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Weekly Recap: Lincoln Continental serves up the style, Cadillac CT6 delivers the substance in New York

Lincoln and Cadillac grabbed the spotlight this week at the New York Auto Show in a dramatic fashion that evoked the brands' glory days. America's two luxury carmakers went toe-to-toe with their glittering reveals and plans for ambitious expansion. Both were selling their technology, style and the promise of a better future. Cadillac vs. Lincoln. At the Javits Center, 2015 seemed a lot like 1956. Neither company was interested in drawing comparisons with the other, which is fair, and accurate. They're in vastly different places in terms of sales and the pace of their turnarounds, but they hope to reach the same eventual destination at the pinnacle of the luxury-car world. Lincoln used the element of surprise to great effect with the Continental concept. A production version is still at least a year away, and the company was vague on details. Officially, we don't even know if it is front- or rear-wheel drive, though speculation abounds. Who cares? The seats can be adjusted 30 ways! The Continental also showed off a bold chrome grille that will be the new face of Lincoln. The blue bomber also rolled on blinged-out 21-inch polished aluminum wheels, used a 3.0-liter EcoBoost engine and had huge LED head lights with "laser-assisted" high beams. All of this resulted in almost blinding attention. The concept drew rave reviews, stirred controversy with Bentley designers who argued Lincoln ripped them off, and most importantly, pointed a way forward for the newly determined brand that hopes to compete with Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Cadillac and Lexus. View 32 Photos Meanwhile, Cadillac showed the CT6, a finished product that will top its range and is loaded with the best and latest technologies General Motors has at its disposal. With production starting late this year, Cadillac had more specifics at the ready. Engines? Cadillac has a couple V6s and a turbo four for sure. It's working on a hybrid, and has considered a V-Series variant. It's based on a new rear-wheel-drive, aluminum-intensive chassis called Omega, features an advanced collision-mitigation system with automatic braking and has a cabin that's laden with "leathers, exotic woods and carbon fiber." It will be assembled at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck factory and goes on sale next year. At this point, Cadillac is more than willing to talk about every except for the price. The devil was not in the details for Cadillac, as evidenced by the CT6. But it wasn't for Lincoln either.

Cadillac Elmiraj sedan RWD flagship finally caught testing

While we still have no insight as to it being named Elmiraj, STS or some other permutation of the -TS nomenclature ("LTS" has apparently been registered by GM, as well), new spy shots give us proof positive that Cadillac is indeed hard at work on a rear-wheel-drive flagship model. Spied for the very first time in some north country testing, these shots provide a first look at the upcoming range-topper from Cadillac.
Impressively long and large bodywork ride atop new General Motors' corporate Omega rear-drive architecture here. Heavy cladding over camouflage may discourage finding any details, but the overall, sharp-edged and blocky design is clearly reminiscent of what we've seen on the new CTS and the recently debuted ATS coupe. A strong, wheels-at-each-corner stance helps emphasize the length of this stretched Caddy, and everything about the proportions seem spot-on for a new fullsize flagship for the brand.
It's quite possible that Cadillac will ultimately festoon this large sedan with detailing reminiscent of the original Elmiraj coupe, though thus far we've only seen prototypes wearing four-doors.

Cadillac could 'flourish' in Australia, says marketing chief

Cadillac might have its best product mix in recent history, and GM's luxury brand is looking to expand. In fact, it might even be making a trip Down Under, at least according to the company's global marketing chief.
Uwe Ellinghaus spoke with Australian site Car Advice at the Geneva Motor Show and said the brand could be quite successful there. "[The] goodwill that the Cadillac brand has is such a good starting base that once we get proper volume commitment and a dealer network behind it we can easily flourish," he said, though he warned that the plans are still in their earliest stages and years away. First, Cadillac will expand in markets with the highest possible sales, like China and Russia.
Ellinghaus said that the most likely models for Oz would be the SRX, Escalade and CTS; the latter would probably act as a replacement for the Holden Commodore. GM's Australian arm is ending local production in 2017, and there have been many rumors about what is happening to the big sedan. However, Ellinghaus admits exporting cars from the US to Australia is going to mean higher prices. In addition to the expense, Cadillac doesn't currently build any right-hand-drive models. It would likely take until the end of the decade before the Aussie models could be ready.