2005 Cadillac Sts Base Sedan 4-door 3.6l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM recalling 524k vehicles over hood latches and toe link nuts

Just hours after confirming to Autoblog its intention to recall 97,540 vehicles in the US (117,651 in North America) for a possible manufacturing defect in the chassis control module of several models, General Motors is issuing two more campaigns that affect another 379,401 units in the US (524,384 in North America).
One campaign covers 290,107 US examples of the 2010-2015 Cadillac SRX and the 2011-2012 Saab 9-4X because the "rear toe link adjuster lock nuts" may be improperly torqued. If not up to spec, the toe adjuster link could separate and allow the wheel to shift while driving, making the handling unstable. GM says that it knows of three crashes and two injuries as a result of this problem. Dealers are inspecting the nuts and installing a new link assembly, if necessary. Autoblog first reported about this potential issue when it showed up on a list of recalls from Transport Canada.
The second recall is for 89,294 examples of the 2013-2015 Chevrolet Spark in the US manufactured from January 17, 2012, through July 29, 2014. According to GM, "corrosion can cause the secondary hood latch striker to stick in the open position." If this happens, and the primary latch also isn't engaged for some reason, the hood could fly open while driving. About 13,000 of these affected Sparks are at dealers and are being held until repaired. The fix requires replacing the hood striker. GM isn't aware of crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by this problem.

Confident new Cadillac marketing boss ready to take on Tesla, BMW

When there's a former BMW executive heading Cadillac's efforts to boost sales of its only plug-in, it's a pretty safe guess that the marketing emphasis won't be on environmental friendliness and tree-hugging tendencies. The General Motors luxury brand has appointed ex-Bimmer executive Uwe Ellinghaus to be its marketing chief late last year, and the German-born Ellinghaus is now saying that he's targeting potential customers of Tesla Motors, in addition to BMW, for potential growth in sales of the Cadillac ELR extended-range plug-in. Appointed to Cadillac's head of marketing last November, Ellinghaus recently told Advertising Age that GM needs to highlight the Cadillac's looks and performance. He complimented Tesla for putting more emphasis on those attributes in the Model S than on its lack of emissions or lack of refueling costs (but Tesla hasn't shied away from highlighting the EV's savings). Ellinghaus says that trying to gear advertising "for people who are tree-huggers and green-wash an entire brand" won't be successful. You don't say. So far, the ELR hasn't made much of a dent in US car sales. Through May, Cadillac, which spent about $280 million on all of its US marketing last year, sold 293 units, whereas Tesla had been approaching the 11,000-unit figure for the Model S. With that in mind, Cadillac may be working on a sportier version of the ELR, as spy shots of a test vehicle from May revealed larger brakes and wheels. You can read our First Drive impressions of the ELR here.

Cadillac Oscars ad shows none of its cars or trucks

Can you sell something without actually showing the product in an ad? While this sounds like a question that Don Draper might have, Cadillac apparently thinks it's possible with at least one of the brand's three upcoming Oscars commercial. Days after whiting-out the company's social media presence in preparation for the new campaign, some of the advertising is finally here. Titled Dare Greatly, the first released spot goes for a stripped down, minimalist aesthetic. The entire piece is made up of voiceover and ambient noise set over slow-motion driving shots of New York City. Viewers catch a few out-of-focus glances at a Cadillac interior, but otherwise the only vehicles in the commercial are the ones parked along the street. The speech that is the centerpiece of the ad is all about the glory in just making an attempt, rather than criticizing others. "There is no effort without error and shortcoming," it says at one point. According to The Detroit Free Press, the text comes from a lecture by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris. Cadillac's commercial never actually attributes the words to the former president, but the company is playing up the connection on social media. The full 1:30 version of the spot is already streaming online, but Cadillac is cutting the commercial into 30-second and 60-second versions to air during the Oscars, according to The Detroit Free Press. Of the brand's two other ads during the awards show, at least one of them shows the company's vehicles.