' has 'thought about' CT6 V-Series

Mark Reuss is a busy man. He oversees General Motors' global product portfolio, an all-encompassing task for a company that sold more than 9.9 million cars and trucks last year. When GM launches a well-received product, like the road-going rocket ship that is the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 – he gets credit. When the company stumbles with the slow-selling Chevy Malibu or grapples with fallout from the decade-old Saturn Ion and its flawed ignition switch, he gets blamed. GM owners, the press and sometimes the federal government, demand answers. Bob Lutz famously held the job before Reuss. So did Mary Barra, who's now GM's chief executive. There's a New GM, but the lineage is connected to a long history. When he's not thinking product, Reuss, an executive vice president, also runs the purchasing and supply chain for the company, which is still one of the largest industrial empires in the world. We caught up with Reuss on the floor of the New York Auto Show, where GM had just rolled out two crucial new products: the 2016 Cadillac CT6 and the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu. Speaking with a small group of reporters, Reuss delved into a variety of subjects, including the new Malibu, Cadillac's future (he thinks the ATS-V is going to "flame the M3 and M4"), and other topics. On fixing the Malibu: "We can't miss. We can't have those kinds of misses [like the previous generation] on our cars and crossovers and trucks. We can't do that. If we do that, we give a reason for someone to go buy something else. It's that simple. "On a car like the Malibu we have a chance to really fix all of that, which we have, and then lead. Then you've got a real opportunity there. So that's what we've really been focused on here – to fix those things." He later added: "We need that car here to transform Chevrolet desperately because it's the heart of the market. And when you think of Chevrolet, people will come back and think about what we did with the [new] Malibu and the Cruze... It's hugely important to us." On Cadillac: "If we go out and try and out-German the Germans, it's probably not going to work. We've got an opportunity here generationally where there's a lot of people younger than me that have parents that drove BMWs and Mercedes, and I think there's an opportunity there for those people to drive something different than what their parents did, and I think that's always been an opportunity in the auto industry if you look at the history of it.