Cadillac Preparing Right-Hand Drive CTS-V

With around 34% of the world's population driving on the left hand side of the road, in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Japan, any automaker that aspires to go global needs to produce right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles. With only a few exceptions like the fifth generation Seville (built from 1998 to 2004), Cadillac has for the most part shied away from RHD markets. But this is about to change as the wreath and crest brand is getting more serious about increasing its presence in markets outside of North America.
Aside from the product presentations like the new BMW 3-Series rivaling ATS sedan that will eventually be offered with a diesel option as well, Cadillac is also getting ready to introduce right-hand drive models.
“We’re geared up for right-hand drive now. We’re working on it," says General Motors marketing chief Joel Ewanick, according to a report from Autocar magazine.
One of the first models to get a RHD version will be the Cadillac CTS-V that sports a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine with 556-horses.
Ewanick also reiterated Cadillac's newly found commitment to global markets during the interview.
“There wasn’t a commitment to the product before and we didn’t design cars to the market demands,” he said. “The Germans do this very well. There is now a full resource commitment and a vision to get this right. Bankruptcy refocused GM.”
But it's not all good news for Cadillac fans as when asked about the well-received Ciel Concept shown at Pebble Beach last summer, Ewanick said that it's not among the company's top priorities:
“The Ciel reaction was very good. But we’ve got lots of other Cadillacs to do. It’s the busiest time in our history for all our GM brands. It was a strategic time to introduce a luxury concept to the brand, but you need to remember where we are with Cadillac at the moment; the Ciel is a much higher type of luxury.”

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GM Boss Mark Reuss Builds a Fantasy Supercar Out of the Company’s Parts Bin

Almost every car fan has, at one point or another, considered building his ideal car: for example, one with a Ferrari or Lamborghini bodywork, a Pagani interior, a Veyron engine, Porsche everyday usability and all this at the price of a used 300,000-mile Ford Escort… Well, the automotive term for this is a parts bin special; that is, a model built by borrowing only (or mostly) existing parts from other models. Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, was asked by Car & Driver to assemble his dream car by using components that already exist on the company’s shelves.
We have to admit that, even though General Motors is not the first carmaker that comes to mind when picking components to assemble our dream car, Reuss has managed to conjure a pretty interesting vehicle.
The bodywork would come from the 2002 Cadillac Cien concept, which Reuss believes “defined Cadillac”.
 
Up front, the Chevrolet Volt's 149HP electric motor would power the front wheels, while GM’s turbocharged 2.8-liter V6 linked to a Corvette differential would power the rear axle, making the car an all-wheel drive hybrid.
The Volt would also donate its T-shaped battery pack (after it has been cleared by the NHTSA, we presume), mounted between the seats and wirelessly charged through an inductive mat making cables unnecessary.
America’s favorite supercar, the Corvette, would contribute in the handling department with its magnetorheological dampers and the ZR1's carbon-ceramic brakes, while GM’s pony car, the Camaro, would provide the ZL1’s Goodyear F1 SuperCar G performance tires.
Reuss is even talking numbers: the hybrid powertrain would churn out a total of 440HP and 450 lb-ft of torque, enough for a 0-60mph [96km/h] acceleration time of 3.2 seconds. In fact, he went as far as predicting his dream car’s Nürburgring lap time: 7:46. Not ZR-1 or GT-R territory, but quite fast nevertheless.
What about the interior? Well, Reuss would choose the suede steering wheel from the Caddy CTS-V linked to an electric-power steering system, the Recaro bucket seats from the Opel Insignia OPC and a Volt-like multifunction display for energy and VBox info.
Last, but not least, GM North America's president would like his dream car to have a silent interior when in EV mode so he would add a Bose active-noise cancelling system and offer perfect visibility courtesy of a Hughes night-vision system, front and rear cameras and a blind-spot monitoring system.
We applaud Mr Rauss' choices, which would make for one of the best "parts bin special" GM has ever thought of building.
He did omit one thing though: his passenger of choice. Therefore, we feel compelled to make a suggestion: Gisele. She did make a name for herself in the automotive crowd in a CTS-V after all...

GM PARTS BIN

2002 CADILLAC CIEN CONCEPT

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