Update: Added XLR, BRX, and product plan image…

The tentative UAW contract (which is expected to be ratified next week by the membership) has some interesting tidbits about GM’s upcoming product plans.

Of note for Cadillac fans is confirmation that 2009 will bring production of a CTS-based coupe and a CTS wagon. Both will be built in the Lansing plant that builds the current CTS sedan.

In 2011, Lansing will also add a Zeta based large car, expected to be the STS/DTS replacement to compete against the S-Class and 7-Series.

GM’s Lordstown, OH plant is also comfirmed to get a small rear-drive sedan, expected to be the rumored Alpha platform that will spawn a new small Cadillac that will more directly compete against the BMW 3-series (allowing the CTS to move upmarket and go against the cars it most closely matches, size-wise, the 5-series and E-class). Expect production in 2011.

2012 is shown as the year for the XLR replacement (to be built alongside, again, the Corvette in Bowling Green, KY).

Also of interest is the plan by GM to build a new “Theta/Epsilon” crossover at their Spring Hill, TN plant in 2011 – this combo platform is expected to be the basis for the new Saab 9-4x and Cadillac BRX.

See more of GM’s product plans at:

Detroit Free Press: GM product plans unfold in pact

Categories: News, CTS, BRX / BTX, Rumored Models
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Saab managing director, Jan-Ake Jonsson, has confirmed that Saab and Cadillac are working together on a premium version of GM’s Theta platform for a new crossover/SUV that would slot below Saab’s 9-7X and Cadillac’s SRX.

While both would be developed together and share under-the-skin engineering, neither is expected to share any ‘customer facing’ parts such as sheetmetal or interiors.

Theta is currently the basis of the Saturn Vue, Chevy Equinox, and a host of other GM smaller SUVs – though the variants from Saab and Cadillac would possess powertrains and engineering that would set them apart (and above) their GM siblings. It is rumored that parts from the upcoming Epsilon 2 chassis would also be part of these new models.

Expect these to hit the market in less than 2 years with Saab possibly showing a ‘concept’ of its ‘9-4X’ at the January 2008 Detroit autoshow.

Categories: News, BRX / BTX, Rumored Models
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Automotive News has managed to get a lot of auto blogs buzzing about the future of Cadillac.

They are repeating what has been said for a while that a new small, rear-drive sedan is on the way, a small SUV is coming too (BRX), that the SRX is likely to be dropped, the DTS/STS are going to be merged.

However, they really botch their projected new lineup by saying the STS/DTS replacement will compete against the 5-series. This doesn’t make a lick of sense since rumors up to this point all point to the CTS moving up-market, the alpha-based BLS taking the CTS’ place as the 3-series competitor, and the STS/DTS replacement going after the BMW 7-series/Mercedes S-Class.

At this point, I think the only real question is if the SRX will get a more SUV-esque replacement with the CTS wagon taking the car-like, mid-sized utility segment or if the SRX will just go away altogether.

We should start to get some more concrete news out of Cadillac in the next year or so (since the rumored product should debut as 2010-2012 model year.

Categories: News, BLS, CTS, STS / SLS, SRX, DTS, BRX / BTX, Rumored Models
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MotorTrend.com has an article where they detail what they are calling the 2011 SRX.

Given the vehicle is stated to move from the SRX’s Sigma architecture (shared with the CTS and STS) in favor of a version of the Epsilon chassis that will be shared with a new Saab crossover (the 9-4). This sounds much more like the rumored BRX that MotorTrend itself is responsible for starting talk about several months ago.

Given what the competition has shown, Cadillac could easily re-work the SRX as a big brother to the BMW X3 fighting BRX while maintaining the Escalade as competition for vehicles like the Range Rover and the Mercedes GL series. The BRX would have 5-passenger seating, the SRX and Escalade would fight it out in the mid-to-large, 3-row seating segments.

If the 2011 model year is correct, expect to see the new small crossover debut in 2009 at one of the major auto shows and go on sale sometime in 2010.

MotorTrend.com: Cadillac SRX set for 2011 update

Categories: News, SRX, BRX / BTX, Rumored Models
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From the news and rumors circulating lately…we can see the writing on the wall. The SRX is not going to be with us for much longer.

This got me wondering exactly what failed with the SRX – a vehicle that has received critical acclaim while not really selling anywhere near the numbers that Cadillac or the press might have expected.

I think it comes down to it being the wrong kind of cross-over (which can be forgiven since the segment was brand new when the SRX debuted). Consumers seem to want their cross-overs to be more efficient and better driving SUVs. As such, they want that SUV macho look even if it is really a car underneath.

In the case of the SRX, we have an SUV that looks too much like a car/wagon. So, SUV buyers rejected it as being too much of a car while car buyers rejected it as not being enough of a car.

Expect the replacement of the SRX in the form of both a CTS wagon and a new BRX cross-over. The CTS will appeal to luxury buyers who like their utility in a car package while the BRX is very likely to err more on the SUV/truck side of the cross-over continuum with more masculine styling.

We expect the BRX to sell much better than the SRX while the CTS wagon will do well in Europe and get incremental sales in the US – all for very little investment from Cadillac.

Categories: News, CTS, SRX, BRX / BTX
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GM Inside News is reporting on information they have from GM insiders as to GM and Cadillac’s future rear-drive plans.

Of note for us Cadillac fans:

BLS will debut on the Alpha platform in early 2011 as a 2012 model in rear and all-wheel drive and will be targeted in size and mission directly against the BMW 3-series.

What? Isn’t the CTS supposed to be Cadillac’s 3-series (if slightly larger) competitor? Not anymore.

In 2010, Cadillac will make a significant refresh of the new CTS to move it upmarket to 5-series territory.

What? What does that mean for the STS? Well, at about this time, Cadillac will discontinue the STS to make room for this re-positioning of the CTS.

Expect the 3rd generation CTS to bow in 2012 as a 2013 and leave the Sigma chassis behind in favor of a version of the Zeta platform.

Other significant product additions include a CTS coupe and wagon around 2009, a small utility (BRX) that will take parts from the Epsilon and Theta chassis. The CTS wagon and BRX will make the SRX redundant and expect it to leave the lineup in the 2009-2010 time frame.

BRX will have a short life before being redesigned early in the next decade on the new Alpha chassis (and making the first BRX a short-lived excursion from Cadillac’s all-rear drive/all the time strategy).

While not mentioned in this piece, we also have heard many times that Cadillac is chomping at the bit for a large off-shoot of Zeta to fill-in the top of the line and give the brand a viable competitor for the BMW 7-series and Mercedes S-class, and expected to have V-12 power (at least as an option).

Read all about it at:

GMI: A Future Glimpse of GM’s RWD Plans

Categories: News, BLS, CTS, STS / SLS, SRX, BRX / BTX
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Edmunds’ Inside Line sub-site decided recently to give a run-down of all the latest rumors of Cadillac’s future products. Lots of this isn’t really news to regulars of the Caddy Edge – but it might be interesting to put all of this in one post for future reference.

I’ll put the abbreviated version here – if you want more commentary you can check out the link to their post below…

Show me more… »

Categories: News, BLS, CTS, STS / SLS, SRX, DTS, XLR, BRX / BTX, Rumored Models
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