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Hotter Cadillac CT5-V could use the CTS-V's 6.2-liter V8

Cadillac is in the final stages of testing the high-performance variant of the CT5, prototypes are racking up miles all over the world, and a recent report sheds light on the engine screaming between its punched-out fenders. It's a V8, to no one's surprise, but it's not the twin-turbocharged, 4.2-liter unit many believed the sedan would use. Sources familiar with Cadillac's product plan told Car & Driver the hotter CT5 — whose name hasn't been revealed yet — will receive an updated version of the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that powered the mighty CTS-V. It developed 640 horsepower in the firm's last German-bashing super-sedan, though where engineers will peg the CT5's output remains to be seen. It will roast the rear tires through a paddle-shifted automatic transmission. The publication explained Cadillac chose the 6.2-liter because it's more compact than the 4.2-liter Blackwing engine it developed for the CT6. The former features a pushrod design, while the latter gets twin overhead cams that make it taller and wider. The CT5 is a new model, but its Alpha platform is older than Cadillac's newest V8. Cadillac hasn't announced what will power the flagship CT5. The model is tentatively due out in showrooms before the end of 2020, so we expect to learn more about it in the coming months. Seeing it in the metal for the first time during the 2020 Detroit Auto Show in June isn't entirely out of the question. What's next? If the report is accurate, the much-hyped Blackwing may end up being an orphan engine. It was developed specifically for the Cadillac brand, and inaugurated by the CT6-V that recently went out of production. The many rumors claiming General Motors will put the engine in other models to recoup its investment are falling like dominoes. It won't fit in the CT5, so there's no reason to believe it will end up in the smaller CT4; its flagship version will likely arrive with a twin-turbocharged, 3.6-liter V6 borrowed from the ATS-V. An earlier report claims the next-generation Escalade won't use the Blackwing, either, because making it fit would cost too much. Looking beyond Cadillac, the only General Motors-owned brand that could use the Blackwing is Chevrolet, since we can't imagine the GMC Yukon will get it if the Escalade doesn't. The Tahoe/Suburban duo is off the table, too.

Cadillac's de Nysschen takes aim at Porsche 911, Cayenne

Johan de Nysschen has big plans for Cadillac. He's moved the brand from Detroit to New York, revamped its model nomenclature, and planning a raft of new models for the near future – including a $250,000 luxury sedan to take on the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley. But the veteran executive of luxury automakers has some more performance-oriented machinery in mind, too. Speaking with Car and Driver at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, de Nysschen suggested Cadillac could be ready to launch a flagship sports car sometime in the next decade. The halo model would take aim at the Porsche 911 and do for Cadillac what Audi did with the R8, Mercedes is doing with the AMG GT and Acura once did (and is aiming to do again) with the NSX. Just what form it would take remains a big unknown, but de Nysschen indicated that the brand would need to be built up further before the sports car would be launched, lest it emerge too detached from Cadillac's image. The last time Cadillac delved into that territory was with the Corvette-based XLR, of which it sold only 15,000 or so examples – far below initial targets. The 911 rival isn't the only performance model de Nysschen has in mind, however. He plans to further expand the V series into a more substantial sub-brand to include a crossover to take on the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, BMW X5 M and all those many AMG-tuned Mercedes utilities. The idea of an entry-level model to slot in below the ATS was mooted as well. A range of diesel engines are slated to help Cadillac break into overseas markets in similar fashion to how Maserati has expanded its market reach with oil-burning versions of the Ghibli and Quattroporte. And we wouldn't be surprised to see Cadillac get in on a new flagship SUV being launched by Opel in Europe, either.

Cadillac dealers get $5,000 incentive for ELR test drives

The 530 Cadillac dealers - out of 940 total dealers - that signed on to sell the brand's ELR for $75,000 or lease it for $699 per month have managed to move 247 of them in the last five months. That's a little less than two cars for each dealer more than two dealers for each car if you need help with the math. With inventories of the luxury plug-in hybrid building up - Automotive News reports a 725-day supply - General Motors has created the Demonstrator Allowance Program to billow the sails on that slow moving ship, giving dealers $5,000 to promote ELR test drives.
A dealer with one ELR in its test fleet that racks up 750 test driven miles between May 1 and June 2 earns the fifty Benjamins, a dealer with two ELRs in the test fleet will get one hundred Benjamins. That will be added to summer incentives for dealers that pay $2,000 for units sold in July and $1,000 for units sold in August, while on the customer side, Cadillac has put "customer discount certificates" worth $3,000 on the hood for buyers and lessees.
Cadillac suggests this is about raising awareness of the ELR, but the question is how much dealers will be able to do for a car that observers - and buyers, apparently - still consider highly overpriced.