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Cadillac sprinkles changes around its 2022 lineup

Cadillac is doing its best to keep the model-year-update train running, making incremental changes to the CT4, CT5, XT4, XT5, and XT6 for 2022. We'll start with the change coming to the entire Cadillac range, that being the addition of the automaker's Smart System package of nine driver assistance aids. The nine features are: Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Front Pedestrian Braking, Safety Alert Seat, Rear Park Assist, Rear Vision Camera, vehicle diagnostics, Teen Driver, and Rear Seat Reminder. After that, the CT4 and CT5 will gain the option of Super Cruise 1 and Super Cruise 2 on Sport and Premium Luxury trims. Super Cruise availability on the XT6 to follow at some point during the model year, but since the XT6 is built on GM's previous electrical architecture, its version of Super Cruise will lack some features such as Automated Lane Change. Also inside the vehicles, it's been reported that Inteluxe will be the new name for leatherette seating across the lineup.  Taking each model starting with the CT4, GM Authority says the compact sedan will lose its Dark Blue Moon Metallic, Evergreen Metallic, and Velocity Red exterior colors. They'll be replaced by Blaze Orange Metallic (pictured), which is reserved for the Sport, CT4-V, and CT4-V Blackwing, and Electric Blue and Dark Emerald Frost, which can only be optioned on the CT4-V and CT4-V Blackwing, and the latter color will have limited availability. The CT5 gets one of those new premium exterior hues, Blaze Orange Metallic. It will be available on the CT5 Sport alone. The base 350T models powered by the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder also had their fuel economy figures updated recently. The rear-driver gains another mile per gallon in the city and combined, the all-wheel driver gains one mpg in the city and loses one mpg on the highway, according to the EPA. The XT4 drops the premium exterior colors Shadow Metallic, Garnet Metallic, and Autumn Metallic. They are replaced by Galactic Gray Metallic, Latte Metallic, and Rosewood Metallic, all of which will add $625 to the MSRP and be available throughout the model lineup. Cadillac Society reports that NFC capability falls away next year, the tech deemed outdated. The refreshed XT4 that had been expected next year is now thought to arrive for the 2023 model year.

Three automotive tech trends to watch in 2018 and beyond

Every year, technology plays a bigger and bigger role in the auto industry. To put things in perspective, 10 years ago iPod integration and Bluetooth were cutting-edge in-car innovations, and smartphones and apps weren't yet a thing since the first iPhone was only about six months old. And I can't recall anyone talking about autonomous cars. Compare that to today, with mainstream coverage of the auto industry dominated by autonomous technology, along with electrification and almost every move made by Tesla. These three topics were the most significant trends of car tech in 2017 and I believe they will continue to shape the auto industry in 2018 and beyond. Let's examine them. Full Autonomy Gets Closer to Reality While there were many developments this year that indicate we're inching closer to fully autonomous vehicles, I was behind the wheel for hours to witness one of them. In October I had the chance to test Cadillac Super Cruise on a 700-mile, 11-hour drive from Dallas to Santa Fe – and had my hands on the wheel for maybe 45 minutes max throughout the entire trip. Super Cruise is far from making the Cadillac CT6 or any GM vehicle fully autonomous, and has limitations such as functioning only on pre-mapped main highways. While it simply adds a layer of lane centering to adaptive cruise control, the technology will go a long way in making mainstream drivers more comfortable with letting machines take over. On a separate front, GM is pushing ahead with fully autonomous vehicles and announced last month that it plans to launch of fleets of self-driving robo-taxis in several urban areas in 2019. While most automakers are also in the race to make autonomous cars a reality, GM's turbocharging of its efforts appeared to be in response to Waymo, which announced just weeks earlier that its Early Rider Program in the Phoenix area would go completely driverless. The Early Rider Program launched last April, offering the public a chance to ride in Waymo's autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans. In this new phase of testing, Waymo is using its own employees as guinea pigs instead of the public while the vehicles operate without a human behind the wheel, and takes another giant step forward for fully autonomous driving.

Cadillac Elmiraj has production potential

There are many reasons to love the Cadillac Elmiraj Concept, but not the least of which is how production-ready this big coupe appears to be. Take out the overly fancy interior and a few conceptual elements of the exterior, and this looks like a coupe that could be in dealers now as the successor to the Eldorado.
On top of that, Automotive News is quoting Bob Ferguson, Cadillac senior vice president, as saying that a production version of this car is "very doable." AN adds that if the Monterey showstopper gets the green-light, this car would compete against the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe and would based on Cadillac's upcoming rear-wheel-drive flagship sedan due out in 2015. The range-topping coupe would debut sometime after the sedan model. Cross your fingers.