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Cadillac CT6 to get twin-turbo V8

Say what you will about his decisions at Infiniti and now Cadillac, but Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen knows how to deliver a compelling interview. During an online Q&A session with Jalopnik readers, de Nysschen offered substantial hints at what's coming for the brand. By dropping coordinates on the brand's star chart, in reading the entire thing and connecting the dots you can see a Cadillac that is much grander than the one we know now. The CT6 that got revealed during the Oscars telecast? Answering the question of whether it would have the performance to compete with a Mercedes S550 or BMW 750, de Nysschen said the big sedan's "lightweight body structure allows us to achieve formidable performance even with a twin-turbo V6. Imagine how this car would perform with a twin-turbo V8." In clarifying a subsequent question that also dealt with how the CT6 would compare to German rivals, he wrote that the CT6 would have "a very wide mix of engines, starting with a two-liter turbo, up to, eventually, a high-performance advanced V8 turbo." Patience and the future and the word "eventually" were heavy themes. The brand will embrace diesel engines as well, de Nysschen writing, "We will have four-cylinder and six-cylinder diesel engines, but not before 2019." As to the return of something like the XLR, which was Corvette muscle underneath a Cadillac body, he wrote, "I think in the fullness of time, we will get around to developing a high-performance, very-emotive sports car as a halo for the Cadillac brand. But we have so many projects to occupy us through 2020 that this will have to wait a little while." And on the design language across model lines, which enthusiast Cassandras have warned is too similar (as if that hasn't worked out for the Germans), he wrote that it is "undergoing gradual evolution and you will notice stunning new designs in future models, which remain unmistakably Cadillac and reflect our DNA but which take our sophisticated Art and Science design to a new level." But of course he would say that, which is what brings us back to patience and the future and eventually, when we'll see what this all really means. It all reads well enough, and we'd love to see it happen. One thing we won't see are the ducks that once adorned the Cadillac crest; when a reader asked if he could have them back, de Nysschen said, "No, you can't have them back. I play with them each night in my bath." Head over to Jalopnik for the full read. It's worth it.

Former Cadillac boss Butler takes Ford tech job

When Don Butler made the surprising decision to leave his post as Cadillac's VP of global strategic development, it was a surprise. Citing a desire to "recalibrate, reassess my priorities" in that August announcement, it wasn't entirely clear where Butler - a virtual General Motors lifer after spending nearly 30 years with the company - would end up. Turns out he took a trip to Dearborn.
Butler has taken a position in the newly created position of Executive Director of Connected Vehicles and Services at Ford, where he'll be responsible for the Blue Oval's global connectivity strategy. "Not only does Don understand the connected car landscape, but probably just as important, he understands customer expectations," said Raj Nair, who, as Group Vice President of Global Product Development, is Butler's new boss. "Having a leader with technology experience both inside and outside the industry is a rare combination - we're excited to have Don join our team."
As Ford has received its fair share of flak for the sometimes recalcitrant MyFord Touch infotainment system and its Sync voice-controls, it appears that Butler has his work cut out for him.

GM moving international sales HQ to Singapore from Shanghai

General Motors has announced that it will be moving its international headquarters from Shanghai to Singapore, a move that will see 120 employees working from the city-state by the time business opens in 2014. Meanwhile, 250 to 300 of the employees at the Shanghai office will remain in China, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
The shuffle is part of a bigger reorganization that will see GM isolate its operations in the People's Republic from its broader international efforts. This sort of divide-and-conquer strategy will allow GM to still react to emerging markets while, according to the WSJ, providing a dedicated management team for the Chinese market. The team in Singapore will be responsible for operations in Africa, southeast Asia, Australia, India, South Korea and the Middle East, on top of managing Chevrolet and Cadillac in Europe, according to a statement from GM.
The shift to Singapore "will help us to create a renewed identity for CIO (Consolidated International Operations) and lead GM's umbrella strategy for the region," said GM Executive Vice President of CIO, Stefan Jacoby.