2009 Cadillac Escalade Quad Buckets Sat Radio Navigation Bose on 2040-cars

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Cadillac Oscars ad shows none of its cars or trucks

Can you sell something without actually showing the product in an ad? While this sounds like a question that Don Draper might have, Cadillac apparently thinks it's possible with at least one of the brand's three upcoming Oscars commercial. Days after whiting-out the company's social media presence in preparation for the new campaign, some of the advertising is finally here. Titled Dare Greatly, the first released spot goes for a stripped down, minimalist aesthetic. The entire piece is made up of voiceover and ambient noise set over slow-motion driving shots of New York City. Viewers catch a few out-of-focus glances at a Cadillac interior, but otherwise the only vehicles in the commercial are the ones parked along the street. The speech that is the centerpiece of the ad is all about the glory in just making an attempt, rather than criticizing others. "There is no effort without error and shortcoming," it says at one point. According to The Detroit Free Press, the text comes from a lecture by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris. Cadillac's commercial never actually attributes the words to the former president, but the company is playing up the connection on social media. The full 1:30 version of the spot is already streaming online, but Cadillac is cutting the commercial into 30-second and 60-second versions to air during the Oscars, according to The Detroit Free Press. Of the brand's two other ads during the awards show, at least one of them shows the company's vehicles.

GM wants to have 10 plug-in models in China in five years

Last we checked, General Motors was selling all of three plug-in vehicle models in its home country of the US, and is prepared to make the Chevrolet Bolt EV available on these shores later this year. So it's notable that the automaker is hatching plans to have at least 10 plug-in variants for sale in China within the next five years, according to Hybrid Cars. Which plug-ins are coming remains a mystery. GM started selling a hybrid version of the Buick LaCrosse in China this month. The strategy makes sense, as China is now the world's largest car market, and accounts for about a third of GM's annual revenue. The automaker, which operates in China under the SAIC-GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling joint ventures, sells cars there under the Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and Boujun badges, and has been doing so for the better part of two decades. Most recently, GM started selling a hybrid version of the Buick LaCrosse in China this month. What we do know is that GM is building its Cadillac CT6 Plug-in Hybrid in China, with distribution to be split between China and the US. That model, which is scheduled to start sales by the end of the year, is being built overseas because of a combination of Chinese government support for new-energy vehicle technology through incentives and the fact that battery-pack maker LG Chem makes most of its cells in nearby South Korea. The plug-ins are part of a broader plan by General Motors to either introduce or substantially tweak about 60 models by the end of the decade. With such new models, GM looks to boost unit sales by as much as five percent a year for the next few years. As for the other nine plug-in models slated for China by 2021, the company is mum. GM spokesman Dan Flores declined to comment to AutoblogGreen. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 Cadillac CT6: First Drive View 32 Photos News Source: Hybrid Cars Green Cadillac Chevrolet GM Electric Hybrid PHEV

GM intends to offer semi-autonomous vehicles by 2020

Prepare for a few years of technological saber-rattling, as the world's automakers begin pushing to bring self-driving cars to market. Earlier this week, Nissan announced that it aims to offer autonomous vehicles by 2020, while Google, BMW and several other marks are working on similar efforts.
General Motors is doing things differently, though. Rather than push for a fully autonomous car, it's continuing to refine its semi-autonomous Super Cruise, a product that we tested in April 2012 and that will eventually see use on some Cadillacs before trickling down to the rest of the General Motors family. Super Cruise, which is undergoing testing in the Cadillac SRX, doesn't take complete control out of the driver's hands. Rather, under a very specific set of circumstances on the freeway, it will marry the capabilities of things like lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control to allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel. All of which sounds a lot like the system Mercedes-Benz is launching on the 2014 S-Class.
The system is still in development, according to John Capp, GM's director of electrical controls and active safety technology. Now that that the biggest hurdle, steering control, has been cleared, GM's engineers can focus on things like teaching the system to adapt to differing road conditions and visibility levels. As we reported in 2012, Super Cruise is still befuddled in low-visibility situations or when road markings aren't particularly clear.