Cadillac News: Peeking At Global Cadillac VP's Wishlist

[William Maley]

Last week, we brought you a story talking about what Global Cadillac's Vice President, Robert E. Ferguson would like to see happen with the ATS lineup. This week, we bring you a couple more items from the VP's wishlist.

Edmunds had the chance to talk with Ferguson at the Detroit Auto Show and he said that he would like to have a diesel engine for most of the lineup in this decade.

"I think that would speed our growth in Europe, and it would help us with environmental issues here and in Asia," said Ferguson.

A good candidate for a diesel engine would be the new Escalade Ferguson went onto say.

"I would love to see it in that time frame, but I can't commit to it. I think it would help. (Escalade) is a great selling vehicle and it is a big profit machine for us, so the more markets we can get into, the better."

Another item on Ferguson's wishlist, a subcompact crossover for Cadillac.

"If you look at any growth forecast, or even look at present-day growth, I would say every luxury provider is looking hard at that set. We would be silly not to. I think the Encore is a terrific vehicle and the perfect size. I would love to have a really luxurious competitive vehicle with that stance," Ferguson said.

Source: Edmunds

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[thedriver]

Uh, yeah. The Cadillac Encore. Whatever.

If you want to compete in that class fine, but stop the grille engineering. Seriously.

[smk4565]

I can see Cadillac doing a version of the Encore. They will want something smaller than the SRX. BMW has X1, X3, and X5, Audi has Q1, Q3 and Q7, Mercedes has GLA, GLK, ML, and GL (plus the G-wagen). Cadillac isn't going to go to battle with just SRX and Escalade, they will want a piece of that entry market, and small vehicles have a better chance in global markets.

I don't get why Cadillac still has to think about a diesel. Mercedes, BMW and Audi all have 4-5 diesel models each and the C-class and A4 should be added to that mix soon.

[ocnblu]

Cadillac ARX AWD with 2.0t... cool!

[Z-06]

Ferguson, you lost me when you said an Encore competitor. This is not old GM at 50% market share when management at any brand could do whatever it felt like doing without affecting the bottom line or worrying about cannibalization. Pick your fights. Let Buick handle the little glorified FWD econo-boxes from Germany.

And diesels should have been in Cadillac lineup yesterday.

[smk4565]

If this new flagship flops like the Phaeton, I wonder if GM will pull the plug or stay the course and invest more money in it.

[balthazar]

You mean flops like the maybach, don't you?

[G. David Felt]

GMC Terrain size would be the proper CUV AWD Diesel GM needs for Europe & the US.

[Carguy]

Let the Sub-compact luxury market be serves by Buick for Reasons sake!! No more FWD based should have been a Buick Cadillacs!! For all that is HOLY!!

[balthazar]

I also am NOT in favor of an Encore-sized Cadillac SUV.
Too many in favor seem forgetful about their prior protestations over GM brand overlap.

Fortunately, Cadillac is NOT in the same forced box BMW & MB are in, where they have to be in every single segment because (1. they're sales whores, and 2.) they cannot make a viable sub-brand to carry these types of vehicles.

[G. David Felt]

RWD/AWD Terrain size CUV would be the perfect Luxury entry model for Cadillac. Have it in a 2L Turbo, V6, Diesel and CNG. It would truly be a global auto.

[Drew Dowdell]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

[Guest Anon]

The Encore? Seriously, he thinks the Encore has a great stance? Oh my. Great idea, let's build a modern-day CIMARRON. Only, let's base it on one of the most awkward looking vehicles on the road... and import it from Korea while we're at it.

[Drew Dowdell]

I think it does actually.... kinda like a perky chipmunk... lively and ready to dart around bigger, slow moving obstacles like Suburbans and Excursions.

[Z-06]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

[Drew Dowdell]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

When car manufacturers talk size, they almost always mean interior volume and never exterior size. That's why the SRX competes with the GLK and X3 rather than the M-Class and X5.

The Encore has such a small exterior footprint due to very efficient packaging, but that also makes it more upright and stubby. I'm a bit biased, but I think Buick pulled it off.. I do not think Cadillac could. The same volume interior in a car that adhere's to Cadillac's recent "longer, lower, wider" mantra isn't going to fit on a Gama platform vehicle.

Encore has a 100.6 inch wheelbase, Cadillac ATS has a 109.3 inch wheelbase. That alone is a switch from FWD to RWD right there.

You don't think alpha can go down that small? This has the same wheelbase as the ATS.

[balthazar]

Interior volume ( ) or exterior dimension, Cadillac doesn't need to be in the 'cute ute' class. Trim a bit (6" or so) off the next SRX and call that the 'floor'. Fact remains the Buick already has a entry off this architecture/size and it just becomes redundant for a small segment.
I'd prefer something unique, more along the lines of the ULC rather than the 'shrunken head' of a Gamma-sized SUV.

[smk4565]

GMC Terrain size would be the proper CUV AWD Diesel GM needs for Europe & the US.

They already have an SUV the size of the Terrain in the SRX.

The path to an good SUV lineup is probably making 2 off Alpha, one small (ATS size) and one larger (CTS size). But then you have a vehicle probably smaller than the SRX would high $30s base, and the middle size SUV would be about $50k base price. That puts them squarely against the GLK/X3 and the ML/X5. The current front drive SRX would have to die off in that scenario.

Edited January 28, 2014 by smk4565

[Drew Dowdell]

I think SMK just posted the most likely scenario.

[yougojay]

CADILLAC ULC

This one kinda grows on me from 2010 - Except for the whole side of the vehicle swinging up to let peeps in. I'd drive this for sure (in Caddy's 1973 Dynasty Red) Don't hate on me folks.......Leave that for the 2015 Lincoln Navigator

[Z-06]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

When car manufacturers talk size, they almost always mean interior volume and never exterior size. That's why the SRX competes with the GLK and X3 rather than the M-Class and X5.

The Encore has such a small exterior footprint due to very efficient packaging, but that also makes it more upright and stubby. I'm a bit biased, but I think Buick pulled it off.. I do not think Cadillac could. The same volume interior in a car that adhere's to Cadillac's recent "longer, lower, wider" mantra isn't going to fit on a Gama platform vehicle.

Encore has a 100.6 inch wheelbase, Cadillac ATS has a 109.3 inch wheelbase. That alone is a switch from FWD to RWD right there.

You don't think alpha can go down that small? This has the same wheelbase as the ATS.

Dude that is a 9-inch difference in wheelbase. That is long. 7-er SWB and 5-er 4-inch between them, since they are essentially platform mates. I can see a 3 to 4 inch drop but 10% is pushing it. Another note, CTS on the other end of the spectrum has another 6 inches added to the platform. So a 15-inch difference between smallest wheelbase and longest wheelbase vehicles on the same platform (there might even be a stretched CTS) is not good for structural rigidity or may cause porky smaller cars.

Furthermore, structurally, I do not think alpha can go that small, unless I am wrong. Even Camaro vs. Caprice is an 8-inch difference and Zeta had to be cut to accommodate the Camaro, which led to an inherently heavy car.

[ZL-1]

I see Cadillac leveraging tha Alpha platform with CUVs: Something ATS sized and CTS sized for starters; with maybe a smaller one and a larger one (Gamma and Lambda?)...

Re the diesels, IDK what the Hell GM has been wondering and thinking about all these years... If yuo're not happy with what you got in-house, just outsource a diesel engine FFS...

[G. David Felt]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

When car manufacturers talk size, they almost always mean interior volume and never exterior size. That's why the SRX competes with the GLK and X3 rather than the M-Class and X5.

The Encore has such a small exterior footprint due to very efficient packaging, but that also makes it more upright and stubby. I'm a bit biased, but I think Buick pulled it off.. I do not think Cadillac could. The same volume interior in a car that adhere's to Cadillac's recent "longer, lower, wider" mantra isn't going to fit on a Gama platform vehicle.

Encore has a 100.6 inch wheelbase, Cadillac ATS has a 109.3 inch wheelbase. That alone is a switch from FWD to RWD right there.

You don't think alpha can go down that small? This has the same wheelbase as the ATS.

Dude that is a 9-inch difference in wheelbase. That is long. 7-er SWB and 5-er 4-inch between them, since they are essentially platform mates. I can see a 3 to 4 inch drop but 10% is pushing it. Another note, CTS on the other end of the spectrum has another 6 inches added to the platform. So a 15-inch difference between smallest wheelbase and longest wheelbase vehicles on the same platform (there might even be a stretched CTS) is not good for structural rigidity or may cause porky smaller cars.

Furthermore, structurally, I do not think alpha can go that small, unless I am wrong. Even Camaro vs. Caprice is an 8-inch difference and Zeta had to be cut to accommodate the Camaro, which led to an inherently heavy car

Z, that is why they make cutting torches. Everything can be cut down or stretched.

Just as I said they need a GMC Terrain size CUV in RWD/AWD and someone says that is the SRX. Yet while interior room might be similar, exterior the SRX seems to be to much more bloated.

If GM is wanting to maximize platforms but keep things distinct, I see no problem with taking the Terrain / Acadia and giving it new sheet metal to match Cadillac design language and just make them AWD only.

[Drew Dowdell]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

When car manufacturers talk size, they almost always mean interior volume and never exterior size. That's why the SRX competes with the GLK and X3 rather than the M-Class and X5.

The Encore has such a small exterior footprint due to very efficient packaging, but that also makes it more upright and stubby. I'm a bit biased, but I think Buick pulled it off.. I do not think Cadillac could. The same volume interior in a car that adhere's to Cadillac's recent "longer, lower, wider" mantra isn't going to fit on a Gama platform vehicle.

Encore has a 100.6 inch wheelbase, Cadillac ATS has a 109.3 inch wheelbase. That alone is a switch from FWD to RWD right there.

You don't think alpha can go down that small? This has the same wheelbase as the ATS.

Dude that is a 9-inch difference in wheelbase. That is long. 7-er SWB and 5-er 4-inch between them, since they are essentially platform mates. I can see a 3 to 4 inch drop but 10% is pushing it. Another note, CTS on the other end of the spectrum has another 6 inches added to the platform. So a 15-inch difference between smallest wheelbase and longest wheelbase vehicles on the same platform (there might even be a stretched CTS) is not good for structural rigidity or may cause porky smaller cars.

Furthermore, structurally, I do not think alpha can go that small, unless I am wrong. Even Camaro vs. Caprice is an 8-inch difference and Zeta had to be cut to accommodate the Camaro, which led to an inherently heavy car.

I'm not saying to cut the Alpha's 109.3 inch wheelbase down to the Encore's 100 inches, I'm saying that turning the engine 90 degrees would take up those 9 inches and make the nose longer while keeping the cabin roughly the same size. Encore length body, ATS length hood.

[Z-06]

He didn't say it would be encore based, just encore sized. No reason it couldn't be Alpha based and RWD. Interior might still be Encore sized, but it would be longer in the nose to accommodate the longitudinal engine.

Semantically you are not incorrect, that he did not say it. But let us be honest, given Encore is Gamma based, unless Alpha can shrink to that size, I do not see it coming on an Alpha platform.

When car manufacturers talk size, they almost always mean interior volume and never exterior size. That's why the SRX competes with the GLK and X3 rather than the M-Class and X5.

The Encore has such a small exterior footprint due to very efficient packaging, but that also makes it more upright and stubby. I'm a bit biased, but I think Buick pulled it off.. I do not think Cadillac could. The same volume interior in a car that adhere's to Cadillac's recent "longer, lower, wider" mantra isn't going to fit on a Gama platform vehicle.

Encore has a 100.6 inch wheelbase, Cadillac ATS has a 109.3 inch wheelbase. That alone is a switch from FWD to RWD right there.

You don't think alpha can go down that small? This has the same wheelbase as the ATS.

Dude that is a 9-inch difference in wheelbase. That is long. 7-er SWB and 5-er 4-inch between them, since they are essentially platform mates. I can see a 3 to 4 inch drop but 10% is pushing it. Another note, CTS on the other end of the spectrum has another 6 inches added to the platform. So a 15-inch difference between smallest wheelbase and longest wheelbase vehicles on the same platform (there might even be a stretched CTS) is not good for structural rigidity or may cause porky smaller cars.

Furthermore, structurally, I do not think alpha can go that small, unless I am wrong. Even Camaro vs. Caprice is an 8-inch difference and Zeta had to be cut to accommodate the Camaro, which led to an inherently heavy car.

I'm not saying to cut the Alpha's 109.3 inch wheelbase down to the Encore's 100 inches, I'm saying that turning the engine 90 degrees would take up those 9 inches and make the nose longer while keeping the cabin roughly the same size. Encore length body, ATS length hood.

Sorry for misreading your statement. If such is the case, then I like the idea. A vehicle that slots as an X1/X3 competitor. My only concern then would be that you would push the engine back into the wheelbase that may cause reduction in interior volume.

[Drew Dowdell]

Why should it? The ATS can fit the 3.6 V6 under the hood or the 2.0t.

hell, since the 3.6 fits there, so would the LT-1.

Is any of that likely? Not really... but this would make an excellent platform for the 1.6T making the same 145hp/liter as the 2.0T

[markhamdons]

Want to improve Cadillac's fortunes, fix the centre stack. It looks cheesy on an otherwise not bad vehicle.