Cadillac wants 911 fighter after 2020, diesel-powered models by 2019
As part of plans by Cadillac to reassert itself to "a pre-eminent position among global luxury brands", the brand will add diesel engines to its lineup and would like to have a Porsche 911 competitor in the medium term.
At the recent Los Angeles auto show, Johan de Nysschen, president of Cadillac, spoke to Car and Driver about his plans for GM's luxury marque.
In the interview de Nysschen stated that he believes there will come a time when a Porsche 911 competitor would be in the best interests of the brand. That time won't be until 2020 at the earliest, though.
De Nysschen said: "If you do a high-performance car like the 911, R8, or AMG GT too soon, then you run the risk of being too far removed from where the epicenter of the brand is, so it struggles to have relevance for people. The Acura NSX was a great car, highly acclaimed. But it was so far removed from their other products at the time that I don’t think it did much for the brand. It was the right time for Audi to do the R8 (in 2007)."
The last time Cadillac had a sports car in its range was 2009, when the XLR went out of production. The XLR featured a folding hardtop and the brand's Northstar V8 within a chassis shared with the Chevrolet Corvette.
"Cadillac also wants to be more global and less US-centric, and for many markets, diesel is simply a prerequisite," says de Nysschen. "We will introduce an all-new diesel engine developed specifically for Cadillac by around 2019."
According to the US magazine, Cadillac is readying models with both four- and six-cylinder turbo-diesels.
The brand's last major attempt to break into Europe involved 3 Series/C-Class-fighter dubbed BLS. The BLS, which wasn't a sales success, was essentially a Saab 9-3 with a new front and rear end, as well as a reworked interior.
Since taking the reins of the company, De Nysschen has already announced that Cadillac will be spun off as its own business unit and move its headquarters to New York City. Additionally he has initiated an Infiniti-style renaming of the brand's model range.
When new models are introduced or current models, such as the ATS, CTS, XTS and SRX, are replaced, Cadillac will adopt a new naming structure. All regular sedan and coupe models will be branded CTx, while all SUVs, apart from the Escalade, will be badged XTx, with the final 'x' substituted by a number denoting the car's size or price point.
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