Cadillac Still Wants Flagship as DTS, STS Make Way for Coming XTS

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Cadillac is looking to offload its remaining STS and DTS models in anticipation of the replacement for those cars, based on the XTS concept that bowed at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, arriving next year. With 3000 DTS models and just under 900 STS models still on dealer lots, Cadillac expects to sell its remaining inventory of big sedans before the new model lands in showrooms, according to Ward’s. Cadillac has already ended production of the now six-year-old STS and is expected to build its last DTS model within three to four weeks.
As we reported last year, Cadillac’s new purported flagship car, the XTS, will be built on a stretched front-wheel-drive Epsilon II platform and is expected to be built at GM’s Grand River plant in Lansing, Michigan. Speaking to Ward’s, Cadillac’s Global Marketing Director James R. Vurpillat would not be specific about when the XTS would start production, other than to say “it won’t be this fall.” If the production model remains true to the concept, the XTS will receive all-wheel-drive, various V-6 engines and possibly a V-8. The XTS Platinum concept, if produced, would be an all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid with a 3.6-liter V-6 and electric motor producing a combined 350 hp and 295 lb.-ft. of torque.

Once the STS and DTS are discontinued, the four-year-old Escalade will be the oldest model in Cadillac’s lineup. As Cadillac winds down sales of both cars, Ward’s says that GM’s premium brand will see strong sales growth this year even without its larger cars. According to Ward’s, the SRX crossover jumped from ninth to second place in its segment this year, beaten only by the Lexus RX, while the CTS trailed the C-Class in third place in the luxury sedan category as of April 30. The XTS and the ATS, a model planned to slot beneath the CTS, are expected to book-end Cadillac’s lineup. Although the XTS will top Cadillac’s model range, Vurpillat says that it will not compete directly with some other luxury flagships. “Our priority is to get the main segments covered,” Vurpillat said, “Then we can start thinking of cars in the S-Class and 7 Series range.” Vurpillat then added, “I’d like to have a car like the concept Cadillac Sixteen.”