PIR4TE
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DETROIT [source - Automotive News ] General Motors has decided to deep-freeze a range-topping ultraluxury sedan it was developing for Cadillac, according to three people with knowledge of the company's plans.
GM executives recently concluded that the rear-wheel-drive car, which would have been a low-volume showstopper priced well north of $100,000, didn't offer enough brand-building pizzazz to justify the investment, the sources said. Designers recently were taken off the program and reassigned.
The decision doesn't change GM's plans for a large rwd sedan to line up against the Mercedes-Benz S class and BMW 7 series.
Development of that future Cadillac, to be built on a new rwd platform dubbed Omega, is well under way, with a launch expected for the 2016 or 2017 model year, sources have said.
One source said GM decided that the pricier specialty car, referred to internally as the "flagship" Cadillac, wasn't a big enough departure from the large rwd sedan already in the works. The person said that Cadillac executives are weighing a number of other niche vehicles to push the boundaries of Cadillac's revitalized lineup.
GM CEO Dan Akerson told Automotive News in November that he expected the company to decide this year whether to move forward on a range-topping flagship. "This is a big bet for us," he said at the time.
Talk of an exotic flagship to sit atop Cadillac's lineup has swirled for years, since GM tantalized fans with the V-16-powered Cadillac Sixteen concept at the 2003 Detroit auto show.
In 2011, Cadillac drew raves at the Concours d'Elegance classic-car show in Pebble Beach, Calif., with its Ciel open-air concept, which designers said was meant to hint at styling elements of a future large sedan. One source says elements of the long, elegant Ciel are likely to be incorporated into the future 7-series fighter.
Cadillac is continuing to release models that can more effectively match the portfolio range of its competitors. The introduction of the ATS put Cadillac on the map for a smaller luxury sedan that offered the Caddy badge at a more attractive entry-level price.
However, the German competition continues to release vehicles spanning a full spectrum of cars — Cadillac does not yet have a full-size, $65,000-plus sedan, nor a fastback style model that would go head to head with Audi’s A7 or Mercedes’ CLS. Though the XTS is a large sedan, the company doesn’t yet offer a rear-wheel drive variation. Plans for the Omega platform did not reveal whether it would be sold congruently with the XTS, or in place of it.
A large sedan could also be important for the company to leverage the nameplate’s success in China, a flourishing luxury car market where Cadillac intends to triple its sales in the next two years or so. However, Cadillac’s slim slate of offerings (the company had just three models in Spring of 2013) have hindered outright success in the global market. By 2015, though, the brand is hoping to have 10 different models hitting the asphalt.
- See more at: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ciel
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