1999 Cadillac Escalade Limousine Base Sport Utility 4-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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Cadillac V-Performance Academy joins free driving school party

Just in case you needed another reason to want one of Cadillac's hottest performers, starting with the 2017 Cadillac CTS-V and ATS-V, the first owner of each vehicle can score a free two-day course at Spring Mountain Motor Resort with the V-Performance Academy. According to Spring Mountain's website, the V-Performance Academy "is designed for drivers of all experience levels and includes dynamic car control exercises, visual skill development, and proper cornering techniques," with "brief" classroom sessions sprinkled in. Driving programs like the V-Performance Academy are all the rage right now. In the last few weeks alone, both Fiat and Ford announced free one-day academies baked right into the price of cars like the 124 Abarth and Focus RS. As with the Ford and Fiat courses, Cadillac is providing the learner cars. But where those other courses call on vehicle owners to shell out for airfare, food, and in Fiat's case, lodging, Cadillac covers tuition – a $2,420 expense for non-owners – along with two nights in one of Spring Mountain's "luxury condominiums" and breakfast and lunch during both driving days. Students are still on the hook for airfare, although Caddy will shuttled attendees from Las Vegas McCarren to the track/resort, some 55 miles away. If you can't shell out for the flight to Las Vegas, a new CTS-V or ATS-V, or simply can't spare two days for a driving school, Cadillac is ramping up for another year of its one-day, traveling V-Performance Lab, which will run at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut and at Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Related Video:

Frustrated GM investors ask what more Mary Barra can do

DETROIT — General Motors Co Chief Executive Mary Barra has transformed the No. 1 U.S. automaker in her almost five years in charge, but that is still not enough to satisfy investors. Ahead of third-quarter results due on Oct. 31, GM shares are trading about 6 percent below the $33 per share price at which they launched in 2010 in a post-bankruptcy initial public offering. The Detroit carmaker's stock is down 22 percent since Barra took over in January 2014. After hitting an all-time high of $46.48 on Oct. 24, 2017, the shares have declined 33 percent. In the same period, the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.8 percent. Several shareholders contacted by Reuters said GM could face a third major action by activist shareholders in less than four years if the share price does not improve. "I've been expecting it," said John Levin, chairman of Levin Capital Strategies. "It just seems a tempting morsel to somebody." Levin's firm owns more than seven million GM shares. Barra has guided the company through the settlement of a federal criminal probe of a mishandled safety recall, sold off money-losing European operations, and returned $25 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks from 2012 through 2017. GM declined to comment for this story, but the company's executives privately express frustration with the market's reluctance to see it as anything more than a manufacturer tied mainly to auto market sales cycles. GM's profitable North American truck and SUV business and its money-making China operations are valued at just $14 billion, excluding the value of GM's stake in its $14.6 billion Cruise automated vehicle business and its cash reserves from its $44 billion market capitalization. The recent slump in the Chinese market, GM's largest, and plateauing U.S. demand are ratcheting up the pressure. GM is one of the few global automakers without a founding family or a government to serve as a bulwark against corporate raiders. In 2015, a group led by investor Harry Wilson pressed GM to launch a $5 billion share buyback, and commit to what is now an $18 billion ceiling on the level of cash the company would hold. In 2017, GM fended off a call by hedge fund manager David Einhorn to split its common stock shares into two classes. Einhorn, whose firm still owned more than 21 million shares at the end of June, declined to comment about GM's stock price. Other investors said there were no clear alternatives to Barra's approach.

Cadillac ATS and CTS get blacked-out treatments

Some still think of gallons of chrome when Cadillac comes to mind, and some of the automaker's models still take the blinged-out approach (we're looking at you, Escalade). But for those whose impression of the America luxury marque's is about more than brightwork, Caddy has announced a new Black Chrome package. Available for the ATS coupe, ATS sedan, and CTS sedan, the optional package, as you might have guessed, applies dark chrome to the outside of the vehicle. On the ATS, that includes the front grilles (upper and lower) and rear trim, as well as body-colored door handles, gloss black window moldings, and dark-finish 18-inch alloys. Buyers can choose to apply the package to the Luxury or Premium trim, with the 2.0-liter turbo or 3.6-liter V6, in rear- or all-wheel drive, with four exterior paint choices, any interior available, and in two- or four-door bodystyles. The package goes for $795 on the sedan and $595 for the coupe. The package costs a little more for the CTS but includes a bit less trim, limited to the grille and those same 18-inch alloys. It can still be paired to the 2.0 turbo or 3.6-liter V6 in rear- or all-wheel drive, with three exterior tints and a limited selection of interior treatments. Pricing here starts at $1,295 with the Luxury trim, or $1,095 in either Performance or Premium spec. Those looking for a shinier treatment, however, need not apply. Related Video: Cadillac Introduces Black Chrome Package for ATS and CTS ENHANCES ENGAGING PERFORMANCE, STRIKING DESIGN 2016-03-14 Cadillac today introduced the Black Chrome Package for Cadillac ATS Sedan and Coupe and Cadillac CTS Sedan. The package further enhances the engaging performance and the striking design of the ATS, a Consumer Guide Best Buy for three years in a row, and the CTS, named one of Car and Driver's 10Best for three years in a row. The Black Chrome Package is available now to order at local Cadillac dealerships or through the Build Your Own tool on the Cadillac.com website. For additional information, customers can call Cadillac Customer Experience at 1-800-458-8006.