Holden engineering chief says New V12 Cadillac not coming from Oz
Bob Lutz recently confirmed that Cadillac is developing a top-of-the-line model powered by a V12 to take on the Mercedes S-class and BMW 7 series. Unlike other recent rear-wheel-drive models like the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Camaro, the new model will not be developed by the Holden team in Australia. Holden engineering director Tony Hyde said his engineers are not involved in any way in the V12 development. An Australian report had claimed that the new car would be based on the new Zeta platform that underpins the other new RWD GM cars with the V-12 being based on a pair of 3.6L V-6s joined together.
If the V12 Caddy does come to fruition, it seems likely that the engine would be a development off the six cylinder, but the architecture would more likely be derived from the Sigma platform that the other RWD/AWD Cadillacs sit on. According to Hyde, all of his resources are being used to develop the Camaro/G8/Impala and other derivatives. If the Alpha platform proves to be real, the Aussie team would likely be pretty busy with that as well.
[Source: Just-Auto - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Josh Oliver 8:16PM (3/28/2007)
Isn't one of the golden rules of the Internet to not believe everything that you read?
That saying would prove right regarding this entire V12 speculation.
In my opinion, GM is better off without this motor and this car until it gets a variant of the Chevrolet Volt out in the public for their consumption. THEN, and only then should the company worry about "super" Cadillacs or "Ultra" V whatever motors.
Reply
Petey 9:58PM (3/28/2007)
Why dont they just drop a Corvette engine in it.
Reply
Max 8:40PM (3/28/2007)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a real life sixteen wouldve RULED!
Reply
bmw122487 8:46PM (3/28/2007)
CHEVROLET has the camaro coming, saturn had the SKY,pontiac the solstice, buick the enclare etc. CADILLAC needs a halo car, because the V-series are great but they are not gonna pull people out there M's, amg, and S-lines, myself included, forgeting the escalade this car is needed to showcase american technology and put the standard of the world back on the world stage.
Reply
bmw122487 8:47PM (3/28/2007)
ENCLAVE not enclare, woops haha
Reply
Chet 9:27PM (3/28/2007)
In the past, when justifying the lack of a DTS replacement based on Sigma, GM said that STS was as large as Sigma could be stretched.
I disagree with #1 -- Volt still depends on technology that doesn't exist yet. Even an all-new RWD platform is easier to conjure than better batteries. And while Volt will make a few people feel good, a Cadillac at parity with the S/7/A8 gives Caddy and GM credibility as a world-class auto builder and helps sell Caddies and other GMs up and down the line. The perception of GM as a lower-quality lower-content automaker takes lots of great cars over lots of years to overcome. This will be one of those cars.
Reply
Chet 9:28PM (3/28/2007)
P.S. So much the better if it's engineered in the States.
Reply
Seabass 11:29PM (3/28/2007)
#8
Probably because it has eight cylinders, not twelve.
Reply
Adam 6:19AM (3/29/2007)
@5: What kind of profit margin do you think GM is going to make off these things? Bobby Lutz sells 100 V-12s and that's a success? All the while the guys over at Toyota are working on some way to get 100mpg in one of those horrendously ugly Priuses that people can't get enough of.
I'd rather sell 10,000 vehicles to make money than sell 100 to make a statement about a brand any day. Not to mention 99.999999999% of humanity doesn't even have the line of credit to sit in this new Caddy. How the hell is that practical?
Reply
Dr. Greenthumb 6:46AM (3/29/2007)
Adam: I don't get you cats. It's ok for Mercedes to produce the Maybach, Bentley the Continental, but Cadillac shouldn't make this car? What does Toyota/Lexus get for their land yacht?
Cadillac will sell everyone of these things that they can build. They don't seem to be having any trouble selling the obscene Escalade.
Understood the XLR is a slow seller, it was poorly concieved and executed. This is a very different animal. This car would do wonders for Cadillac's image.
Reply
Dr. Greenthumb 6:54AM (3/29/2007)
Even if GM had to build these and sell them for $1.00 over cost, it would be one hell of a promotional campaign fot their image.
BTW: Any idiot caught putting a Landau top (fake rag-top) on this car should be terminated with extreme prejudice.
Reply
pd 7:58AM (3/29/2007)
Who knows what GM is working on anymore, they seem to be putting a lot of DISINFORMATION out these days.
Reply
AAM 11:38AM (3/29/2007)
Of the domestic manufactures, GM seems to have their stuff together much more than the other 1.5!
Caddy needs to make another statement.
I'd do something different with the headlights but otherwise I think its well past time we stop trying to be european or Japanese in our auto designs! Now about that warranty, shouldn't it be 10 years not 5?
Reply
adb 6:01PM (3/29/2007)
Actually, I think Lutz has since said that the Autoweek article that quoted him was 90% fiction. Since Autoweek also claimed that Ford was working on a four-door Mustang, I'm inclined to agree with Lutz...
Reply
cdiddy67 9:55AM (3/29/2007)
I'd buy THAT for a dollar...I have to say I'm in support of this development (if its true...if its not, I'm still supporting it) because this can simply be a momentum based strategy and if you have to give the general one thing, its got momentum and they're gonna ride it big time....but first things first...how's the new CTS-V coming???!!!
Reply
SLVR6 11:21AM (3/29/2007)
What is speculation about the V12? Lutz confirmed it. Normally when he does that you know it does exist and is being developed. The comments here about why GM shouldn't do the engine are quite funny, obviously not people working in the auto industry.
Reply
JC3 9:07PM (3/29/2007)
Reminds me of the late 60's Eldo designed by Pininfarinia
Reply
Aki 1:14PM (3/29/2007)
Much props to Lutz for really trying to bring GM back to its former glory. Nobody needs a V12, including Mercedes. But it's good to have a halo car, esp. considering how lackluster the STS is.
Reply
juslilslow 1:59PM (4/09/2007)
my only question is where the hell are you gonna park that think? i mean seriously, who would want to buy a car like that and not be able to park it. you should just buy a limo.
Reply
Mr. Kim Foster 12:25AM (4/10/2007)
About time! Awesome! Groundbreaking! This car would put Cadillac back on top. I have been buying Cads (7) for a long time. I have been losing interest and looking at the Lexus as a replacement, until I saw pic's of the V12 which the article hints would also be available in a V8. Hell, the Corvette's get 24 mpg. My current DTS will have to move over for the V12. Where do I sign?
Reply