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Cadillac and Buick boost GM's return to growth in China

BEIJING — General Motors on Monday said continued market recovery from the COVID-19 crisis helped its China vehicle sales grow 12% on year in July-September, marking the Detroit automaker's first Chinese quarterly sales growth in two years. The second-biggest foreign automaker in China by units — after Germany's Volkswagen AG — said on Monday it had delivered 771,400 vehicles in China in the third quarter. That followed a 5% fall in the second quarter, when parts of China were still emerging from virus-busting lockdown measures. GM has a Shanghai-based joint venture with SAIC making Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles. It has another venture, SGMW, with SAIC and Guangxi Automobile Group, producing no-frills minivans and which has started manufacturing higher-end cars. Sales rose 26% for cars under its mass-market Buick brand in the third quarter versus the same period a year earlier, while those of premium brand Cadillac jumped 28%, GM said in a statement. Sales of its mass-market Chevrolet marque fell 20%. Sales of no-frills brand Wuling grew 26%, whereas those of mass-market Baojun vehicles tumbled 19%. "GM's compact models returned to four-cylinder engines and that helped sales growth," said LMC Automotive senior analyst Alan Kang, referring to an attempt to market cleaner but noisier three-cylinder versions. "Cadillac also has a more complete lineup this year." China's biggest automakers' association expects overall car sales to grow by double digits in July-September versus a year earlier. Makers such as Toyota, Honda and Geely saw sales jump in the just-finished quarter. GM has seen its China sales suffer in a crowded market and slowing economy. To revive its fortunes, it plans to have electric vehicles (EVs) make up over 40% of new models in the next five years in China, where the government promotes greener cars. The automaker's Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, a micro two-door EV with a starting price of 28,800 yuan ($4,200), was China's biggest-selling EV in August. GM's sales fell 15% in 2019 from a year earlier to 3.09 million vehicles. The automaker delivered 3.65 million vehicles in 2018 and 4.04 million in 2017. Related Video:

How GM's grueling 24-hour test gets the kinks out of its performance cars

One of the biggest challenges automakers face when designing a high-performance car is making sure that it is both fast and reliable. For General Motors, any car that might be taken to the track by its owner - like the Corvette, Camaro Z/28 (shown above) and the Cadillac CTS-V, for example - undergoes a rigorous and strenuous 24-hour test by engineers at the Milford Proving Grounds, as pointed out by Car and Driver.
We've posted on this topic in the past - on a video showing the Camaro ZL1 being brutalized, for instance - but this article gives a more in-depth look at what actually happens behind the scenes... including what that poor ZL1 went through. Though the test isn't for 24 hours straight, the cars are pushed as hard as possible by some of GM's best drivers with only the brakes and tires replaced frequently.
We don't want to ruin the fun for you, but it is an interesting article that tells just some of what GM does to develop its sports cars. Check out the full article over at Car and Driver for the rest of the story.

2020 Cadillac CT5 prototype shows off more lighting details

The elusive 2020 Cadillac CT5 luxury sports sedan has once again been spotted by a spy photographer. This time, we get to see it from all angles, whereas last time we only saw it from the front. It still has quite a bit of fake body work, and it's very clear Cadillac still hopes you'll think this is a Charger, from the big hood scoop to the fake full-width taillights. Digging past those misdirects, we can find some new details about the car. First, the car's front lighting has developed further. There are production-ready headlights fitted that appear to have some sort of LED illumination. These production lights also fit the shape we saw on the last prototype, so they'll end high up on the body, extending slightly horizontally toward the grille. There's still a section that extends back along the fender, seeming to bridge the gap between current Cadillacs and the Escala concept from which this car takes inspiration. Another addition are the vertical LED accent lights. This is another trademark feature of both current Cadillacs and the Escala, but they were absent from the last prototype we saw. We also get a look at some of the grille's details. Instead of slats, this CT5 has a plastic mesh of small rectangles. The pattern is reminiscent of brickwork. These photos also give us our first look at the back of the CT5. It looks like a fairly typical Cadillac. It's much more conservative than the front end. There are some angular cutouts in the bumper to allow exhaust gases out. The taillights have the current Cadillac look with the top curving over the rear fender. We can't tell if there will be a horizontal element like on the Escala, due to the fake lights. We're expecting the CT5 to be shown sometime next year in time for the 2020 model year. Odds are it will use off-the-shelf Cadillac engines including the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V6, and the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. Now that Cadillac has revealed its twin-turbo 4.2-liter V8, we'll be interested to see if that shows up in a future CT5-V. Related Video: Featured Gallery Cadillac CT5 prototype spy shots View 23 Photos Image Credit: SpiedBilde Spy Photos Cadillac Luxury Sedan cadillac ct5 cadillac escala