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Next-gen Cadillac CTS-Vs caught in parking lot

A pair of camouflaged Cadillac CTS prototypes were spotted, and thankfully photographed, outside a grocery store in Southern California. From the image above - there are plenty more if you click over to TotalCarScore.com - it appears these could be testers for the 2014 CTS-V, but that is just speculation. We've seen the obvious "V" motif in the grille before, and there's what could be another "V" in the design of the side mirrors.
The hood on the car in the background appears to include two bulges, but the single shot that affords a tiny peek under the hood shows reveals only the airbox. Plenty of rumors, and the sight of an engine cover inscribed with the words "Twin Turbo," have caused people to wonder if a twin-turbo V6 will live under the production car's hood instead of the V8 currently there. In back, instead of the round tailpipes found outboard on all the CTS sedans, there's a pair of integrated tips in a parallelogram shape. A new shifter with contrasting stitching was spied in the cabin.
If predictions hold up it will arrive later this year. When it does, expect the body underneath all that camo to be softer on the eye compared to the current car - less science and more art. For now, hit the link to see more spy shots of what's coming.

Cadillac XT6 three-row crossover spied hours after de Nysschen ousted

Big news today from GM's luxury brand. Cadillac ousted Johan de Nysschen after four years at the helm. It's unclear exactly what let to his departure, but slumping sales and a lack of crossovers surely influenced GM's decision. Cadillac currently has one crossover and one SUV on sale. The Cadillac XT5 and Escalade will soon be joined by the smaller XT4. New spy shots show that the new three-row Cadillac XT6 will soon join the lineup. The new model is heavily camouflaged, but it's not difficult to make out Cadillac's corporate grille behind the covers. This still looks like a prototype car as both the headlights and taillights look like temporary units. The lower grille looks like it's hiding a radar sensor that's likely paired with the camera mounted in the windshield. The XT6 is likely to get Cadillac Super Cruise at some point. The XT6 looks longer than the midsize XT5 and should be roughly the size of the second-gen GMC Acadia. This should offer a more fuel-efficient alternative to the Escalade while still providing room for seven passengers. Look for a full debut this fall. Related Video:

GM intends to offer semi-autonomous vehicles by 2020

Prepare for a few years of technological saber-rattling, as the world's automakers begin pushing to bring self-driving cars to market. Earlier this week, Nissan announced that it aims to offer autonomous vehicles by 2020, while Google, BMW and several other marks are working on similar efforts.
General Motors is doing things differently, though. Rather than push for a fully autonomous car, it's continuing to refine its semi-autonomous Super Cruise, a product that we tested in April 2012 and that will eventually see use on some Cadillacs before trickling down to the rest of the General Motors family. Super Cruise, which is undergoing testing in the Cadillac SRX, doesn't take complete control out of the driver's hands. Rather, under a very specific set of circumstances on the freeway, it will marry the capabilities of things like lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control to allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel. All of which sounds a lot like the system Mercedes-Benz is launching on the 2014 S-Class.
The system is still in development, according to John Capp, GM's director of electrical controls and active safety technology. Now that that the biggest hurdle, steering control, has been cleared, GM's engineers can focus on things like teaching the system to adapt to differing road conditions and visibility levels. As we reported in 2012, Super Cruise is still befuddled in low-visibility situations or when road markings aren't particularly clear.