Next year Cadillac will produce a new car that “will be unlike anything the company has done before,” according to General Motors’ vice president Bob Lutz. The new model, which is believed to be similar in size, if not concept, to the CTS saloon, has been “the subject of intense controversy inside GM,” said Lutz. “It has so many functional drawbacks, like lack of rear visibility, and these are the things that GM doesn’t believe in.”Despite this, the car will be unveiled within 18 months. The daring design is part of an attempt by GM to change its corporate culture, and will coincide with the company’s 100th anniversary. “Part of the decline of GM over the past 30 years was because of a risk-averse culture,” said Lutz. “But we will take intelligent risks.”
Caddy shock
GM boss Lutz wouldn't commit to any more specifics on Cadillac's new model, but there's certainly no shortage of scope for speculation. Autocar's sources suggest that there's a new V12 engine in development for the car, and that narrows down the variables relating to its layout and purpose somewhat.Engineers at GM’s Australian arm are currently working on a V12 made from two V6s joined together, and have built a test car on a Holden Commodore platform that will take a V12. The Commodore uses GM’s new rear-drive 'Zeta' platform that will be rolled out across the company.That would suggest, therefore, that a new Cadillac flagship, a Mercedes CL-rivalling two-plus-two coupe, featuring the design cues of the Sixteen saloon concept which was shown in 2002, might be the most likely option. Lutz's comments about functional drawbacks and high risk, however, leave one other possibility open; that Cadillac has now committed to a road-going version of the super-luxury, mid-engined Cien supercar concept that it produced in 2002. Whichever is the case, it certainly seems likely that Cadillac has something very fast and exciting planned for 2008.
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