Rumors are flying this morning of a management shake-up at GM (again).

After today’s sales call – scheduled for 10a EST – GM is expected to announce several changes in its management structure. Included in this is rumored to be the removal of Bryan Nesbitt as head of Cadillac.

This would possibly signal a weakening of the influence of Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz (who helped champion Nesbitt who worked for him at Chrysler in the late 90’s).

This, the cancellation of the Converj extended range EV, and the showing of a Epsilon II based ‘flagship’ car calls into question the commitment of new GM management to making Cadillac a true leader of the luxury segment vs. a style-driven profit-center.

Stay tuned.

Categories: News, Rumored Models
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GM global vehicle line executive for full-sized trucks, Rick Spina, has confirmed that the next Escalade, thought to be moving to the unibody Lambda chassis used by the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, and GMC Acadia, will actually stay body-on-frame.

Given recent up-tick in sales of the GMT900 based SUVs (think Suburban, Yukon, Tahoe, and Escalade) GM has decided to invest in a new version of the platform and this will result in a new version of these body-on-frame, rear-drive SUVs being built to replace the current models.

The advantage of the body-on-frame design is normally higher load and tow ratings than a unibody design can match – making it the more desirable design for full-sized SUVs.

This will also cement the Escalade EXT’s future as well (a unibody version of the super-short-bed version of the Escalade would have been difficult to pull off).

Source: Automotive News

Categories: News, Escalade, Rumored Models
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It appears that the second generation 2-mode hybrid system from GM (currently seeing duty in full-sized trucks and SUVs like the Escalade) will shed enough weight and size to see duty in cars.

According to GM vice chairman Tom Stephens, this will result in the new system seeing use in the upcoming Alpha platform that will underpin the ATS and, according to reports, the next CTS.

The two-mode system is unique among hybrid systems in that it offers fuel economy benefits at highway speeds and is much more accepting of high-load conditions (like towing in its truck uses).

Source: AutoWeek.com

Categories: News, CTS, Rumored Models, ATS
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It seems everyone is covering the XTS on YouTube – here is Motortrend.com’s coverage of the car giving a pretty similar overview of its market position, mission for Cadillac, as well as the source of some of its technology (specifically the hybrid powertrain).

Enjoy:

Categories: Concepts, News, Rumored Models, Video, XTS
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James Ricci, director of Grant Thornton LLP, an automotive industry analysis firm, in a presentation to the Automotive Press Association, has made the following claims about GM’s rear drive platform strategy…

The Alpha chassis, that was originally envisioned to be the basis of a Holden, Pontiac, and small Cadillac (ATS to you and me), has been either re-thought by GM or we had it wrong all along.

According to our analyst friend, GM has conceived of the Alpha platform as a very flexible architecture that will allow Cadillac to not only build the new ATS (in sedan, coupe, wagon, and convertible forms) but also the next CTS which will be larger than the current car to better go head-to-head with the 5-series/E-class/A6. Additionally, the next Chevy Camaro will move off of the Zeta chassis (which was a bit big for a pony-car in the first place, making the Camaro at least 300 lbs heavier than the Mustang) and onto Alpha as well.

This would mean the end of Sigma as well (currently under the, not long for this world, STS/SLS and the current CTS line).

This suggests, if true, that Alpha is much more sophisticated an architecture than originally thought and a good successor to Sigma. This certainly suggests that Cadillac is investing heavily in their future and will continue to be a force in the luxury class.

Troubling, though, is that the predicted dates for the CTS and ATS are, at least in this report, calendar years 2013 and 2014, respectively…significantly later than the previous predictions of an ATS debut in 2011 as a 2012 model.

We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for the earlier dates.

Source: MotorTrend.com

Categories: News, CTS, Rumored Models, ATS
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