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Is Lincoln MKC cutting into Cadillac SRX sales?

The two big American luxury brands of Cadillac and Lincoln are on surprisingly similar paths at the moment with both divisions hoping to redefine themselves and grow popularity. They're still early in the process with no clear winner yet, but things might actually be looking up for Lincoln's latest model, according to a monthly sales analysis from The Motley Fool. It seems, at least early on, that the new MKC crossover might be taking a bite out of the Cadillac SRX's growth.
The MKC launched just a few months ago and has been getting a big marketing push from a series of oft-mocked ads starring the smooth-talking Matthew McConaughey. The luxury CUV has been the popular, new kid on the block with growing sales since its introduction. While smaller than the SRX, the Lincoln starts at a lower price and offers better fuel economy.
Through June, the SRX performed well with sales up over 20 percent on average through June, according to The Motley Fool. However, July and August saw things plummet with year-over-year drops of 7 percent and 37 percent, respectively. It still far outsold the MKC in terms of actual units in a given month, but the Caddy's continued growth has appeared to stagnate.

Semi-autonomous Cadillac CT6 has Batman's seal of approval

Earlier this year, Cadillac pushed the launch of its Super Cruise semi-autonomous technology back to 2017, but it looks like the automaker is still hard at work testing the system on its vehicles. Our photographers snapped a CT6 sedan with what appears to be the Super Cruise technology in broad daylight. The CT6 in the pictures, ignoring the massive equipment on the car's roof, appears to be stock. The barely camouflaged vehicle has more sensors on the front fascia and a black rear bumper, but other than those points, looks normal. Getting back to the massive piece of equipment on the CT6's roof. There's no way to definitively state what it is, but there appears to be four cameras on the corners of the rack. A sensor or camera is also fitted to the right side mirror, which is slightly camouflaged. With all of the wires from the roof going into the vehicle, there's a chance that the massive blacked-out piece of equipment on the roof could be used to gather data. While the equipment looks extremely scientific, someone at Cadillac must have a sense of humor, or be a huge fan of DC Comics, as a Batman's logo is prominently displayed on the roof-mounted gear. Cadillac announced its Super Cruise semi-autonomous technology two years ago. The system will be able to speed the car up, keep the vehicle in its lane, and slow it down. The goal, in 2014, was to introduce the technology in two years (2016), but the automaker delayed the tech until 2017. Related Video: Featured Gallery Cadillac CT6 Super Cruise Spy Shots View 13 Photos Image Credit: Spied Bible / Brian Williams Design/Style Spy Photos Cadillac Technology Autonomous Vehicles Luxury Sedan cadillac ct6 Super Cruise

Cadillac will kill the plug-in ELR

Johan de Nysschen, president of General Motors' Cadillac division, says Caddy's ELR extended-range plug-in won't have any future generations, Automotive News (subs. req.) says. The publication previously reported that the car would be around for another couple of years, but even that's questionable, and the model could be yanked even sooner. Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell confirmed that there won't be a second-generation ELR. "Subsequent generations of the car will not be developed," he wrote in an e-mail to Autoblog. "It's available currently as a 2016 model, and there's no change to that status." The model debuted in late 2013 and used a version of the powertrain in the Chevrolet Volt. The main problem, of course, was that the car had a $76,000 price tag that proved too much for most automobile buyers to stomach. Last year, GM sold 1,024 ELRs, down 22 percent from 2014's totals. By comparison, the Chevy Volt moved more than 15,000 units, and that itself was still down 18 percent from year-earlier figures. The merciful end to the ELR shouldn't be much of a surprise, as Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus went on the record in December of essentially calling the model a dud. It's a far cry from the excitement, though, that the concept model of what was then called the Converj was unveiled to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in 2009. For those feeling misty-eyed or nostalgic, though, check here for Autoblog's First Drive impressions of the extended-range plug-in. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 Cadillac ELR Review View 48 Photos News Source: Automotive News-sub.req. Green Cadillac GM Hybrid elr extended-range plug-in