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Cadillac abandons plans for six-digit flagship sedan

So much for that party. Cadillac has announced that it is walking away from plans to build a high-dollar, rear-wheel-drive ultraluxury sedan. The low-volume model would have been based on the lusty Ciel Concept, and the production iteration would have carried a price tag well over $100,000. Executives with the automaker reportedly claim the model wouldn't have bolstered the brand enough to be worth the investment.
Even so, Automotive News reports Cadillac is still on track to build a range-topping four-door to go head-to-head with the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. That model will likely be constructed on the company's upcoming Omega rear-wheel-drive platform, but we won't see it bow until at least 2016. Right now, the front-wheel-drive XTS sits at the top of the Cadillac lineup, and while that machine and it's twin-turbocharged V6 variant makes a compelling argument against certain luxury entries, it falls short serving as a legitimate competitor for the likes of the 7 Series and S-Class for enthusiast drivers.

Cadillac clears camo off the XT3 revealing grille, lighting details

Up until now, every Cadillac XT3 we've seen has been buried under covers and vinyl wraps, but one of our spy photographers recently captured a group of them with significantly less camouflage. As a result, we finally get a relatively clear picture of what the car will look like. The nose blends the look of current Cadillacs with cues from last year's Escala concept. The headlights still appear to stretch up into the top of the fenders like its production brethren, but they don't descend as far down the front fascia, a hint of Escala influence. The grille also features more of egg-crate mesh like that Cadillac concept. In profile, we can see evidence of the XT3's smaller size compared with the XT5, mainly in the lack of any glass area behind the rear door. Other evidence of the smaller size is that our spy photographer reports the cars were being tested alongside the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. The profile also shows that the XT3 will have a hard-edged rear end with a rakish hatch. At the back, there isn't a whole lot to report, but the taillights look like they'll be interesting. There appears to be a horizontal element in the middle of the hatch similar to what we've seen on the Escala and the refreshed XTS. We can also see some lights up on the C-pillar, which indicates that the XT3 will also have tall vertical elements up those pillars like on the Escalade. We expect the XT3 to show up late in 2018. It will likely be powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder of some sort, and because it will probably be based on an existing GM crossover or sedan platform, it will probably have front-wheel drive and/or a front-drive based all-wheel-drive system. Related Video: Featured Gallery Cadillac XT4 Spy Shots View 13 Photos Image Credit: Brian Williams Spy Photos Cadillac Crossover SUV Luxury cadillac xt3

Cadillac CT6 PHEV battery shape a big departure for GM's plug-in hybrid tech

Anyone with any familiarity with the electric powertrain details for the two General Motors plug-in hybrids will have noticed that the information we have about the newly announced Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid has a lot of numbers in common with the Chevy Volt and the Cadillac ELR, like the 18.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and an expected all-electric range of 37 miles. We also noticed that the announcement calls the plug-in CT6 hybrid an actual plug-in hybrid and not an "extended range electric vehicle (EREV)," which is what GM calls the Volt and the ELR. This, of course, means we needed to ask GM some questions. Donny Nordlicht from Cadillac communications told AutoblogGreen that while the Volt and CT6 batteries are both 18.4-kWh, the shape is completely different. In the Volt/ELR, the battery is T-shaped (see it here). The CT6 has four seats, with a tunnel running between the two in the rear, as you can see here, but the battery in the CT6 PHEV is "a cube-shaped pack, which is between rear seats and the trunk," Nordlicht said. "There is no pass through." GM has not yet released any technical schematics about this pack, but Nordlicht said that, "The CT6's advanced mixed-material platform was designed to accommodate the PHEV system by design so that it minimally intrudes on the cabin space." It also means that the CT6 can be ordered as an optional PHEV, while the Volt and ELR were purpose-built plug-ins. GM is also distinguishing between the EREV and PHEV powertrains in its vehicles from this point forward. "We are not discarding the EREV language," Nordlicht said. "The CT6 utilizes a two-motor system mated to a 2.0T 4-cylinder engine, which is an all-new system to Cadillac." We assume that the PHEV packs will use li-ion cells from LG Chem, just like the EREVs do, but Nordlicht did not answer our question on that point. As for other details about the CT6 PHEV – like production, full dimension, and pricing – we will just have to wait until closer to when the vehicle launches for those. Related Video: