In a detailed interview with Automobile, de Nysschen said Cadillac would need to address its lack of high-riding models, which has been one of the hottest segments in the past couple of years. He explained that Cadillac had room for two more crossovers, one positioned below the SRX and one positioned above it but below the Escalade. The latter is the on again/off again crossover with third-row seats, which now looks certain to enter production.
Another important area for Cadillac will be halo models. In this regard, de Nysschen said he could see at least two models being introduced above the upcoming full-size sedan. He explained that one could be a pure luxury model with high-performance and the other could be a sporty model, possibly even a dedicated sports car.
One of these halo models could be a large coupe or convertible packing the best technology that General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] has to offer. There’s been talk of a model based on recent Cadillac concepts like the Ciel and Elmiraj, and GM CEO Mary Barra has revealed that Cadillac will introduce an all-new model for the 2017 model year featuring its Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system.
But getting back to the de Nysschen interview, he also revealed Cadillac has a new V-8 engine under development that could be used for some of these halo models. The engine features a modular design that will allow four- and six-cylinder units to be derived from it. The smaller engines will come first, with the V-8 to appear later in the decade, which suggests the timeline for any new halo models from Cadillac.
The final tidbit worth mentioning is de Nysschen’s desire to launch a successor for the ELR, despite poor sales of the current model. He said there are no plans to kill the line but said the successor may not follow the same compact coupe formula of the current model.
_______________________________________
