Lutz has spoken - SLS not coming to the US

You remember SLS, right? No, not the luxury trim version of the previous front-drive Seville. The SLS is the stretched, new interior-ed version of the Sigma-based STS that is targeted at the Chinese market. Last week on Autoline Detroit, a TV automotive magazine carried in Detroit as well as on Speed, we got to hear from Bob Lutz about a number of topics. One of interest to us here at 'the Edge' was in response to a question about bringing the SLS over to the US. According to Mr. Lutz, the SLS would not meet new, strict side-impact regulations in the US without significant investment. Given the remaining lifetime of the STS, they'd never make the money back. Of course, this still doesn't fully explain why we don't get the sweet interior upgrade designed for the SLS... Our take is that, especially in light of rumors that the next few years will bring a rear-drive BLS, CTS moving into the STS' segment, and a future Zeta-based 7-series competitor (with V-12 power) - that folks wanting an SLS won't have too long to wait for a similar product from Cadillac.