General Motors has announced that it will release the Kraken Cadillac XTS on ze Germans (and Lexus) as early as next year. The launch of the XTS will also bring the inviting retirement of the (archaic) Cadillac DTS and (staid) STS models. This news comes to us on the heels of GM shelving plans for the Cadillac Converj.

When GM revealed the alluring Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept earlier this year at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, we had a hunch that it was going to become a reality. From its everyday road tires fitted around 20-inch eleven spoke wheels to the Epsilon II Super platform supporting the sheetmetal, the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept seemed extremely production viable from the get-go.

But the good news doesn’t end there: it has been reported that XTS designers are hard at work in making sure that the production version matches the elegance of the concept inside and out. Items that the XTS could potentially include? A foot-long LCD display stretching across the dash, illuminated door handles, and even a 350 hp plug-in two-mode hybrid system. Add to that the possibility of GM’s new twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 or a small block V8 shoe-horned under the hood, and the XTS looks to be a winner. That said, the big Caddy faces its fare share of opposition – some of which stems from the very GM Authority crew.

[Source: Motor Trend]

2010 NAIAS - Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept