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Cadillac to offer peek into its future
Cadillac to offer peek into its future
CTS Sport Wagon, SRX crossover to be seen today
BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC
Cadillac is to reveal two key new models today: a dynamic station wagon version of its hit CTS sport sedan and an all-new replacement for its SRX crossover wagon.
The CTS Sport Wagon and new SRX are both expected to go on sale in the first half of next year as 2010 models.
The CTS wagon is vital to Cadillac's plans to boost European sales and attract cutting-edge customers at home in North America. Sport wagons account for around half the sales CTS competitors like the BMW 3- and 5-series and Audi A4 and A6 rack up in key countries like Germany.
"It's gorgeous," said analyst Rebecca Lindland of Global Insight, Lexington, Mass. "And a hero in terms of timing," as rising gasoline prices drive some buyers away from SUVs. "The CTS station wagon could really satisfy the need to combine utility with better fuel economy and wonderful style."
The CTS wagon will feature the 3.6-liter V6 engine that powers the CTS sedan. Cadillac will also offer the wagon with GM's new 250-horsepower 2.9-liter V6 turbodiesel in Europe.
Fuel-efficient diesels also account for more than half of many luxury cars' sales in Europe. The lack of either a diesel or station wagon for the acclaimed CTS severely limited Cadillac's European aspirations.
The Lansing-built 2010 CTS Sport Wagon should go on sale in the United States in spring 2009. Cadillac is to show the car at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance historic car show in California today.
The new V6-powered SRX was designed to compete with luxury crossovers like the Lexus RX 350 and Acura MDX, positioning it to outsell the original SRX.
The 2010 SRX, which borrows its styling from the Provoq concept car that debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, is a better fit for the market than the outgoing model, said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham forecasting firm.
"To get sales volume, you go after the segment leader, and that's the RX 350," Hall said. The original SRX had an optional V8 and a price range that pushed it to the margins of the luxury crossover market.
"If the vehicle is as good as the CTS, it should easily be able to sell at double the rate of the current SRX," he said. GM sold 22,543 SRXs in 2007. The current SRX comes from Cadillac's Lansing assembly plant, but the new SRX is to be built alongside the upcoming Saab 9-4X crossover at an as-yet-undisclosed assembly plant in North America.
The 2010 SRX will seat five passengers and should reach dealerships in mid-2009.
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