New Cadillac boss Johan de Nysschen first changes the brand's naming structure and moves the company's global headquarters to New York City. Now he's planning a major product offensive.
Reuters reports that de Nysschen plans to start by expanding the Cadillac lineup from five models to 10 by the year 2020, with potential vehicles that include a battery-electric car and an ultra-luxury sedan.
De Nysschen told Reuters that the brand had just greenlighted a top-end sedan that will be called CT8 or CT9 and will compete with the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
The CT6, which arrives in 2015, will be available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and the Chevrolet Volt-based ELR, which has sold poorly, will be replaced with another plug-in hybrid. The replacement plug-in may deviate from the ELR by not being a two-door coupe.
Based on what other luxury brands sell, a high-end sports coupe is a possibility. A new sports coupe could be based on the Corvette, although the last time Cadillac tried that--with the XLR--it didn't work so well.
Cadillac has the compact, mid-size and full-size luxury sedan segments covered, but the brand's XTS model isn't on par with the S-Class and 7-Series, niches that Cadillac could exploit. A smaller crossover could slot under the SRX, for example, and a large crossover could ride next to the Escalade full-size, truck-based SUV.
Even though the current Cadillac lineup is solid, the Germans have been eating Cadillac for lunch and GM knows it. De Nysschen is getting the word out that Cadillac is aware of its problems and is working to solve them. The mystery surrounding future products should be solved soon enough.
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