It’s been just over a year since General Motors officially announced that the Cadillac XTS will enter production, replacing the anemic STS and DTS. The photos that have emerged today are all we’ve seen of it since. Here, we see the vehicle in its Integration Vehicle Engineering Release (IVER) stage, meaning that underneath all of that black canvas and zebra paint isn’t a mule, but rather the unpolished shell and mechanics we should see in the production model… at least that’s what Autoblog says.
Update:
Our more observant readers have pointed out that the vehicle pictured above bears little to no resemblance to the vehicle we saw during the 2010 North American International Auto Show. For instance, the IVER appears to have much smaller proportions than the full-sized XTS. And from the looks of where the wheels are placed in conjunction with the body, we see a hint of a rear-wheel-drive setup that simply does not match the proportions of the FWD-based XTS.
So if this is not the Cadillac XTS, what could it be?
For the full gallery, warp to Autoblog through the link below.
Source: Autoblog
Comments
So will XTS be a FWD?
We know that the XTS will be on a FWD-based platform, but at NAIAS 2010 the vehicle was equipped with AWD and used a torque vectoring system to put most of the power to the rear wheels. In that light we wonder why they didn’t use the Sigma or upcoming Alpha platform… maybe it had something to do with cost-cutting and the Sigma is on its way out, and that it would probably take longer than GM would like to implement the XTS to the Alpha.
Then I guess we wont see XTS limos.
Now I wonder, which brand will be largely used for Limos, Town car is almost out of production, Chrysler 300?
Well, you see DTS limos, and the DTS is a FWD car. Cadillac still has the Escalade that limo companies love to stretch out, don’t forget.
One of the reasons that DTS Limos are rare is because it’s FWD and from what I heard because of that transmission don’t hold up as good as RWD. Believe it or not, but most companies use Tahoes for limos, then they slap an Escalades front end and rear taillights to make it look like a Caddy. Thats just to keep the price down.
That sounds true, after all the only thing different between the two trucks are the front and rear ends…
Hah. That doesn’t surprise me one bit!
I liked the XTS show car from last year. Not that I’d buy one but it looked like a good American luxury vehicle.
The spy shots make this thing look like nothing more than a warmed over LaCrosse.
Hope the end product looks more like the showcar than these spy shots reveal.
UGH!
Actually I think it’s an ATS prototype testing:
1. Roof line looks vastly different from XTS concept
2. Rear door looks way too small for the full-size XTS
3. The front proportions (wheel well distance to door) imply a rwd platform
4. The large front seat headrest in comparison does seem to dictate a significantly smaller car than a CTS or the upcoming XTS.
You’re right, this car is not as big. XTS had a longer rear end with huge over hang and this doors don’t look as long as XTS concept doors were. I wish XTS will be RWD and available AWD.
In that case, this car could just as well be the rumored Zeta-based sedan making its return to the U.S. market.
Being closely involved with the limousine business, I can tell you the main reason behind the lack of DTS limousines is because of cost. Lincoln will sell a commercial chassis Town car for around 37k to a coach builder. A similar commercial chassis DTS is still around 45k. When you look at the overall cost of a completed limousine and the amount of miles a car will rack up over a short amount of time, the turnkey price is a huge factor. Additionally, for a long while, GM was less than cooperative with coach builders where areas Ford was always more than happy to assist where they could. Given such, many gave up on building party style Cadillacs. Cadillac does continue to maintain a stronghold in the funeral market. That is simply due to the demand by funeral directors. However, like with livery carriers, cost is also becoming a factor to them as more and more become corporate. It would behoove Cadillac to take advantage of the death of the Town car and Lincoln’s insistence that coach builders use the MKT (which I for one do not see being all that popular). The XTS could be a great chance to get their hat back in the market. However, Chrysler is making some huge strides in the livery business however not on purpose. The affordablility of the 300 and Charger make them very popular among operators.