Cadillac's full-size, rear-drive CT6 luxury sedan is coming—soon—which means the PR onslaught has only just begun. Case in point: a separate announcement today about the sedan's manufacturing processes, which include the use of LASERS (but no sharks). In the run-up to the big four-door's debut, Cadillac is also indicating that the CT6 will use a lot of aluminum to save pounds, as well as plans to upgrade its dealer network to support the brand's march forward.
The first Cadillac that could be considered a competitor to the Mercedes-Benz S-class and BMW 7-series, the CT6 will be noticeably larger than the mid-size CTS sedan. (The CTS, as well as every other Cadillac save for perhaps the Escalade will soon transition to a new naming convention like that of the CT6: CT(number) for cars and XT(number) for SUVs.) But this we already knew, thanks to announcements made soon after Johan de Nysschen (pictured above) was plucked from Infiniti to run the brand.
The heavy use of aluminum gives credence to Cadillac marketing director Uwe Ellinghaus's claim in an interview with us late last year that the CT6 would weigh about the same as the smaller, 3700-to-4000-pound CTS. The CTS and ATS already sit on the lighter sides of their classes, and it's looking as if the CT6 will do the same in the full-size realm. That bodes well for the CT6's dynamics, which Ellinghaus also boasted would rival that of a BMW 5-series (hopefully he was referring to older models—the new one is kinda . . . doughy) despite its 7-series-esque dimensions. Additionally, we now know a precise on-sale date for the big Caddy: the fourth quarter of this year.
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To prepare its dealers for the most upscale Cadillac sedan offered in decades, the company is mandating that its 700 non-standalone dealers become more boutique-like, with a highly trained and pampering staff. Cadillac will continue to leverage these stores' geographic blanketing of the U.S. for readily available service locations, while the 200 Cadillac-only dealers will become the brand's flagship locations. Every dealer will be required to make some sort of upgrades, and Cadillac swears it has "no plans" to reduce the overall number of stores. If you drink Cadillac's Kool-Aid, the brand is standing at the precipice of powerful sales push—if you don't, wait until the CT6 arrives and keep an eye on its sales numbers. You can bet we will be.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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