Cadillac Escalade to get new lease on life in 2014

Known for unmitigated excess to some, the Cadillac Escalade embodies over-the-top transportation for oil barons and high-rolling hip-hop stars. TheDetroitBureau.com quotes an unnamed senior Cadillac official as saying, "We were finding that for everyone turned on by that image there were four (potential luxury buyers) who were [turned off]." Add in national gas prices flirting with $5 a gallon, and the Escalade seemed destined to join the flamboyant fins of the 1959 Eldorado.

But TDB says General Motors saw too much profit in the tanker-sized truck and plans to refresh it in early 2014 as a 2015 model. The Bureau predicts the SUV will continue to be body-on-frame with the new 2013 Chevrolet pickup underpinnings holding it all together. It's probably safe to assume the luxury will be upsized, the engine uptuned and the price upjacked.