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Such Sweet Sorrow: Cadillac's CTS-V gets an Irish wake

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The honkin', stonkin' second-generation CTS-V, powered by Cadillac's brawny supercharged 6.2-liter V8 has been a very good thing. And now that the 500 final coupes – the only CTS-Vs designated 2015 models – have been built (just five remain unsold as of this writing), it is indeed a good thing that's come to an end. But Cadillac is not letting 2009–2015 CTS-V go gently into that good night, even as its replacement is poised to debut in just in just two months at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Instead, Cadillac invited us to Austin's Circuit of the Americas racetrack for what it called an "Irish wake" for the model that has proven to be one of the quickest and most charismatic models in General Motors' history. If you don't know what an Irish wake is, if you envision storytelling, songs, debauchery and more than a little liquor, you'll be in the ballpark. In this case, though, adrenaline substituted in for the booze, with squealing tires and shrieking V8s providing the singing. The debauchery took the form of an all-you-can-drive lapping of COTA in all three bodystyles – coupe, sedan and wagon – and the stories were told by the grins plastered on our faces all day. First and foremost, we'll miss the CTS-V's perfect balance of luxury and sportiness. Even after six years with no major changes, the CTS-V is surprisingly spry. Certainly, you never forget that it's a heavy thing, weighing in anywhere between 4217 pounds for the manual-equipped coupe to 4424 for an automatic wagon, but with 0-60 times of about four seconds and the ability to hit about 150 mph on COTA's back straight, the Vs remain an absolute hoot on the track. Sure, some of its details – the blocky front fascia shapes and the spoiler on the sedan and coupe models, for example – look a bit dated, but the overall design still looks sufficiently badass. The interior design has worn pretty well, too, and however Cadillac may feel about center stack buttons being so last decade, we favor them over the capacitive-touch madness of today's CUE system. We're not going to bother doing another full review of the car here, but suffice it to say, there is plenty we will miss. First and foremost, will be the CTS-V's perfect balance of luxury and sportiness. Rumor has it that Cadillac will offer the 6.2-liter LT4 V8 in the next generation (we predict about 600 hp), but we hear that the new car will skew more toward luxury than balls-out performance.

Texas sues GM, saying it tricked customers into sharing driving data sold to insurers

Texas filed a lawsuit Tuesday against GM over years of alleged abuse of customers' data and trust. New car owners were presented with a "confusing and highly misleading" process that was implied to be for their safety, but "was no more than a deceptively designed sales flow" that surrendered their data for GM to sell. The suit contends that at no point was selling driving data ever even suggested as a possibility, putting GM in violation of the state's consumer protection laws. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a jury trial and at least $10,000 per offense (every GM car sold in the state since 2015) and a hefty add-on of $250,000 in cases where the victim was over 65. Texas seems to be flying high after a recent $1.4 billion settlement from Meta over other privacy concerns. This may well be a way to solve any pending budgetary issues in the Lone Star State.

Cadillac picks Publicis as new agency of record, continues cutting ties with Campbell Ewald

Cadillac is setting itself up for major changes in the coming years with its decision to hire Johan de Nysschen as the brand's new boss and moving some of the staff to new digs in the trendy SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. With those two big shifts in place, there's one more on the way with the company's announcement that Publicis Worldwide is now its global creative agency of record, effective immediately. The firm replaces former, long-time General Motors associate Campbell-Ewald; now a portion of Lowe and Partners. "This appointment is designed to accelerate the global expansion and elevation of Cadillac into a truly global luxury brand," said Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus in the company's announcement. "We have spent much of this year refocusing on the core values of our brand." Although, some work may remain at Lowe and Partners for now. According to Cadillac spokesperson David Caldwell via email to Autoblog: "The bulk of work makes this shift. It is possible that maybe a small individual smaller project or two might still be handled by Lowe. Not certain yet." The fruit of this new partnership shouldn't take long to mature, either. "We will have substantially new marketing and brand identity work in early 2015." said Caldwell. According to Ad Age, Cadillac's advertising had been handled by Lowe and Partners, Campbell-Ewald in Detroit (now entirely part of Lowe) and Hill Holiday. Caddy had a relationship with the agency since 2013 but has changed firms several times in 2006. GM had a long collaboration with Campbell-Ewald, though. Chevrolet was its partner for nearly a century until the automaker also jumped to Publicis in 2010. The firm was responsible for campaigns like, "The Heartbeat of America", "Like A Rock" and "An American Revolution." Scroll down to read Cadillac's full announcement of the change. Cadillac Appoints Publicis Worldwide 2014-12-04 DETROIT – Cadillac announced today the appointment of Publicis Worldwide as its global creative agency of record. Publicis Worldwide is the largest creative agency of the Publicis Groupe network and its appointment to Cadillac is effective immediately. A fully dedicated team, comprising key managers from Publicis Worldwide, will lead the account and have access to specialist and premium resources within the larger Publicis Groupe.