Cadillac recently revealed the details of the planned changes to the XTS large sedan.

As announced earlier this year when the CTS Vsport model debuted – the XTS will get a new top engine in the form of a twin-turbo 3.6l Direct Injection V-6. In this application, it will be backed exclusively by a 6-speed automatic and the XTS’ all-wheel drive system.

Output is down slightly from its application in the CTS, with the XTS packing 410hp and 369lb*ft – torque is constant from 1900-5600 (down from the CTS Vsport’s 420hp and 430lb*ft – torque peak in this application ranges from 2500-5500rpm).

In addition to the new top engine, the turbo XTS also gets a unique grill treatment (shown in the photo above).

Other new features of the 2014 Cadillac XTS include:

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Categories: XTS
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One of the new technologies that Cadillac is bringing to their line in the new XTS is capless fuel filling.

In this implementation, there is no removable fuel cap. Instead there is a build in flap that seals the fuel neck except when a fuel nozzle is inserted. The advantages include a smaller fuel door as well as eliminating the long-standing issue where a cap is not put back on or not tightened sufficiently and results in a check-engine light (because a lack of a sealed fuel system is an emissions problem that triggers the light).

Now, if Cadillac could only lick the ‘I forgot to close the door’ problem next.

Categories: XTS
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Cadillac has heard some complaints from owners and the press on its new CUE infotainment system.

Issues center on the responsiveness of the system (something we experienced ourselves with the ATS we recently drove) to both individual touches (haptic feedback can be somewhat hit-or-miss, sometimes happening right away, other times after a bit of lag) as well as responsiveness to gestures (pinch on the Nav screen was decidedly not working as advertised and swipes from one page of icons to another lagged way behind what we have come to expect from tablets).

The software update to address these shortcomings will ship to dealers later this year as owners will have to schedule a visit to allow their service department to install the update (unlike the recent update Ford sent to owners of Sync equipped vehicles that came on a USB drive for self-install).

Also as a nod to buyer feedback, Cadillac announced a plan to re-introduce some physical knobs and buttons in future products to help with the most commonly accessed controls.

This is good news, but we will note that the CUE system is still significantly more usable than the prior infotainment system Cadillac put in their products. But plans to make it better are certainly welcome.

Source: Engadget.com

Categories: ATS, XTS
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GM announced that, beginning on november 12th, that they are recalling 12,626 Cadillac XTS’ built between October 12, 2011 and August 30, 2012 for a defect in the rear headrests.

The headrests might exhibit a fault that prevents them from remaining in their upright position and therefore does not meet the mandated minimum height requirement.

Categories: XTS
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GM has released results of their October sales and Cadillac is up 14.5% over last October. However, there are interesting points to pull out of the sales data that show that the XTS and ATS are helping cover for significant softness in older products.

For instance, the CTS is down by 1574 units (40.2%) year over year while the Escalade (due for replacement in about a year) is down 20.6%, heavily weighted-down by a 30% drop in the non-ESV/non-EXT variants.

Loss of the 477 Escalade units, 1574 CTSes, as well as 403 DTSes and 179 STSes is offset by a solid 2540 XTS and 1266 ATS that are both probably pulling some sales from CTS though exact impact is hard to calculate from this data.

SRX, which is in the middle of its cycle but just got a freshening is showing some strength with a 10.8% bump (537 units up from last year). If ever you wanted to know what the emphasis on crossovers is about – check out how the SRX is actually Cadillac’s strongest seller by over 2:1 over the second best-selling XTS.

Below is the sales data released by GM for the Cadillac brand. Columns in this table are: Model, Oct 2012 sales, Oct 2011 sales, % Change Oct 2012 vs 2011, ’2012 Year-to-date (YTD)’, ’2011 YTD’, and % Change 2012 vs 2011.

Categories: ATS, CTS, DTS, Escalade, Sales, SRX, STS / SLS, XTS
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In response to a change in tariff rules in China on US built luxury goods, Cadillac has decided to build some of their newest products directly in China.

First off will be the new XTS sedan, a product that will fill the gap left by the China-only SLS sedan (itself a stretched wheelbase version of the STS sedan). Its spacious rear seat should play well in the Chinese market where luxury buyers are often chauffeured. This may even be an opportunity for the livery versions of the XTS to shine.

Production will be in partnership with SAIC, GM’s long-term Chinese partner.

Later, Cadillac expects to transition from exporting products from the Lansing, Michigan assembly plant (home of the ATS and CTS) to building them with SAIC. ATS production would be expected to start soon, but Chinese production of the CTS which is due a refresh in 2014 might have to wait.

Categories: ATS, CTS, XTS
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Connected World has awarded the new XTS with their ‘Connected Car of the Year’ award in the Luxury segment. XTS took the award this year for its combination of safety technologies backed up by the CUE infotainment system.

Congrats to the XTS and CUE teams for getting this award.

The other winning cars this year are: Ford Focus (Small category), Chrysler 300 (Mid-Size), and Audi A8 (Ultra-Luxury).

Source: Connected World

Categories: Awards, XTS
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