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2014 Cadillac ELR wears a suave suit with Volt underpants

The Cadillac design and engineering teams were smiling like a bunch of proud papas here in Detroit this morning, as the Wreath and Crest crew pulled the curtain back on their 2014 ELR. The house was packed for the ELR's coming out party, and reaction was enthusiastic amongst the murmuring media, as far as we could gather, while the flashes were firing.
In fact, we think that the sleek styling and aggressive proportions of the Voltec-powered ELR looked even better in the metal than they did in the first official images we saw earlier. Further, the leather-lined interior seems custom made for serious driving, even if the ELR is slightly less than rocket-ship quick.
The new Cadillac makes good use of the basic running gear from the Chevrolet Volt, including the 1.4-liter range-extending gas engine, a 15.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and an electric drive motor that offers 295 pound-feet of torque, and a total system output of 207 horsepower. All-electric range is down by just one mile versus its Chevrolet forebearer, for a total of 35, and Cadillac speculates that the total range with the gasoline generator figured in will top 300 miles.

Cadillac boss: Don't ask why we have so many sedans

Ugh, crossovers. Car-based, high-riding station wagons, for some reason, sell in absurd numbers and make automakers lots and lots of money. That's why automakers with a strong lineup of CUVs are running strong, while sedan-heavy brands are struggling. Cadillac is all too aware of this fact. While the company is preparing to launch the new CT6 luxury sedan, it's also realizing four sedans, a coupe, a crossover, and a $73,000, old-school, body-on-frame SUV does not a healthy lineup make. Worse, though, as Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen rued during the LA Auto Show, is that the new CT6 is joining a segment already oversaturated. While it's a big, expensive vehicle, it's not much bigger or more expensive than the CTS and XTS sedans. "Please don't ask me why we have three cars in the same segment," de Nysschen said, stopping midway through an interview with Automotive News on the CT6's market placement to make the crack. "That's a whole different subject." As for those CUVs, the new XT5 debuted in LA, and it will eventually be joined by another much-needed CUV in 2018, AN reports. Related Video:

GM considering new powertrain options for large SUVs

Aside from the new General Motors offerings, there's not a whole lot of action going on in the fullsize SUV segment. That doesn't seem to be stopping GM from pushing the envelope in the market as Automotive News is reporting that the automaker is looking to introduce some new powertrain options into the Chevy Tahoe (and Suburban), GMC Yukon (and Yukon XL) and the Cadillac Escalade - all have been redesigned for the 2015 model year.
Now, we already know that GM and Ford are collaborating on nine- and ten-speed transmissions for a broad range of applications (including the big SUVs), but this new report says that GM is also considering other options as a way to one-up the competition and, of course, to optimize fuel economy. AN quotes Jeff Luke, executive chief engineer for GM trucks, as saying that "interesting powertrain technologies" are coming including a return of a hybrid SUV and possibly even a diesel engine. Although it sounds like the latter could come down to how customers respond to the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel.