1991 Cadillac Eldorado on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Cadillac Catera

GM's Cadillac Division was having a tough time in the early 1990s, with an onslaught of Lexuses and Infinitis pouring across the Pacific to steal their younger customers while high-end German manufacturers picked off their older customers. Flying an S-Class-priced model between assembly lines in Turin and Hamtramck hadn't worked out, so why not look to the European outposts of the far-flung GM Empire for the next Cadillac? That's how the Catera was born, and I have found a rare first-year example in a North Carolina car graveyard. Across the Atlantic, GM's Opel and Vauxhall were doing good business with prosperous European car buyers by selling them the sleek rear-wheel-drive Omega B (whose platform also lived beneath the Holden VT Commodore in Australia). Here was a genuine German design that competed with success against BMW and Audi on their home turf! So, the Omega B was Americanized and renamed the Catera. Opel wasn't a completely unknown brand to Americans at the time, since its cars were sold here with their own badging through Buick dealerships from the middle 1950s through the late 1970s (for a much shorter period, American Pontiac dealers attempted to sell Vauxhalls). Even after that, plenty of Opel DNA showed up in the products of U.S.-market GM divisions. The Catera was by far the most affordable Cadillac for 1997, with an MSRP starting at $29,995 (about $59,113 in 2024 dollars). Being a genuine German car, it looked much more convincingly European than the DeVille ($36,995), Eldorado ($37,995) and Seville ($39,995). Inspired by the ducks on the Cadillac emblem (they were really supposed to be martlets, mythical birds with no feet and occasionally lacking beaks), Cadillac's marketers went after youthful car shoppers with a whimsical animated duck named Ziggy. For the 21st century, the birds were removed from the Cadillac emblem in order to attract California buyers under 45 years of age. As we all know, the Catera flopped hard in the marketplace. What sold well in Europe turned out not to translate so well in in North America, especially when bearing the badges of such a historically prestigious brand. The Catera's engine was a 54-degree 3.0-liter V6 rated at 200 horsepower and 192 pound-feet. Just as had been the case with its predecessor, the Allante, no manual transmission was available.

Cadillac to add small sedan, crossover as part of major product blitz

Cadillac will add a small sedan and a compact crossover to its lineup in the next several years as part of an ambitious product blitz that will remake its lineup. The sedan will slot below the ATS, which is currently Cadillac's smallest four-door car. It's scheduled to arrive in 2017, Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen told Autoblog at the Detroit Auto Show. The sedan will be followed late that year or in early 2018 by a compact crossover, which will be positioned below the SRX. The crucial redesign of the SRX – Cadillac's top seller – arrives in 2016. It will switch to the brand's new naming system and change to an "XT" prefix followed by a number. The naming scheme debuts on the CT6, which launches in late 2015 and will be positioned above the CTS and XTS sedans. Cadillac also wants to add another crossover that sits between the SRX and its flagship SUV, the Escalade, at some point. Further out, Cadillac's long-awaited Mercedes-Benz S-Class fighter could arrive around 2020, and it would serve as the flagship or "showcase of the brand," de Nysschen said. Cadillac is also looking to expand its powertrain portfolio and is contemplating a wide range of options, including hybrids, plug-in electric vehicles and diesel engines. The new cars and crossovers are part of a $12-billion investment in Cadillac, which de Nysschen described as "an unheard level of capital" from General Motors. In total, the brand will receive eight new products through 2020. "Our product offensive will provide the substance for our ambitions," he said. De Nysschen has set high goals – and made major changes – at Cadillac since he took over the 113-year-old luxury brand in September. The brand moves to a separate headquarters in New York this year, away from GM's base in Detroit, and it has switched advertising agencies in a bid to elevate its image. Cadillac's sales declined 6.5 percent in the United States in 2014 to 170,750 units, and it has the smallest volume of GM's four brands. "Here in the US we continue to make progress, but we also face challenges," de Nysschen said. He added the brand's lineup "clearly limits our growth opportunities in the US market." Still, de Nysschen is taking the long view for Cadillac, noting it took years to turn around Audi, where he was president of its US operations for eight years. Cadillac's global sales have inched up five percent globally this year, spurred by a 47-percent surge in China.

Electric Cadillac Lyriq, Chevy Bolt EUV and more GM electric cars are on the way

GM’s murky and somewhat secretive electric car plan is falling into place, as the company dumped a massive amount of information about whatÂ’s in the pipeline at an event at its Warren, Michigan campus today. New EVs are going to be popping up across the GM brand lineup, with new entries from Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick in progress. We also learned some big news about GMÂ’s new Ultium battery tech today, but check out this story for all of those nitty-gritty details. The electric vehicle onslaught will begin with the Cadillac Lyriq, an electric SUV thatÂ’s already been teased out. Naming it the Lyriq is the news today. No explanation for the name was provided, so weÂ’ll have to wait for April to learn more. GM didnÂ’t specifically say if the Lyriq would be launched at the NY Auto Show, but that show (assuming coronavirus doesnÂ’t cancel it) will begin on April 8 this year. Next up in the order of events is the GMC Hummer electric truck that we know will be launching on May 20. This truck will use GMÂ’s modular Ultium battery technology. However, the wait to buy a GMC Hummer will be a long one, as the truck isnÂ’t going to dive into production until fall 2021 at GMÂ’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant. GM revealed that its new modular Ultium batteries can be configured anywhere from a 50 kWh pack to a 200 kWh pack depending on the application. Range is estimated to be about 400 miles on the upper end with the largest battery pack, and GM continues to boast about a 0-60 mph acceleration time of three seconds. Charging estimates for the Ultium battery-equipped Hummer EV were also provided. GM says its truck platform will have 800-volt battery packs and be capable of 350 kW fast-charging. Time estimates werenÂ’t given, but those numbers suggest the truck will be a rapid charger. The Hummer truck on hand, which was the same that previously starred in GMC's Super Bowl spot, showed off removable roof panels that store in the frunk, as well as what appeared to be a version of GMC's Multi-Pro tailgate. It also featured sail panels on the sides, similar to those in front of the bed of the Chevy Avalanche. In addition to the Hummer, expect to see a couple Chevys launching. GM says the refreshed Bolt EV will be launched “in late 2020” with a refreshed interior and what appear to be thicker front seats.