General Motors will develop a new set of engines specifically for Cadillac by the decade's end and sell a halo car above the forthcoming CT6 sedan, so long as top executives keep giving Caddy chief Johan de Nysschen everything he wants.
In an interview with Automobile, de Nysschen said future Cadillacs would use a new modular engine design for four-, six- and eight-cylinder configurations and that he would "work very hard to keep the architecture unique for Cadillac." The luxury brand hasn't had an exclusive engine since the vaunted Northstar V-8 ended production in 2011 after nearly 20 years on the market.
The move to an exclusive ostensibly world-class powertrain lineup would solve one of our main gripes with otherwise fabulous recent Cadillacs, namely that most of those vehicles' engines—being shared with lesser GM products—aren't suitable for a brand with premium global aspirations. In testing, we've found the 2.0-liter turbo four to be too coarse and unrefined and the 3.6-liter V-6 weak and inefficient compared to the similar engines from the competition. The one shining star is the twin-turbo V-6, which powers our delightful 2014 CTS Vsport long-termer.
De Nysschen said that while "smaller capacity engines" would come first, particularly for sale in China, the V-8s would "come toward the latter part of this decade, which will give you a hint also for where we are taking the discussion on the expansion of our future product line." Sharing Cadillac engines or technologies with other GM brands, a complete 180 from current GM practice, could be in the pipeline, too.
"There will be some models that will be absolutely standalone, pure, thoroughbred Cadillac," he said. "And then there are some where we must make sure those cars capture the Cadillac values but where it might be OK to share componentry. I don't want to use a brand name. But if another brand in the stable decides they want to use a Cadillac asset and they are willing to accept the higher cost that's associated with the asset, that helps us amortize the cost." This could mean engines, yes, but also perhaps Omega-platform-based vehicles from, say, Buick.
As for model expansion, we've already touched on the two crossover SUVs Cadillac is planning to add—a mid-size three-row crossover to slot between the Escalade and SRX and a compact model below the SRX—but de Nysschen said he believes there is at least room for two more cars above the CT6 in the brand's portfolio, as well as sports cars. His previously stated strategy of maintaining a premium price structure dovetails nicely with the desire to produce "aspirational cars" such as these.
"We have room for a car above [the CT6], and then these would be very prestigious, very high-performance but luxury cars. I think one also needs some spice in the meal. I'm a performance enthusiast myself. We should also look at one or two sports cars that you buy for emotional reasons, not for practicality, but because they are so sexy and so fun to drive," he said.
While Cadillac just announced changes to its future model nomenclatures and is moving its headquarters as part of a quest to polish the brand's once-lustrous reputation, de Nysschen said he didn't want to copy everything from Europe, particularly with Cadillac's edgy "Art and Science" design language.
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De Nysschen is currently discussing evolving the styling with the design team to "present modern, contemporary, progressive American luxury." He's also on record as saying that Cadillac's revival could take another 10 years to complete and that he's only 10 or 15 years away from retirement and wants to finish on a high note.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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