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Cadillac previews upcoming new XT5 crossover [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Cadillac has released another three images, which we've added to the gallery above. Cadillac is gearing up to unveil its new XT5 crossover at the Dubai Motor Show in November. We've already seen what it'll look like - from a couple of angles, anyway - but the all-American luxury automaker has given us another taste of what's to come with a quartet of images released on its official Facebook page. Set to replace the SRX that's now six years old, the all-new XT5 adopts the new design language we've seen on newer Cadillacs of late. That's most particularly emphasized with those vertically integrated LED headlights. The sharply creased styling is also signature Cadillac, as is the egg-crate grille capped by the brand's wreath-less new emblem. The dark brown paint job also looks like it has a deep metallic flake to it, offset by satin brightwork where you might have once expected to see glinting chrome. (Then again, it could just be reflecting a uniform backdrop.) The XT5 is expected to be the first of several new Caddy crossovers to wear the letters XT. A smaller model (likely to be dubbed XT3) is tipped to slot in below, with a larger XT7 to slot in above – but still below the defiantly truck-based Escalade that's not about to go anywhere anytime soon. Sedans will continue to start their nameplates with the letters CT. But after a dozen years, the letters SRX will be retired from the Cadillac lexicon. Related Video:

Liberace's gilded Cadillac could be yours

With their chrome grilles and oversized wheels, it's hard not to notice a Cadillac these days. But this one is even more blingtastic on account of the 23.75-karat gold-leaf bodywork.
The 1931 Cadillac Golfer's Drop Head Coupé is said to have belonged to the inimitable performer Liberace, who didn't just have it covered in gold - he also had the exterior door handles plated in silver and the inside handles in 24-karat gold as well. It's also got a white leather interior and headlights that - well ahead of their time (if you'll pardon us, Mr. Tucker) - pivot with the steering wheel. All that bling is powered by a 5.7-liter V8 mated to a three-speed automatic transmission that pales in comparison to the seven, eight and even nine-speed gearboxes appearing on luxury sedans today.
The project was undertaken over the course of three years in the 1970s by one Jack Smith from Kansas. Smith (if that was his real name) sold it at auction in 1975, and it was most recently displayed for 12 years at a museum in Germany which claimed it was Liberace's own. The car is now going up for sale by Barons' at the Sandown Park horse racing track in Surrey, England, on September 17, when bidding starts at 85,000 pounds - equivalent to over $130,000 at today's rates.

Expect the Cadillac XT3 small crossover in late 2018

Cadillac's sedan-heavy lineup can't complete in this crossover-crazy market, it seems. The Detroit News spoke to Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen and found out some more details about the brand's plan to alter its lineup to cater more to current consumer tastes. It's no surprise that these plans would include a small crossover, because de Nysschen has been talking about a vehicle smaller than the XT5 like this since at least 2015. The report also pins the Fairfax Assembly Plant, where GM builds the Buick LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Malibu, as the site for what could be called the XT3's production. That's not an immediately obvious choice, since the LaCrosse and Malibu are based on the latest evolution of the Epsilon platform, known as E2XX. And the XT5 is based on a crossover version of that same platform (known as C2XX), while XT3 is expected to be smaller than the XT5. So perhaps there's a different assembly line going into Fairfax, or the C2XX platform can be significantly shortened. We assume that the XT3 would be built on a smaller platform, perhaps the Gamma II that underpins the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Encore – which are built in either South Korea or Mexico, depending on which market they are to be exported to. The Encore is selling very well for Buick, with sales figures increasing through late last year. Another possibility is the D2XX platform that underpins the Chinese-built Buick Envision and the GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox, perhaps with assembly happening at the CAMI plant in Ontario. At this early stage, without confirmation of GM as to what platform the XT3 will use or where it will really be built, it's too early to say what the Fairfax rumor means. This isn't the first time we've heard about a small Cadillac crossover. Back in 2015, de Nysschen told us to expect it sometime in 2018. But later that year, speaking to Reuters, he posited that it'd be closer to 2019. The Detroit News says de Nysschen told them it'll launch in the second half of 2018, splitting the difference between what we'd heard previously. Remember, Cadillac's only two vehicles in the segment are the XT5 and Escalade. We know that the brand is almost certainly scrambling to fill the holes in that side of the lineup. We think a three-row crossover will slot between the two, probably called the XT7.