Autoblog

The rumor that the Cadillac DTS and STS will be nixed has officially been confirmed in an interview with the brand's general manager, Jim Taylor. Sales of both models are down for the year, and Taylor admits that one premium-luxury sedan will be developed to compete in the segment.

In the Automotive News interview, Taylor and his superior, Troy Clarke, GM's president of North America, also confirmed that a new entry-level model, designed to slot in below the CTS, is a distinct possibility. Both execs feel that Cadillac's brand image could sustain such a vehicle, likely to be priced in the $28,00 to $32,000 range.

No time frame was given for either new model, but Mr. Taylor also mentioned that a high-end, ultra-luxury flagship is still alive and well.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

For eons, the image of a Cadillac ingrained into our minds was that of an XL cruiser wafting down the highway consuming asphalt and small rodents without complaint. That perspective is set to change, as Cadillac plans to drop the slow-selling STS and DTS models, and instead focus its efforts on creating another CUV, a new mid-sized sedan and an entry-level RWD offering.

The plans to redesign the SRX crossover have been nixed due to poor sales, and in its place a new V6-powered, five-passenger CUV, likely to be dubbed the BRX, will go on sale in 2009. More importantly, Cadillac plans to focus its sporting credentials by expanding the CTS lineup to include both a wagon and a coupe, all in an effort to sway consumers interested in the segment-leading BMW 3-series.

Going after the Bavarian boys won't be easy, so in addition to the expansion of the CTS line, Cadillac's replacement for the STS and DTS will take aim at the BMW 5-series, with a high-performance RWD sedan. That, coupled with a proposed entry-level sedan will round out the new Cadillac lineup.

Although the Automotive News article doesn't cite a timeframe for this somewhat radical proposal, we'd expect to see some of Cadillac's new wares popping up in quick order, beginning in Detroit next year.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

click above image to view new high-res pics of the 2008 Cadillac STS

The refreshed 2008 Cadillac STS was quietly debuted at the New York Auto Show in early April. By no one's measure is the '08 STS as significant a product for General Motors' luxury brand as the all-new 2008 CTS. Nevertheless, the bigger sedan needed an update to bring itself in line with the new Cadillac style. The new corporate grille is the most obvious exterior change, and it looks sharp on the schnoz of the STS. Fender vents are all the rage right now, and the new STS gets a pair of chrome side extractors that match ones found on the Escalade and new CTS. There are also new chrome door handles, rocker panels, body-colored rear fascia and polished 3" exhaust tips, as well as new 18-inch chrome wheels.

The interior is where the '08 STS falls short of matching what its smaller sibling will be offering later this year. We were hoping the car would receive the same interior shown in the long-wheelbase version of the SLS that will be sold in Chinese markets, but instead it got only a new steering wheel and revised center stack with aluminum and wood trim.

In addition to the styling tweaks, the '08 STS also gets GM's well-received 3.6L direct injection V6 that will produce 302 horsepower and 272 ft-lbs of torque, which is expected to improve on the outgoing engine's fuel economy numbers of 18 mpg city/27 mpg highway. With a V6 like this, who needs a V8? The engine will be coupled with the 6L50 six-speed auto, and other new technology includes StabiliTrak electronic stability control, active steering, a Lane Departure Warning System and Side Blind Zone Alert System.

The full press release is after the jump, and all the new high-res pics have been added to the gallery below.

[Source: GM]

Sometimes news is just too good to keep to yourself. Just ask GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. With his company supposedly claiming 13 spots on Edmund's Consumers' Most Wanted list, Lutz just had to brag a bit on the corporate blog before the winners were made public.

And he should brag. Most other car of the year awards are chosen by us automotive writers who usually prefer horsepower over hip room. As the name implies, Edmund's CMW awards are chosen by the car-buying public. And despite not voting with their wallets, the car-buying public who visits Edmund's really like their GMs.

The GMC Acadia got Most Significant vehicle of the year, beating out Honda's Fit, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Ford Edge and the Toyota Tundra.

Click through to see Edmund's press release as well as the other category winners.

[Source: Edmunds, GM FastLane Blog]

You don't need no stinkin' Volvo to experience BLIS(s) -- for 2008, the Buick Lucerne is fitted with lane departure and blind-spot warning systems. The Lucerne offers classic GM big-sedan ethos, with lots of content, wide, cushy seats and restrained, handsome styling. Now, when you're motorvating down the interstate, listening to your Buick 8, an amber lamp will illuminate in the gauge cluster, and a chime will toll three times to indicate you're about to encroach on someone else's road space. If one of the ever present morons on the road decides to hang out in your blind spot, the Lucerne uses proximity sensors behind the rear fascia to detect the car and warn you with an indicator in the side mirror. Buick's safety gear will also be offered on Cadillac's STS and DTS, making GM Luxury that much safer. Now if they could just develop a "blinker on for the last 60 miles" warning system, or a "stay the hell out of the fast lane if you're doing 53 1/2 MPH" light in the cluster, we'd be good. Okay, okay, we'll admit, the stereotyping is stale. Maybe we're just mellowing with time, but we appreciate the merits of a Lucerne.

[Source: Edmunds]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in Arlington, Va. has just concluded testing on some 75 vehicles' head restraint systems and after performing a simulated rear-end impact of 20 MPH, only 22 of the systems received the top score of "good."

At the head of the class was Audi's A4, S4 and A6, along with the Chevy Cobalt, Ford Five Hundred (Taurus, whatever) and its Mercury counterpart, Honda's Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Jag S-Type, Kia Optima, Merc E-class, Nissan Sentra and its lesser sibling the Versa, Subaru's Impreza, Legacy and Outback, as well as Volvo's S40, S60 and S80 (no surprise).

The flunkees included the Acura TSX, BMW 5-series, Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne, Caddy CTS, DTS and STS, Chevy's Aveo, the Honda Fit and Accord, Infiniti's M35, the Jaguar X-Type, Kia Rio, Mitsubishi Galant, Pontiac's Grand Prix, plus the Toyota Avalon and Corrolla.

Considering that the IIHS estimates that the injuries sustained to the back and neck in these types of collisions costs insurance companies around $8 mbillion dollars per year, their interest in the matter is obvious. Whether or not consumers will include this in their purchasing criteria is another matter however.

[Source: IIHS]

Click for high-res photo gallery

GM's assault on NYC's Jacob Javits Center continues apace. With HUMMER and Buick already well-represented, the luxury division, Cadillac, gets in on the action as well. The facelifted 2008 STS gets a most welcome makeover outside. The new corporate grille design featured on the '08 CTS finds its way onto the nose of the STS, and it looks great. Also making an appearance are the trendy side extractors also featured on the Escalade and CTS (and Hyundai Tiburon).

There's plenty more to discuss, however, so follow the jump for the rest of the story.

[Source: Cadillac]

Click on the photo above for a gallery of high-res images of the 2008 Cadillac CTS

General Motors upper-crust Cadillac division has been trying to make some headway on the home ground of its rivals from Stuttgart, Munich and Ingolstadt for over a decade with only limited success, or outright failure if you consider the case of the BLS. Cadillac will be having a big European re-launch at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, showing a bunch of new and revised products. The new 2008 CTS that was unveiled to much praise in Detroit in January will make it's European debut in Geneva. The SRX cross-over has been something of a wallflower for Cadillac since it's initial introduction, gathering little attention or sales. A revised version will debut in Switzerland likely wearing a new grille, similar to the the one that adorns the new CTS, and definitely equipped with the upscale cut-and-sew interior. The SRX also inherits the six-speed automatic from its STS-V and XLR-V brethren.

[Source: General Motors]

click above image to view a gallery of concept interior components from GM

The entire Autoblog team was impressed with the 2008 Cadillac CTS when it debuted at the Detroit Auto Show last month. "You have to sit in it," was the command heard most among the crew, and indeed the interior is as dazzling as the new sheetmetal. The CTS interior is the first example of how General Motors' renewed focus on interiors is paying off in ways more noticeable than just better buttons for the radio. BusinessWeek has published an article that details many of the individual interior components being redesigned and rethought at GM, including said radio controls, the steering wheel, seats, key fobs and more.

It's a good read, but as many astute auto enthusiasts noticed, the accompanying slide show includes a pic of an interior that appears to be that of the 2008 Cadillac STS. Actually, the interior shown is the exact same one with a different steering wheel that debuted inside the long-wheelbase SLS now beind sold in China. We called it back in November that the Chinese SLS interior would likely show up in our own domestic market STS, and this new pic seems to indicate that's correct. Hopefully this means we'll also get the highly detailed CTS-like grille from the SLS and its other exterior tweaks. For that matter, we wouldn't mind a long-wheelbase version of the STS on this side of the globe, either.

Check out the gallery of other concept interior components that GM has been working on.

[Source: BusinessWeek via GMInsideNews]

Click to enlarge

Where the Cadillac V-Series moniker focuses on high performance, the Platinum Series tag being introduced in LA this week places the emphasis on luxury. Now, we believe that this emphasis should be the brand standard anyway, and not just a trim package, but if this represents a step towards bringing Cadillac to the next level, where we hope it's headed, then so be it.

Available for the XLR, STS and DTS, the Platinum Series trim level sets the cars apart by bestowing them with specific paint colors, badging, and interior appointments. The XLR, for example, sports an exclusive and attractive Liquid Amethyst paint color and healthy doses of chrome added to its grille, bespoke wheels and other trim bits. Climb into the Cashmere leather seats and you'll notice the "Platinum" badging on the doorsill, more wood trim, and hand-stitched leather covering the upper dash and door panels. Unfortunately, based on GM's press release, it appears to stop short of the full-blown "Cut and Sew" interior available on the SRX, but we'll wait until our guys in LA get up close and personal to make that call.

Keep reading after the jump for the rundown on the STS and DTS Platinum Series, plus more photos and the official release from GM.

[Source: GM]