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2019 Lincoln Nautilus vs 2018 Cadillac XT5: How they compare on paper

There will no doubt be endless ads touting the "first-ever" 2019 Lincoln Nautilus, which is accurate, but it's really just a mid-cycle update of an existing midsize luxury SUV attached to a greatly welcomed name change. Frankly, Lincoln could've called it the Diamond Jubilee Bill Blass and it would've been an improvement. Whatever. The MKX is dead. Long live the Nautilus. Now, speaking of SUVs with silly alphanumeric names, the 2018 Cadillac XT5 lines up remarkably well with the 2018 MKX. Besides hailing from American luxury brands, they have virtually identical exterior dimensions and similar standard engines as well. Cross-shopping seems assured. But what does the change to the 2019 Nautilus mean for how it compares to the XT5? Cosmetic changes might tweak exterior dimensions by a tenth of an inch here or there, but the interior should remain the same. The Nautilus gets a new engine, though, so check out our spreadsheet below to see if America's (and Canada's) luxury SUVs still stack up. Conclusions The switch to a turbocharged four-cylinder base engine means the XT5 and MKX/Nautilus are no longer on equal terms under the hood. While the Cadillac now has a considerable power advantage, the Lincoln Nautilus could save you hundreds every year based on its likely fuel economy (the 2.0-liter turbo engine, albeit with a different transmission, is in the mechanically similar Ford Edge). Besides the new engine for 2019, the Nautilus also gains an eight-speed automatic and an automatic stop start system. Both of those elements are already included on the XT5. It was announced that the 2019 Nautilus will start at $41,335, which compares to the base MKX at $39,960 and the 2018 Cadillac XT5 at $41,590. In other words, the Lincoln is still less expensive, but just barely. Standard feature content is also comparable, especially as the Nautilus gains standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which are already standard on the XT5. So really, no matter what they're called, the Cadillac and Lincoln should continue to be neck-and-neck competitors. 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Photos View 20 Photos 2018 Cadillac XT5 Photos View 28 Photos 2018 Lincoln MKX Photos View 57 Photos Related Video: Cadillac Lincoln Car Buying Crossover SUV Luxury Comparison consumer cadillac xt5 lincoln nautilus

GM's Mark Reuss explains why a performance Cadillac ELR-V won't happen

Hey, I've got enough things to worry about. That's one interpretation of General Motors executive vice president Mark Reuss' response to a question posed by Driving the Nation about the recently-introduced Cadillac ELR plug-in hybrid. Reuss said GM will "definitely expand the tuning envelope" for the ELR. The question was whether GM would consider adding magnetic ride control to the quite-powerful-for-a-plug-in Caddy, creating an "ELR-V" model in the process. Reuss' non-answer: "Good question, can't really answer that," but then elaborated that magnetic ride control uses up "a lot" of power otherwise spoken for in terms of providing the longest electric-only range possible. Interestingly, he did add that GM will "definitely expand the tuning envelope" for the ELR, as you can see in the video below. With the model retailing for north of $75,000, fewer than 60 percent of US Cadillac dealers were carrying the ELR as of last month and just 99 ELRs were sold during the first two months of the year. In an effort to sell more vehicles, GM said in January that it would offer the ELR for a 39-month lease for $699 a month for qualified lessees and with a $5,999 down-payment required. Autoblog's First Drive impressions of the ELR can be found here.

Cadillac ATS was almost front-wheel drive

"We were going to do a front-wheel drive Cadillac compact off of Delta because it was going to be less expensive," Doug Parks, General Motors' vice president of global product programs, told the Automotive News during the Detroit Auto Show in January of this year. That sentence, referring to early ATS discussions more than five years ago - a period when the automaker, and the industry, was struggling - reveals that Cadillac's highly acclaimed rear-wheel drive compact sedan almost never happened.
Parks revealed that that automaker actually built a 2.0-liter test mule, on GM's Delta platform (shared with the Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Verano) and tested it in Europe. While the prototype was "pretty darn good," according to Parks, the team realized that in order to compete against Mercedes-Benz and BMW it would have to invest in a new rear-wheel drive platform.
The resulting all-new Alpha platform would eventually underpin the Cadillac ATS, and many would argue that its balanced rear-wheel drive chassis is its single most important attribute. Thankfully, the Alpha's goodness won't stop with the ATS. The upcoming 2014 Cadillac CTS and the future Camaro will also share its architecture, meaning the Cimarron will remain a distant memory.