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Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen expands on brand's future

Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen chatted with journalists at a recent roundtable, expounding on everything from domestic racing to Chinese manufacturing. The brand's been doing a slow burn on rolling out new products and increasing sales, but admittedly, there was a lot of work to do. After closing out last year 0.8 percent down in the U.S., the domestic luxury brand is more than 5 percent up so far this year, thanks to healthy double-digit bumps for the ATS and Escalade, and increased fleet sales. Globally, the brand's doing 21 percent better. The XT5 still outsells everything, though. Asked about slow sedan sales, de Nysschen cited a few reasons, one of them "energy prices," which are low enough to fuel the crossover craze. You can also read that as another admission that Cadillac doesn't have enough crossovers to please the crowds, a fact the XT4 will soon address. Yet de Nysschen also pegged the sedan malaise on "younger consumers who really are less tuned into dynamics and handling and all of those things that used to excite enthusiasts. It's more about the way cars complement and enable their lifestyle now." He topped that with a take on U.S. roads, saying, "I also have to say it may also be influenced a little bit by the decay of America's infrastructure. When roads no longer support high-performance sport sedans and ultra-low-profile rubber, people are going to respond to it." Those latter takes seem wide of the mark. Yes, BMW is the established leader, but the Munich carmaker sold 8,806 3 Series' so far this year in all variants, compared to 2,543 ATS coupes and sedans. Mercedes-Benz has sold 8,366 C-Class models so far in all variants. As for infrastructure, yes, it's a mess, but AMG sales rocketed up nearly 50 percent in the U.S. last year, nearly 10 percent of overall Mercedes sales, and the Three-Pointed Star expects that to rise again this year. People are buying sedans and performance models. They simply aren't buying enough of them with Cadillac badges. Cadillac has no plans to go racing in Europe since the brand doesn't have the kind of presence there to justify the investment. De Nysschen said they'll stick with the Daytona Prototype International formula in the U.S. domestic scene, and continue with the tech transfer from race to road.

2020 Cadillac CT4-V, CT5-V revealed, less powerful than predecessors

Expectations have reached stratospheric heights for the 2020 Cadillac CT4-V and 2020 Cadillac CT5-V, and for good reason: Their ATS-V and CTS-V predecessors were potent sports sedans with gobs of power and handling and braking to match. Now the new sedans have been revealed, and they're not what we expected. They each lose two cylinders compared with the other vehicles, and on paper, they don't look as capable. But we do have hope that these won't be the end-all, be-all performance Cadillacs. First, let's look at the cars. The CT4-V will be the base of the V brand, and it's our first look at the small luxury sedan. It has a roofline and window treatment more like past Cadillacs, eschewing the C-pillar garnish of the CT5. It also naturally gets dark trim and headlights, a unique spoiler and quad tailpipes to distinguish it as a V. Under the hood is a turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder that is based on the engine in the new Chevy Silverado. It makes 320 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, a far cry from the ATS-V's 464 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque. Cadillac CT4-V View 12 Photos Power goes through a 10-speed automatic transmission only. Both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive are available. It gets a mechanical limited-slip differential whereas the ATS-V had an electronically controlled limited-slip differential a la Camaro ZL1. The brakes have four-piston calipers at each corner versus six-piston front units and four-piston rear units on the ATS-V, and the rotors are smaller. Magnetic Ride Control remains standard on the rear-drive version, but the all-wheel-driver version sticks with conventional shocks. The new CT4-V is about 200 pounds lighter than the ATS-V, though, and it has 50/50 weight distribution. Additionally, both the CT4-V and the CT5-V have Super Cruise available as an option. Moving on to the CT5-V, it looks like a regular CT5 but with dark trim and lights, quad tailpipes and a unique rear diffuser. Instead of the CTS-V's 640-horsepower supercharged V8, the CT5-V uses a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 making 355 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Changes made to the 3.0 for the CT5-V include a new intake system and new exhaust, and it revs higher too. Like the CT4-V, it comes with a 10-speed automatic and either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. It does get the electronically controlled limited-slip differential.

Expect greater differentiation in GM's next-generation SUVs

General Motors says its next-generation Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade models will offer shoppers improved interior differentiation. Car and Driver recently caught up with Chris Hilts, GM's creative manager of interior design, who said that the cabins will all feature unique instrument panels, consoles, center stacks and switchgear moving forward. Apparently GM is now aware that consumers may be bothered by the fact that today's $85,000 Escalade has effectively the same cabin as a $45,000 Tahoe. Hilts says SUV buyers want more refinement than their pickup purchasing counterparts - and those same buyers also want their SUVs to have more exterior differentiation between the company's Silverado and Sierra pickup lines. Shocking.
That all sounds good to us, but we've heard this song and dance before. GM made big waves about how different the new-for-2013 Silverado and Sierra would look from each other, but judging by what we've seen so far, GM's stylists are painting in shades rather than with the full spectrum. For more on the what to expect out of GM's new SUVs, click on the C/D link below.